Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
¦ One of the most remarkable features in the history of the literature of the nineteenth century will unquestionabl y be , the exhaustless supplies of novels and romances . Every season brings with it its contribution . Novelty is out of the question , for the whole groundwork is exhausted , and repetition upon repetition , varied only by the differing styles of the authors , and their knowledge of their native language , supply the demand
which the vast increase of circulating libraries creates . The work , therefore , of a critic is no sinecure ; he is expected to advise , to point out those works of fiction which may be advantageously read , and to warn readers from the perusal of others which will either not repay the loss of time , or are calculated to do more harm than good . One or other of these courses he must take , or he would be judged as wanting in his duty , when in reality the only sound and useful advice or caution he could conscientiousl ive
y g , would be—Read none , for they are all equally indifferent . As a sample , however , of the mass , we will begin by pointing out a twovolume romance of the most orthodox and fashionable class , to which the conscientious advice above hinted at , is most peculiarly applicable . "Angelo : a Romance of Modern Rome , " * is a tale drawn from the late Italian revolution , in which mystery , and pure , unadulterated Satanic wickedness , are ingeniously woven together for the purpose of creating
what is termed , " a lively interest" in the leading characters of the romance . The first hero is an Italian of the Diavolo school , and the second is an approved follower of St . Ignatius Loyala , and these two gentlemen , the one by the extent of his villany , and the other by the
firmness oi his will , manage between them to get up , every now and then , such scenes of inextricable confusion , that we are not surprised at the finale , which leaves every other character in the book in a state of bewonderment at the sports of which it has been the victim . " Counterparts ; or , the Cross of Love ; "f by the author of "Charles Anchester , " is the type of another class , in which metaphysical sentiment and extraordinary language predominate . Both these characteristics are evidently mistaken by the author , as well as by those who have praised
the work , for poetical imagery and wealth of words , as well as ideas . We look upon them , however , in another light . To us they seem as exaggerated as they are tedious , and as false in moral as they are offensive in style and character . We find nothing pretty in the notion that the gingle of a small bunch of keys should pierce a young lady , " as though her brain gaped open beneath a dividing knife . " Here , too , is an . extract , charming for the judicious melange of the
sublime and beautiful . A young gentleman of a poetical turn is composing a poem , under the influence of a storm . We are told that " there loas blood in Ms veins , which the thunder could not curdle , and his nerves were soft , sheathed like a sleeping infant ' s , from sympathies with the lightning . " All of which we are glad to hear , although we do not in the least under- . stand . However , " the cloud-mark shivered as the flashes , yellow and
angry red , gushed through the plague , blue-tinting that sheeted the sk y all over . _ Suddenly the thunder ceased : the youth per haps felt it not , but he had certainly heard it . Flinging down his pen , he crossed to the window , and he was upon the laion at once . Bareheaded beneath the storm , he surveyed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
¦ One of the most remarkable features in the history of the literature of the nineteenth century will unquestionabl y be , the exhaustless supplies of novels and romances . Every season brings with it its contribution . Novelty is out of the question , for the whole groundwork is exhausted , and repetition upon repetition , varied only by the differing styles of the authors , and their knowledge of their native language , supply the demand
which the vast increase of circulating libraries creates . The work , therefore , of a critic is no sinecure ; he is expected to advise , to point out those works of fiction which may be advantageously read , and to warn readers from the perusal of others which will either not repay the loss of time , or are calculated to do more harm than good . One or other of these courses he must take , or he would be judged as wanting in his duty , when in reality the only sound and useful advice or caution he could conscientiousl ive
y g , would be—Read none , for they are all equally indifferent . As a sample , however , of the mass , we will begin by pointing out a twovolume romance of the most orthodox and fashionable class , to which the conscientious advice above hinted at , is most peculiarly applicable . "Angelo : a Romance of Modern Rome , " * is a tale drawn from the late Italian revolution , in which mystery , and pure , unadulterated Satanic wickedness , are ingeniously woven together for the purpose of creating
what is termed , " a lively interest" in the leading characters of the romance . The first hero is an Italian of the Diavolo school , and the second is an approved follower of St . Ignatius Loyala , and these two gentlemen , the one by the extent of his villany , and the other by the
firmness oi his will , manage between them to get up , every now and then , such scenes of inextricable confusion , that we are not surprised at the finale , which leaves every other character in the book in a state of bewonderment at the sports of which it has been the victim . " Counterparts ; or , the Cross of Love ; "f by the author of "Charles Anchester , " is the type of another class , in which metaphysical sentiment and extraordinary language predominate . Both these characteristics are evidently mistaken by the author , as well as by those who have praised
the work , for poetical imagery and wealth of words , as well as ideas . We look upon them , however , in another light . To us they seem as exaggerated as they are tedious , and as false in moral as they are offensive in style and character . We find nothing pretty in the notion that the gingle of a small bunch of keys should pierce a young lady , " as though her brain gaped open beneath a dividing knife . " Here , too , is an . extract , charming for the judicious melange of the
sublime and beautiful . A young gentleman of a poetical turn is composing a poem , under the influence of a storm . We are told that " there loas blood in Ms veins , which the thunder could not curdle , and his nerves were soft , sheathed like a sleeping infant ' s , from sympathies with the lightning . " All of which we are glad to hear , although we do not in the least under- . stand . However , " the cloud-mark shivered as the flashes , yellow and
angry red , gushed through the plague , blue-tinting that sheeted the sk y all over . _ Suddenly the thunder ceased : the youth per haps felt it not , but he had certainly heard it . Flinging down his pen , he crossed to the window , and he was upon the laion at once . Bareheaded beneath the storm , he surveyed