George Borrow

George Borrow - Times Literary Supplement, 10th July 1903

It is a singular coincidence, perhaps, that during one and the same summer we should be celebrating centenaries of Samuel Pepys and George Borrow. Pepys died in the early summer of 1703; Borrow was born in July, 1803. Unlike each other in almost every respect, they are dui palor, [213b] as Borrow would say, in one very material point. The reputation of each of them has risen to such a point that, except for injudicious and exaggerated praise, it can have little to fear in the future; and in each case this reputation is based primarily upon autobiography. Among the worlds autobiographers the author of Lavengro is entitled, we feel sure, to rank with St. Augustine, Cellini, Pepys, Rousseau, Franklin; and, for truthfulness, it is very probable, if we could only estimate it properly, that he would have to be put at the top of the class. His nearest competitor in this respect would undoubtedly be Pepys, and the veracity in both cases not the result of a double share of innate truthfulness, but very largely an accident, due to lack of invention and an absence of that powerful literary style which in the case of a Leigh Hunt or a Stevenson distorts everything that passes through it. In Pepys the malignity of the literary fairy is more than compensated by the worthy secretarys insatiable appetite for life; in Borrow by the wanderlust or extraordinary passion and faculty for adventure, which makes his best books such an ambrosial hash of sorcery, Jews, Gentiles, gipsies, prisons, half-in-halves, cosas de Espaawhat you will. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 30887
Author: Seccombe, Thomas
Release Date: Jan 7, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English