Whereas dandies like Nabokov flaunt syntax and diction like a cardinal his robe, the 'socially committed' are grammatical ironsides; dependent clauses and out-of-the-way correspondences are the devil's (ie middle-class) work. One style lends itself to preciosity, the other to portentousness, John Berger's besetting vice. Not that he doesn't occasionally allow himself an image, and very good images too, but uttered in such tones as to leave the reader in no doubt that the exercise is performed exclusively for his spiritual betterment….

The form of [Pig Earth] is reminiscent of Brecht's Tales from the Calendar, itself a conscious revival of an earlier tradition. But where Brecht is cool, witty and informative, Berger is merely solemn and, I fear, condescending, both to the friends he memorializes and to his readers.

The poems are simply inept…. The stories are better, but far too self-consciously in search of primal realities….

William Scammell...