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A charming collection of essays, of which we here give the titles: The only real ghost in fiction, The best two books, Lies of fable and allegory, My copy of Keats, Decay of the sublime, A borrowed poet, The English opium-eater, A guide to ignorance.
"Mr. Dowling is light of touch and he knows how to combine a serious thought with an amusing manner. He discourses of ghosts, and the only real ghost he finds in fiction, the ghost that genius summons up at will. He chats about books and has something to say about fables and allegory. The ' Pilgrim's progress' he denounces as ' a horrible attempt to tinkerize the Bible, ' because, he says, Bunyan constantly violated sequence and verisimilitude. He thinks Spenser would be readable if it were not for his morals. He explains the markings in his copy of Keats, expatiates on De Quincey as 'a stylist, ' reviews the poems of James Mangan, laments the decay of the sublime, and celebrates the inestimable advantages of ignorance. There is a good deal of danger in these days that people will know too much, and Mr. Dowling's humorous warning is not without reason."
"Mr. Dowling is light of touch and he knows how to combine a serious thought with an amusing manner. He discourses of ghosts, and the only real ghost he finds in fiction, the ghost that genius summons up at will. He chats about books and has something to say about fables and allegory. The ' Pilgrim's progress' he denounces as ' a horrible attempt to tinkerize the Bible, ' because, he says, Bunyan constantly violated sequence and verisimilitude. He thinks Spenser would be readable if it were not for his morals. He explains the markings in his copy of Keats, expatiates on De Quincey as 'a stylist, ' reviews the poems of James Mangan, laments the decay of the sublime, and celebrates the inestimable advantages of ignorance. There is a good deal of danger in these days that people will know too much, and Mr. Dowling's humorous warning is not without reason."