T IKE every other great writer of tho past,
Dickens has his detractors ; snobs who say ho is vulgar, moderns who say he is outmoded, intellectuals who say ho is crude. But despite them, he remains to the normal, unaffected reader the greatest romantic who ever wrote in the English language ; a master alike of narrative and characterization, atmosphere and plot.
Mr. Ralph Straus , the novelist, is one of the moderns who have been attracted by the rich and vivid personality of Dickens, and he has just written a book on him which is the result of much original research.