Part of the fascination of "A Diving Rock on the Hudson" is that it is a deliberately unflattering self-portrait of the garrulity and narcissism of old age. This is something we haven't seen before in literature, and if for no other reason, it is valuable as the speech of a tribe until now silenced.
(...) Clearly, this is a different order of work from "Call It Sleep" and must be read with different standards. "Call It Sleep" remains a masterpiece; nothing is lost from it, or added to it, by reading its sequels.