Book Description:
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THACKERAY. It is odd to note how opinions differ as to the greatness of Thackeray and the value of his books. Some regard him as the great est novelist of his age and country j to. , t Worshipper and as one of the greatest of any country and any age. These hold him to be not less sound a moralist than excellent as a writer, not less magnificently creative than usefully and delightfully cynical, not less powerful and complete a painter of manners than infallible as a social philosopher and incomparable as a lecturer on the human heart. They accept Amelia Sedley for a very woman; they believe in Colonel New come ' by Don Quixote out of Little Nell' as in something venerable and heroic; they regard William Dobbin and 'Stunning' Warrington as finished and subtle portraitures ; they think Becky Sharp an improvement upon Mme. Marneffe and VVenham better work than Rigby; they are in love with Laura Bell, and refuse to see either cruelty or caricature in their poet's presentment of Alcide de Mirobolant. Thackeray's fun, Thackeray's wisdom, Thackeray's knowledge ofmen and women, Thackeray's morality, Thackeray's view of life, 'his wit and humour, his ' pathos, and his umbrella,' are all articles of belief with them. Of Dickens they will not hear ; Balzac they incline to despise; if they make any comparison between Thackeray and Fielding, of Thackeray and Richardson, or Thackeray and Sir Walter, or Thackeray and Disraeli, it is to the disadvantage of Disraeli and Scott and Richardson and Fielding. All these were well enough in their way and day; but they are not to be classed with Thackeray. It is said, no doubt, that Thackeray could neither make stories nor tell them ; but he liked stories for all that, and by the hour could babble charmingly of Ivanhoe and the Mousquetai...
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