In Rudyard Kipling : a Criticism, by Richard Le Gallienne
(John Lane, 3s. 6d.), we have an excellent example of the kind of book which is better left unwritten. Where there is so unbridgable a gulf in temperament as that which yawns between Mr. Kip- ling and Mr. Le Gallienne, criticism becomes impossible. Mr. Le Gallienne writes quite amiably and civilly. He admits Mr. Kip- ling's genuine gift of humour, and adds in characteristic style, "His farce alone is a well of precious laughter," but he is as incapable of rendering justice to Mr. Kipling's great qualities as he is of estimating his shortcomings as an artist or a moralist. When the author of "The Quest of the Golden Girl" accuses Mr. Kipling of vulgarity, and denounces him and his followers as the true end-of-the-century decedents, one can only cry Quis tuterit Gracchos? The book has one excellent feature, — a valuable bibliography compiled by Mr. Lane.
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