Defending Ruskin
From Mr Bernard Dunstan Sir: It would be a great pity if anyone were to be put off reading Tim Hilton's Ruskin by Philip Hensher's review (Arts, 11 March). Hensher seems fixated on the oddities of Ruskin's private life — a subject we all know quite enough about, surely, by this time. A more balanced view would deal, as did Ken- neth Clark's, with his pioneering conserva- tion work, his love particularly of Venice, `This free net service — where's the catch?' and his efforts to save great buildings from insensitive restoration, as well as his magnifi- cent prose (an inspiration to Marcel Proust among others), his championship of Turner, and, not least, his own drawing.
As for his `unreadability', I can only say that I am lucky enough to possess the Col- lected Works and I have never taken a vol- ume down from the shelf without getting caught by some illuminating or argumenta- tive comment. There are plenty of laughs too, _which might surprise Mr Hensher. Perhaps he should try it one day.
Bernard Dunstan
10 High Park Road, Richmond, Surrey
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