![]() Crayon’s own imagination is very powerful and it is often the only entertainment he needs, as in “The Voyage.” It sometimes borders on or even becomes hallucinatory, as in “The Mutability of Literature,” when he believes he has a conversation with a book. The power of imagination to preclude reality is a very important theme in The Sketchbook. He embodies this kind of non-judgmental comparison in “The Voyage,” when he explains that he liked having the long, empty trip as a way to separate the two places, which makes it possible to visit one without always comparing it to the other. In forming the dichotomy in this way, Crayon can flatter both worlds, and he does not have to place one above the other. The main distinction that Crayon makes between the two worlds is that of age-America is new and exciting, full of promise and untamed landscapes, while Europe is ancient, with the relics of great men and great stories everywhere. Although he often edges into satire and caricature, his portrait of Europe, especially England, is quite positive on the whole. He also warns, however, against American writers doing the same in return, and he certainly avoids this pitfall himself. That Crayon tries to give a fair and balanced portrait of both Old and New Worlds becomes clear in “English Writers on America,” in which he criticizes the often unfair and incorrect impression these writers give of America. This commentary is a significant theme in the collection. This premise inherently calls for some kind of comment on the differences between Europe, the Old World, and America, part of the New World. ![]() is that Crayon is an American traveling through Europe and writing down his impressions. The premise for The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
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