Tom Kristensen's reviews in Politiken in the 1920s
Critic or reviewer? asked Tom Kristensen in 1940. He replied that for his own part he preferred to be a reviewer – to give an impression of the work so that the readers could form their own opinion. Tom Kristensen later followed this program and became known as a mild and friendly reviewer. The man who couldn't hurt a fly.
He was not like that in his young years in the 1920s. Back then, he slapped the dilettantes mercilessly. The blood dripped from his literature pages in Politiken. When a writer suggested to him to lay more emphasis on the minutes and less on the judgment, he replied that he would rather emigrate than give up being critical.
Critic or emigrant is an analysis of the young Tom Kristensen's reviews in Politiken in the 1920s, his critical strategies, assessment criteria and his play with forms.
