SOCIETY RECOLLECTIONS IN PARIS AND VIENNA.
Society Recollections in Paris and Vienna, 1879-1904. By an English Officer. (John Long. 12s. net.)—A title may often be most misleading, and reviews are useful in dispelling false hopes. But no doubt this English officer had no intention of deceiving the book-reading public. He merely differs from them in his definition of the word "society." In his opinion, the society in Paris is a motley collection of Americans, unknown attaches, actors, singers, and grisettes, with an occasional mention of " the Faubourg St. Germain people." This may be either the English officer's misfortune or his fault of taste. To him "recollections" are a babbling list of names, futile reminiscences of pointless remarks made to him, and garrulous information as to the soap used by some Bavarian Royal Princess. Added to this is the inane instruction one expects from the local guide-book of the small Continental hotel. We finish the book with a vague feeling of having waded through a froth of useless information in which there is no soundness, no interest, and wonder speechlessly at the mind of a man who, not content with having lived such an uninteresting life in interesting places, should consider it worth while to do more than quietly "reminisce " in his own armchair.
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