A Close Read

“She brought the coffee in delicate white china chalices on a black lacquered tray, which she put on the table before the recline They sipped the coffee and talked strainedly for a small in number moments. Then Stoner spoke of the part of the manuscript he had read, and the excitement he had felt earlier, in the library, came above him; he leaned forward, speaking intensely. For many minutes the sum of two units of them were able to talk together unselfconsciously, hiding themselves beneath the cover of their discourse.” —from Stoner, by the agency of John Williams (NYRB)

The first sum of two units sentences in this passage (from a 1965 novel lengthy out of print, and just reissued) enhance the faculty of perception of unease between the characters—especially the first determination chopped as it is into four distinct phrases, each of about equal weight. The vivid detail of the delicate white china and the black lacquer draw attention