THIS WEEK'S BOOKS
Sin ARTHL7R QUILLER-COUCH has chosen and edited The Oxford Book of English PrOse (Clarendon Press). Anthologists of
verse are always denounced for their taste ; each critic thinks • it an indefensible- error that this should have been put in or
• that left out.- - What is to be the -fate, then, of an'anthologist
of prose.? There is more tol select-from-than a hundred men
could read in a life - time --and -there are no standards for seieetkiet at all; And observe what Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch has been compelled to do. On an average, we suppose, the
citations are three or fOur hundred words long ; but the carriage Of prose demands room for- movement. We think
- Sir ArthUr is-right in taking " persuasion " as the aim of prose : are we so easily persuaded ? All - this, however, is merely to point out the impossibility cf -making a " standard " book of proSe selections. Our gratitude is due for this attempt to
collect passages of good prose, and we recommend it cordially • to those who wish to become easily acquainted with the variety of English expression in prose.
Previous page
