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ftByse»etf[Kirst Noticr.JIn all Mr. Melville’s previous works, full of original genitfs as they are, there was to be found lurking a certain begetting sin of extravagance. Sometimes we saw merely the tendency—-at others, we traced a startling development of the tendency unchecked. We might get over a volume smoothly enough, delighted with the fancy, profoundly impressed with the descriptive powers, not a little pleased with a quaint and original vein of philosophy of the author, when suddenly the sluice would be.lifted* the torrent would burst forth, and for a score of chapters, perhaps for the remainder of the book, we would wade wearily through a Waste of satirical or quasi'philosophical, rhapsody, vainly donging and vainly looking, for an island of firm treadable common sense, on which to clamber out qf the slough, it might be of clever, but after,,all, of vain aijd uqprofitabje wprds.V.The;bobk 4befirt pa ojffersj no exception tp the general rule wh ich ippve or less applies to all Mr,-Melville’s fictions, -. In soipq respects wehold it to be bis greatest effort, Iu none of. his previous works are; finer ot more highly soaring' imaginative powers put forth. , In none pf them are so many profoupa, nndfertile, and thoroughly original v’ejpa of ph^osophi0 specuiatipni prrather perhaps phUosQphic; fancy,, struck. In none of/them, too, is there n: greater affluence of. curiou8, quaint, end out of the way learning brought, to. bear, upon tti#, subject in hand. In, none of. them,are- ^he.de^riptions of seatarm^ and whaling matters so wonderfully graphic* and ip hone of,them is, there, to be.found a more, thorough command• *1* , I ; - . .m i I lt;' i ^f * «« .itft0fsover the, strength and. the beauties of out lapguage^ E^tra-vagance is the - bane of the hook, and the stumbUhg block of the author, He ajfow* bia fancy npt only to run; rlpt, butn M poor Comm^aiyajlqabsolutely to ronnmuck* inSense is hn$tfelt;i$ncl be^bourpd.in araanhw meJahcKqly'ip contemplate,. .Mr.Melville is endowed with a;fa^lTpciUty forthe writing lt;£ rhrapsodiesv Once embarked on a ^butfsh-# * 1 1 _ A. I I. . 4d ^ *■He flies tfverd)f■f?i VIing topic, he knows, woti when orflpw to stop* He flte the pages as,,Mynheer Ypn.Cl^pi flew o'vkHolland'lt;on hissteam leg, perfectly.powerless to.control to irahas ran away with, turn, and leaving the dismayed and confounded reader,paptipg far behind.1( We oppn |One of the volumes at random, and we find', tjm nja^e.jOf .a, wnald ship splflaquisjng overr a Spanish douhlQqn.'as.fphows
Newspaper Details
London Atlas
London, Middlesex, GB
Sat, Nov 01, 1851
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Mount P.
IL, USA 01 Jun 2018
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