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Title: One Would Think This Book Might Involve More
Review: How does an assortment of 13 professors at an English university choose the next head of their college? "The Masters" examines the personal and university politics that shape this decision through the narrative style of C. P. Snow. This captures a brainy professorial world through heavy reliance on complex and conditional dialogue, acute but unspoken observations, and highly abstract character analysis. Here's an example of his approach: "His manner was deliberately prosaic and comfortable. He was showing less outward sign of strain than any of us; when he was frayed inside, he slowed his always measured speech, brought out commonplaces like an amour, reduced all he could to the matter-of-fact." Still, the story, while minutely imagined, doesn't go deep. It's a tempest in a teapot.
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