The Adventures of Doctor Brady. 3 vols. By W. H.
Russell, LL.D. (Tinsley.)—We suppose that Dr. Russell will not materially increase or diminish his reputation by This book. He does again what we knew before that he could do,—that is, describe admirably well, but he does not show that he can write a good novel. Nothing, for instance, could be more brilliant and vigorous than the sketch in the first volume of the revenue cruiser's sail across the Atlantic. A landsman who has seen "blue water" as often as Dr. Russell is able, often better able than a sailor, to give details without technicalities. In the Crimea, too, and in India, the writer is, of course, at home, and tells again something of the story which none have told so well as he, and which this generation at least will not soon weary of hearing. How graphic it is when he describes a couple of shells as "two cotton-like balls which suddenly grew out of an ugly redoubt, and which came singing to-whoo ! to- who ! tootle ! tootle-too ! through the air !" But for the romantic part of the book we can say little. The plan seems something of a mistake. the hero does not become Dr. Brady till late in the second volume, and when he does, we hear but very little about his experiences in the hospital, which, indeed, it would require professional skill to describe at all, and something much more rare than professional skill to describe without the horrors that art forbids. There is very little that can be called a plot. The hero meets with various adventures, courts danger with a rashness which is very provoking to the reader, but seems happily provided with a reassuring thickness of skull. He loves, of course, and the reader must find out for himself whether he is made happy. This he will do with great pleasure to himself. A book so well written as this can do very well without much of a plot.
Previous page
