Prom Paddington to Penzance. By Charles G. Harper. (Chatto and
Windus.)—This is the record of an excursion, made during the past summer by the author and a comrade, from London to the Land's End. Various means of locomotion were employed, and the route followed was by no means the most direct one. But in due time the goal was reached. Mr. Harper expresses profound dissatis- faction with the Land's End; nor is this to be wondered at, if he saw nothing better than what he has shown in his remarkably ugly drawing of the place, from which we judge that he was entirely out of sympathy with its charm and attraction. His pages, which are on the whole lively and amusing, contain, in addition to his own observations, some guide-book lore and some history. There are over a hundred pen-and-ink sketches scattered through the book, very few of which rise above the commonplace. If correct in outline, they are extremely hard and wanting in feeling. After his excellent volume on " The Brighton Road," this book is some- what disappointing ; and we put it down with the conviction that Mr. Harper ought to have done a good deal better.
Previous page
