The Battle of the Books
Jonathan Swift worked for William Temple during the time of the controversy, and Swift's "A Tale of a Tub" (1703/1705) takes part in the debate. From its first publication, Swift added a short satire entitled "The Battle of the Books" to the "Tale of a Tub." In this piece, there is an epic battle fought in a library when various books come alive and attempt to settle the arguments between moderns and ancients. In Swift's satire, he skilfully manages to avoid saying which way victory fell. He portrays the manuscript as having been damaged in places, thus leaving the end of the battle up to the reader.
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns is the second major collection of stories written by Arnold Bennett. The book first appeared in print in June 1907. Only around half of the stories had previously appeared in print.Bennett anticipated that the collection would help to establish his stature as a writer, showing that he could rise above what he termed his "potboilers". But the book had some initial sharp criticism from press reviewers. Critics focussed especially on the macabre story "In a New Bottle" (the "Staffordshire Sentinel" called it "nasty" and "The Bookman" termed it "grotesque") and on the sexual frankness of the long story "The Death of Simon Fuge". For instance the 1907 "Spectator" review remarked that "Simon Fuge"... "very much oversteps the boundaries of good taste". "Simon Fuge", not having been written for what Bennett called the "unperceptive stupidity" of the magazine audiences, was able to be bold with its themes and approach.