--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without…" description: "\"“Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without enthusiasm. “By the way, here is that American novel I told you about. Let me know what you think of it.” “Anything ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/anthony-powell-2659_irving_oh-good-said-hugh-but-without-enthusiasm_1698591.jpg" --- # Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without enthusiasm. “By the way… ![“Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without enthusiasm. “By the way, here is that American novel I told you about. Let me know what you think of it.” “Anything special?” “I don’t feel happy about the chapter where Irving and Wayne listen to the whip-poor-will.” “I’ll study it.” I took Lot’s Hometown and…” quote by Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/anthony-powell-2659_irving_oh-good-said-hugh-but-without-enthusiasm_1698591.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/anthony-powell-2659_irving_oh-good-said-hugh-but-without-enthusiasm_1698591.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/anthony-powell-2659_irving_oh-good-said-hugh-but-without-enthusiasm_1698591.jpg) > ““Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without enthusiasm. “By the way, here is that American novel I told you about. Let me know what you think of it.” “Anything special?” “I don’t feel happy about the chapter where Irving and Wayne listen to the whip-poor-will.” “I’ll study it.” I took Lot’s Hometown and went back to my room to ring up Hudson.”” [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A conversation reveals indifference and hidden dissatisfaction, hinting at deeper emotional undercurrents. **In simple terms:** People often mask true feelings with casual talk. Key Takeaway Listen for subtext in everyday dialogue. Themes communication indifference subtext Mood analytical observational Type literary conversational When to use this quote - friendship - literary analysis - team meetings - family gatherings Key Concepts psychology of conversation social masks Questions to Reflect On - What does this dialogue reveal about the characters? - How can we better read between the lines? A Different Perspective Subtext may be misinterpreted, leading to misunderstandings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-novel/) [Hugh Enthusiasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hugh-enthusiasm-1128358/) [Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irving/) [Novel Told](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-told-1128357/) [Said Hugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-hugh-1128356/) [Told Let](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-let-1128359/) [Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wayne/) ## Related quotes > [“should spot us from the air?” said Hugh. “They won’t. We’ll be careful.” “And if they’re waiting for us in the town?” said Horace.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/should-spot-us-from-the-air-said-hugh-they-won-t-we-ll-be-careful-and/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [Tawny," I barked. My voice held the authority of a drill sergeant. She jumped. "I am NOT making out with you until the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/tawny-i-barked-my-voice-held-the-authority-of-a-drill-sergeant-she/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“ 'I shall vomit,' said Hugh, 'if you persist in pestering me with all that odious rot.' ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/i-shall-vomit-said-hugh-if-you-persist-in-pestering-me-with-all-that/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the summer of 2010, I was working on a version of 'True Detective' that I was thinking might be my next novel, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nic-pizzolatto/in-the-summer-of-2010-i-was-working-on-a-version-of-true-detective/) [Nic Pizzolatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nic-pizzolatto/) > [Ivan and Misha is the great American Russian Novel told as Chekhov would tell it, in stories of delicacy, humanity, and insight. From Kiev…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cooke/ivan-and-misha-is-the-great-american-russian-novel-told-as-chekhov/) [Carolyn Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-cooke/) > [“Well, my story, surely, would furnish out a surprising kind of novel, if it were to be well told.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/well-my-story-surely-would-furnish-out-a-surprising-kind-of-novel-if/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [“His head was always in the clouds. 'I'm writing a novel,' he told her. As if that was something to crow about. As if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/his-head-was-always-in-the-clouds-i-m-writing-a-novel-he-told-her-as/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“I told you I would never let anything bad happen to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/i-told-you-i-would-never-let-anything-bad-happen-to-you/) [Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/) > [i'm going mad, i told myself. let me not be mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-m-going-mad-i-told-myself-let-me-not-be-mad/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“She told me that she loved me. She told me that everything would be okay. She told me to let go; so I did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-mcgregor/she-told-me-that-she-loved-me-she-told-me-that-everything-would-be/) [Angel McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-mcgregor/) > [It just isn't the way you've been told. Let me give you an example: Time makes no sense. It really doesn't apply to me;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-j-deikman/it-just-isn-t-the-way-you-ve-been-told-let-me-give-you-an-example/) [Arthur J. Deikman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-j-deikman/) > [We need to be together." "Why?" I asked softly. The word was carried away on the wind, but he heard. "Because I want you."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/we-need-to-be-together-why-i-asked-softly-the-word-was-carried-away/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I always told myself I will never let football define who I am; I would only let in enhance who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colton-underwood/i-always-told-myself-i-will-never-let-football-define-who-i-am-i/) [Colton Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colton-underwood/) > [Ya, but now on top. I told you to let it rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudolf/ya-but-now-on-top-i-told-you-to-let-it-rock/) [Kevin Rudolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudolf/) > [“Let's go into the woods and take some pictures," you said. "I found this old camera." "Let go!" you screamed. "Let go of me!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/let-s-go-into-the-woods-and-take-some-pictures-you-said-i-found-this/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) ## More by Anthony Powell > [I was impressed for the ten thousandth time by the fact that literature illuminates life only for those to whom books are a necessity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-was-impressed-for-the-ten-thousandth-time-by-the-fact-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Like everything that's any good, it has about twenty different meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/like-everything-that-s-any-good-it-has-about-twenty-different-meanings/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I have absolutely no histrionic talent, none at all, a constitutional handicap in almost all undertakings of life;but then, after all, plenty of actors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-have-absolutely-no-histrionic-talent-none-at-all-a-constitutional/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“The crematorium was a blaze of sunshine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/the-crematorium-was-a-blaze-of-sunshine/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Parents. . . are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfil the promise of their early years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/parents-are-sometimes-a-bit-of-a-disappointment-to-their-children/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Enormous simplifications were possibly necessary to carry a deeper truth than lay on the surface of a mass of unsorted detail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/enormous-simplifications-were-possibly-necessary-to-carry-a-deeper/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I hate anything superficial. But I will take the book and look at it, and tell you what I think of the writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-hate-anything-superficial-but-i-will-take-the-book-and-look-at-it/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“It is rather an occasion, darling,’ said Moreland, vexed at these objections. ‘After all, I am noted among composers for the smallness of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/it-is-rather-an-occasion-darling-said-moreland-vexed-at-these/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“There seemed no particular object in avoiding banality from the start, as the evening showed every sign of developing into a banal one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/there-seemed-no-particular-object-in-avoiding-banality-from-the-start/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Dinner at the Huntercombes possessed only two dramatic features: the wine was a farce and the food a tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/dinner-at-the-huntercombes-possessed-only-two-dramatic-features-the/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Even then I did not recognise the quest for power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/even-then-i-did-not-recognise-the-quest-for-power/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/one-passes-through-the-world-knowing-few-if-any-of-the-important/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“He stood pondering this flat, forthright declaration of anti-simianism on Miss Weedon’s part. The notion that some people might not like monkeys was evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/he-stood-pondering-this-flat-forthright-declaration-of-anti-simianism/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) [Explore all 156 Anthony Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## More Irving quotes > [Irving Wallace family - they have preservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/irving-wallace-family-they-have-preservatives/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [The death of Irving, which at any other time would have attracted universal attention, having occurred while these things were transpiring, went almost unobserved.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-death-of-irving-which-at-any-other-time-would-have-attracted/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Susan is happy off on another project to save yet another endangered creature. But I miss Irving, and though Susan would laugh at me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/susan-is-happy-off-on-another-project-to-save-yet-another-endangered/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Anything I've ever read by John Irving has been really well written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/anything-i-ve-ever-read-by-john-irving-has-been-really-well-written/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [A lot of people we tell the story to assume that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were actually part of the original Washington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-orci/a-lot-of-people-we-tell-the-story-to-assume-that-the-four-horsemen-of/) [Roberto Orci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-orci/) > [The Darkness at Irving. Hope to have as much fun doing anything ever as these guys have on stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/the-darkness-at-irving-hope-to-have-as-much-fun-doing-anything-ever/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [“With a writer's eye, Irving detected Jackson's depths. "As his admirers say, he is truly an old Roman-to which I would add, with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/with-a-writer-s-eye-irving-detected-jackson-s-depths-as-his-admirers/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [John Irving once told me he doesn't start a novel until he knows the last sentence. I said, 'My God, Irving, isn't that like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/john-irving-once-told-me-he-doesn-t-start-a-novel-until-he-knows-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Beauty fades, hair turns gray. Some people are lost before their time. But in the end, we don't remember them for how they looked.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-l-tapscott/beauty-fades-hair-turns-gray-some-people-are-lost-before-their-time/) [Shari L. Tapscott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-l-tapscott/) > [“I like to think that Irving is somewhere chasing angelic speedboats, or maybe he’s got his own wings. Surely, even God needs a laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/i-like-to-think-that-irving-is-somewhere-chasing-angelic-speedboats/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [If I had to pick, I'd say my favorite book is 'A Prayer For Owen Meany', by John Irving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/if-i-had-to-pick-i-d-say-my-favorite-book-is-a-prayer-for-owen-meany/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [At the time, The Hotel New Hampshire was John Irving's favorite adaptation of his work, which meant a lot to all of us who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/at-the-time-the-hotel-new-hampshire-was-john-irving-s-favorite/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [Irving Berlin has no place in American music -- he is American music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kern/irving-berlin-has-no-place-in-american-music-he-is-american-music/) [Jerome Kern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kern/) > [“IRVING: Flowery prose. Verbosity. Some folks think they’re Neil Gaiman, and have ambitions of their scripts being reprinted for their adoring fans to pore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-michael-bendis/irving-flowery-prose-verbosity-some-folks-think-they-re-neil-gaiman/) [Brian Michael Bendis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-michael-bendis/) > [I'm big on story structure. I studied with John Truby, who mapped out story by means of moral wants and needs, and that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-leavitt/i-m-big-on-story-structure-i-studied-with-john-truby-who-mapped-out/) [Caroline Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-leavitt/) [Browse all 17 Irving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Oh, good,” said Hugh, but without enthusiasm. “By the way, here is that American novel I told you about. 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