| + + | N. Y. Times. 10: 391. Je. 17, ‘05. 100w. |
“The motif ... is an extremely unpleasant one, and in hands less skilled than those of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell the story would be too painful. The story is a study of character of a very unusual kind, full of insight, experience and skill.”
| + + — | Outlook. 79: 772. Ap. 1, ‘05. 180w. |
“It is undeniably powerful. The workmanship is of a high order.”
| + + | Pub. Opin. 38: 713. My. 6, ‘05. 140w. | |
| + | Reader. 6: 239. Jl. ‘05. 390w. |
“Impressive as the book is, one wonders inevitably whether Constance was, after all, worth this expenditure of literary power on the part of Dr. Mitchell.”
| + — | R. of Rs. 31: 760. Je. ‘05. 200w. |
Mitchell, Silas Weir. Youth of Washington: told in the form of an autobiography. [†]$1.50. Century.
To think the thoughts of Washington as he thought them, to express them as he might have expressed them, in a word, to command a view of men and things as this general and statesman of Mount Vernon looked upon them, has been a unique task, to say nothing of the daring implied. But Dr. Mitchell has only reversed the great process of dramatization. Instead of fitting an actor to the mold of some great writer’s conception, as the stage continually does, he starts with the man and suits his thoughts and speech to the individual. Years of study, fresh enthusiasm, and keen insight into human nature have been brought to bear on his unusual task.
“Dr. Weir Mitchell has added another to the melancholy examples of Washingtonion dullness. It is sedate, detailed, conscientious and very dull.”