“The writer is the Faust of modern society, the only surviving individualist in a mass age. To his orthodox contemporaries he seems a semi-madman.”

This seems a strained metaphor which may have had a greater and temporal relevance in its time. It's a small percentage of writers who present truly original and individual perspectives in their work. Most debates and expositions are rehashes of ancient arguments and perspectives masquerading as brand new issues in shiny new threads.