Brookner on Updike

Anita Brookner on John Updike (from an excellent and rare interview by Mick James in the Telegraph):

'I read everything,' she says. 'And I liked him very much. But now, reviewing the situation, I think I prefer the short stories to the novels. The Complete Henry Bech I re-read over and over. I get the sense he was a good-hearted man. Completely unbiased. That's the difference between American and English fiction, I think. In English fiction there's always a slight sneer somewhere in the background.'