ABSTRACT
In the 'most pellucid air', and among the joyous gods of Greece, Mr Gissing has thrown offthepessimism and absorption in the more sordid side oflife which one has learnt to associate with his name. Throughout this CAutonym' volume there is a note of hope, of acquiescence in the higher destiny ofman and man's power to attain it ifhe only will; and the end is a triumphant proclamation of the gospel ofjoy. 'Health and joy,' says Langley, the hero, 'it is what life demands of us.' He and Agnes Revill have sorrows and shame in their past; and this is the answer he makes to her faithfulness to them, and her shrinking from the happiness that offers itsel£ The three men who occupy the first halfof the book are an admirable play ofcharacter-the pedant, out of touch with life already in his middle age; the boy, full of fme enthusiasm and chivalry; and Langley, the half-wearied but still young man of the world, to whom comes all unexpectedly a second youth. As always, Mr Gissing gives every thought its fitting mood, every motive its appropriate act, and every act its inevitable consequences.
