Jacob Elthorne. By Darrell Figgie (J. AL Dent and Sons.
6s.)—The life of Jacob Elthorne is one of the most detailed and complete autobiographies that we have ever found under the heading of "Fiction." Here is an account, not only of Elthorne'e doings and fortunes, but of the growth of his mind and personality; it is worth while to read it, just as it is always worth while to get to know some one person intimately and well. By the end of the book we know Jacob so well that, in spite of our love for him, and after reading Ramsay's "after-word," we can yet understand the failure of his marriage ; for, with all his admirable force and passion, he was exasperating with his quixotic ideals of the high calling of literature, with his contempt for business and sport and well- established conventions; he was a devoted follower of art for art's sake, yet was content to live on the money earned by his wife through the writing of novels which he described as "namby-pamby, slippy-sloppy, erotico-religions sentimen- talism." Much of the book is taken up with interesting discussions on literature and journalism and realism in art, and these are in some ways more satisfactory that the plot of the story; it is only when Mr. Figgis launches out into mysticism and pseudo-philosophy that we are inclined to hurry, and to sympathise with those readers who will quail before the length of the book and its close printing.
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