Perhaps those comissioning editors like a sprinkling of viciousness, but I find his reviews so contemptible I rarely get to the end of one.

Pleased to know that it isn't just me. I frequently find him, as a critic, insufferable.

Fun fact: bananas today are far less slippery owing to the original export cultivar ('Gros Michel') being almost entirely replaced by the modern cultivar, Cavendish. That's why banana skin slips have largely vanished from contemporary comedy discourse.

The hazard of the seemingly brief detour.

(The Guermantes Way, tr. Scott Moncrieff et al.)

Both digress because the digression is the point. Both believe that character is best revealed in an anecdote, table manners or a badly-timed joke, more so than a battle record.