Like its predecessor, this book
is full of keen observations, and the sketches of the social futilities
and the typical characters at a summer watering-place are surely good
enough to pass muster. But, somehow, the material fails to combine into
a sufficiently coherent and impressive picture; and the total effect
remains rather feeble. In a drama, "Grabow's Cat" (1880), he suffered
shipwreck once more, though he saved something from the waves. The play
was performed in Christiania and Stockholm, and aroused interest, but
not enough to keep it afloat.
It has been said of Browning that he succeeded by a series of failures,
which meant, in his case, that his books failed to command instant
attention, but were gradually discovered by the thoughtful few who by
their appreciation spread the poet's fame among the thoughtless many. It
was not in this way that Jonas Lie's failures conduced to his final
success. "Thomas Ross," "Adam Schrader," and "Grabow's Cat" have not
grown perceptibly in the estimation either of the critics or of the
public since their first appearance.
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