Degrees

… in Passing Time (1957) and Degrees (1960) wish mainly to remove the pathetic fallacy from fiction, in which the universe, which is indifferent to man, is made to throw back radar reflections of man’s own emotions. Individual character is not important, and consciousness dissolves into sheer “perception.” Even time is…

Degrés (1960; Degrees), his fourth novel, imposes on the action the rigid pattern of a college timetable.