LIFE OF MIRABEAU.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 126, 29 May 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

LIFE OF MIRABEAU.

FICTION OR BIOGRAPHY 1

The most recent work concerning the extraordinary life and character of Gabriel Mirabeau, is Mr. Warre Bradley Wells' translation from the French of "Mirabeau, Lover and Statesman (Robert Hale) by M. Pierre Nezelof. This work is neither pure biography nor pure fiction, but has a curious intermediate status which exposes it to criticisms from both peints of view. It is written in the form of biography, in that the known facts regarding Mirabeau's life are utilised and adhered to, but there are many scenes and a great number of long conversions for which there can be no authority. As no authorities are acknowledged anywhere in the volume, a knowledge of the original documents available would bo necessary before the reader could distinguish concrete fact from the fruit of the author's imagination. Setting aside, however, the question of the danger or the utility of this type of biographical study, there is no doubt that this is an extremely able work of its kind. Mirabeau provides excellent material, for apart from his political activity during the most stirring period of all French history, his private life was conspicuous for its vicissitudes and its intemjierance, even at a time when sobriety and chastity were at a discount amongst the upper classes. M. Nezelof's, account of his hero's childhood is most entertaining, and Gabriel's adventures multiply, as do his debts, when manhood brings a greater degree of freedom. His successful and comparatively disinterested activity in politics comes as something of a shock to the reader who has become acclimatised to the turpitude and irresponsibility of his private life. The apparent inconsistencies of this bizarre figure are not perhaps entirely the author's fault.