THE MINT

by T. E. Lawrence ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 1954

The last work by the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom has had a curious publishing history. In 1936 it was put on sale (if it could be called that) at $500,000 per copy. Now- still in a limited edition, this time of 1000 copies- it is being reissued. The market is inevitably sharply limited by the price and the spur to intellectual snob appeal. Actually, it deserves a better fate, for it has unique fascination in its curious glimpses of a different Lawrence. Under the name of Ross, Lawrence joined the R.A.F. as a mechanic, in 1922; later he was sent to Cadet College, 1925. In a series of sketches and personal impressions of the people he worked with and the aspects of barracks life one gets flashes of the sensitive quality of Lawrence's prose. Between the lines one sees the leader, whose understanding was his strength, and whose fear of breaking is in ironic contrast to the endurance he did not feel a virtue. The imaginative interpretation, poignant, bitter, devastating, suggests a writer's notebook. And yet at times there's the linear, introspective aspect of a modern novel. Now monotonous, now holding, it is a unique reading experience.

Pub Date: March 17, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1954

Categories: NONFICTION