London Town: Sketches of London Life and Character. By Marcus
Fall. Two vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—We cannot say that we have found any amusement in Mr. Fall's humour. A caricature, to be successful, must at least remind us of the original. We do not recognise anything that we know in some of these characters. " The Man Who Knows the Nobility " is meant to be funny. It really is absurd. There might be many ways of satirising the very common English peculiarity of suggesting an acquaintance with titled persons; but we do not laugh when we read of a man boasting that he knows fourteen dukes intimately, and thinks it below him to have any deal- ings with an earl. Some of the papers are realistic, resembling the genuine tubs and pumps which the manager in "Nicholas Nickleby" made such a point of. These are portraitures of a photographic kind. There is little or no use of art in bringing out striking features, but the whole has a certain fidelity. Sometimes this fidelity produces a tragic effect. These are the most successful sketches.
Previous page
