A. N. Wilson
Brian McGuinness's biography of Wittgen- stein in early years made a great impress- ion on me (Wittgenstein, A Life: Young Ludwig 1889-1921, Duckworth, £15.95). `What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence'. That for me, if I am honest, includes the Tractatus and the subsequent notebooks, but the account of Wittgenstein's deeply emotional nature sits fascinatingly beside the march of his mind. I could have done with even more about his immensely rich and cultivated business- man father, who entertained Brahms and organised concerts by the young Casals in his own house, which contained seven grand pianos and a chamber organ. (The pianos, he told someone, were for family use only.) I was fascinated to read The Return of the Shadow (Allen & Unwin, £17.95) which is 'The History of The Lord of the Rings Part One'. It contains the many variants which went to the making of Tolkien's masterpiece. One sees how, for example, the Black Riders emerged, almost by chance during the reworking of a description of Gandalf. Punctiliously edited by Christopher Tolkien, it greatly enhances one's sense of JRRT's stature as a writer. Peter Quennell's The Pursuit of Happiness (Constable, £12.95) is an ele- gant essay on the pleasing subject of what has made people happy, and what they mean by happiness — we meet many old friends here, including Johnson (Samuel, not Paul), the Carlyles, Chardin, Proust and Benjamin Franklin. The prose is as scintillating as ever, and the matter of the book is like the best table-talk. It would make an ideal Christmas present.
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