Books: England Without Tears

AN ENGLISH YEAR (243 pp.)—Nan Fairbrother—Knopf ($3.75).

One of the casualties of post-World War II writing is the book of personal reflection. Like reflection itself, it has become almost a luxury, or in any case a publisher's risk. Who now cares much about what one unimportant individual, no matter how sensitive, thinks of life as it runs itself out in unimportant byways? The answer is, very few readers—unless such a book slows down life itself for a few hours and makes it seem as various and remarkable as it really is.

Attic Images. This week...