John Ruskin: The Later Years

The second volume of art historian and critic Hilton's biography of Ruskin is heftier in size than its predecessor, and a lesser achievement. It does, however, reveal fully the recurrent mental illness that crippled the controversial Victorian sage in his later years. Much of the book centers--as did much of the middle-aged, sexually na ve Ruskin's life--on his attenuated and abortive love affair with a young, fanatically religious girl, Rose La Touche, who died in her mid-20s (Ruskin met her when she was 10). Hilton also shows how sycophants exploited the wealthy Ruskin, who was increasingly unable to complete most of his later work, a failure that Hilton makes light of; he curiously contends that those works ""may be better for their lack of termination."" While Hilton is vastly knowledgeable about Ruskin, his garrulous, old-fashioned style (""Before returning to the events of Ruskin's life in 1871 it is convenient to summarise here ""; ""We must now describe the last months "") is at odds with his contemporary approach to insanity, as in his ruminations about La Touche's possible suicidal anorexia and Ruskin's manic depressive psychosis. In the face of such writing excesses, only Hilton's morbid fascination with Ruskin's descent into his long, precarious twilight will keep the reader turning the pages. (May)