ABSTRACT
The thorouglmess and ability displayed in Mr George Gissing's study ofhis hero, Godwin Peak, are beyond doubt. Yet it may be questioned whether the end and aim offiction resides in analysis, however minute and clever, which is accompanied by the careful avoidance ofany kind of emotion. This aridity has hitherto been conspicuously absent from Mr Gissing's productions, or at least from those which have made his name. It dawned in Denzil Quarrier, and many of the writer's admirers will regret to find that it is still more apparent in his newer work, Born in Exile. There are hardly any but painful traits in the character of Peak, miserably sensitive on the subject of his obscure birth, devoured by ambition, tormented by religious doubt, savagely independent, and yet betrayed by love into the depths of baseness. The strongest scene in the book is that ofhis confession to Sidwell Warricombe, and their consequent separation. The girl's seeming nobility ofsoul appears to hold out a promise ofbetter things in the midst of the moral gloom that envelopes the lovers. This hope, however, is disappointed when, after years of waiting, Sidwell answers by 'I cannot' Peak's last endeavour to tum the sad current of his life, henceforth abandoned to the bitter pessimism which leads to utter despair.
