17 OCTOBER 1925, Page 24

Mr. Arthur Symons has w ri tten Notes on Joseph Conrad, with

Some Unpublished Letters, a pamphlet published by Messrs. Myers and Co., 102 New Bond Street. And theugh Mr. Symons constructs a strange portrait of Conrad, as a man 'abnormal, with " an unlawful soul," a " heart of darkne

ss," • " a tropical heat in his blood," a kind of half-diabolist, yet we feel sure we are nearer the truth in straightforward phrases from C,onrad's own letters :—

" I've never looked into myself. There was no time in these years to turn my head away from the table. There are whole days when did not know whether the sun shone or not."