Also and Perhaps

Under the curiosity-provoking title of 'Also and Perhaps" Sir Frank Swettenham has gathered a number of bright and readable sketches, some of them airy trifles from the society world, others glimpses of the author's personal experiences, and still others more or less impersonal discussions of abstract questions. The essays on Malay life and wonders and the troubled history of Mauritius are admirable. The discourses on such themes as love and fickleness, proverbs,...
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Under the curiosity-provoking title of 'Also and Perhaps" Sir Frank Swettenham has gathered a number of bright and readable sketches, some of them airy trifles from the society world, others glimpses of the author's personal experiences, and still others more or less impersonal discussions of abstract questions.

The essays on Malay life and wonders and the troubled history of Mauritius are admirable. The discourses on such themes as love and fickleness, proverbs, coincidences, and dreams show some thought and cleverness, but they seem to us hardly solid or philosophic enough for the thinker or scientific observer, and not plain enough for the ordinary man. Such dialogues as 'Also' and 'An hour-glass and a sundial' are almost tediously brilliant with point and repartee. For the grim and the fantastic the author has a decided talent, and his writing has, at Its best, both ease and distinction.

The book is not only clever, in the best sense of the word; it is also marked by sincerity and earnestness.