NOTES ON NOVELS.

Evening Star, Issue 13090, 24 October 1908, Page 11

NOTES ON NOVELS.

If <w>iy Mari©. Corelli were not so dcaferatoly in earnest, so ready to take lance In hftnd and hurl hersclt with frantic against every abuse, great or small, not be with a sense of duty, but with one of pleasure, that one would open hart work. Her earnestness is to be Commended; her methods of workmanship londemned. I can remember, a good many yearns ago, being, positively enthralled by "A Romance of Two Worlds.’ Doubtless, if 1 read it now, I should be gnevonaly oisappointed; but so far as my memory of it: goes, it strikes me as a decidedly interesting ami well-written tale. But that was before Mario Corelli had taken upon herself the office of castigator of society in general; before she had smothered her inventive and descriptive powers under a mask of what can only be described as ranting invective. Words, words, words! Five hundred and twenty pages, bristling with adjectives, inverted commas, and, alas! split infinitives. One could willingly echo Pauloonbridge: “ I was never eo bethumped with words since” —last I read one of Marie Corelli's novels ! Tv hy does not she write half as much, and polish it? Why does she let her enthusiasm run away with her grammar? ” h . v she deliberately break off the thread of her narrative to* deal vindictive and spiteful blows at the harmless mederu coon song and other equally unoffending things? Why—why? But we could go on for a page. Here is a typical sentence. Observe that, the baby has been accurately and minutely described at least a dozen already, particularly his eyes: ‘“Master Laurence.’ too. had a new and radiant light of pleased wonder in his angelic blue eyes.” The inverted commas, used as above, are to bo found in every second line, marking off some inoffensive word from contact with its neighbors, and sis unnecessary adjectives are also typical. However, let us be magnanimous and pass over style and English ; Jet us forget such details ns split infinitives and woods like “ovolvement," and pass on to the matter of “holy orders.” The main object of the book is a crusade against drink. Wait a minute, please ! Miss Corelli is not giviim cs a lecture in favor of Prohibition, but rather an attack upon the adulteration of :Irink. She has no objection whatever to the British working man getting his glass of beer, provided it is pure beer" Here are two or throe sentences embodying her main i iews on the snuject. Bhc is describing a social club which F.verton. the vicar°of hhadbreok. proposes to found”’* where they could even have their beer—ves I I revidod it were pure beer and nonintoxicant, such as is sold to the people in .termany. the Germans drink much more oeer than the English, vet it does not make them drunk.” -1 ‘say, and I will ilways maintain, that there‘would be few drunkards ’ if honest liquors wore sold k> the people instead of noxious drugs.” She makes Everton say; “I am for temperance, not teetotal ism. I like men who are manly enough to understand the firet duty they owe to themselves—that of selfrestraint ; and a fellow who has to wear a blue ribbon in his button-hole as a smn that he never gets drunk is merely advertising himself as a moral coward.” No one views the curse of drink with more horror than Mari© Corelli, yet her views are sensible and moderate. She preaches not Prohibition, but purification ; not total abstinence, but temperance. It is a pity, as I have already said, that her excess of zeal runs away with her discretion Her views arc clear and decided. She at. real abuses with an unsparing hand, but is, nnfortnately, given to attacking others as well that are mainly imaginary. On the whole, however, there is le£ rant and extravagance about 'Holy Orders’than readers of ‘Temporal Power’ and ‘God's Good Man’ may have been led to expect, ine characters are more natural and human, particularly the men. The Rev. Richard Lverton is neither preternaturallj good nor even priggish, and Father Douay is a delightful Catholic priest. The faults of ®tjle, though fatal to a real lover of literature, cannot hide the sincerity and honest purpose of the writer. A little more discretion, a little less zeal and tendency towards running amuck, a little attention to grammar and toning down of expression, and ‘Holy Orders ’ would be a book to bo enjoyed. As it is, wo read it, and appreciate its motive,- but cannot -call it a first-class book. It is vain to expect that a novel with a purpose can be a complete success without good style and workmanship. Still, in spite of thew; drawbacks, the admirers of Marie Corelli are manv, and doubtless they will welcome ‘Holv Orders’ with enthusiasm.

Mr copy is forwarded by Mr Braithwaite.

I have received from the publisher ;David Nutt, London) an advance copy of * book of verses by Mr Frank Hudson, is a member of the literary staff of the ‘ Otago Daily Times.’ It is*a volume modest and minor, but individualised and sincere, which deserves and should gain success. Ihe verse all bears the impression of a man who has felt and thought, and the gift of diction and sense of form revealed are enhanced bv a certani reticence and dignity of utterance. But over everything it is the plain sincerity of Air Hudson’s book that lifts it into line with much more ambitious verse. Here is a sample from the opening verso of the volume, ‘The Song of the Manly Men’: The fool in his ignorant bondage May sneer at their fashion and speech, Iho top and the feather-bed workman Make mock of the lesson they teach. The demagogues rant in the market Of things high removed from their ken ; What are words—empty words—in the balance V\ith the deeds of the manly men? NEWER NOVELS. ‘The Smallholder.’—James Hlvth. ‘Holy Orders.’—Marie Corelli! ’Put Yourself in Her Place.’—Marie C. Leighton. ‘Further Experiences of an Irish R.M.’ —Somerville and .Martin Ross. I he t host Kings.—H. I’ider Haggard. ‘The Virgin in Judgment.’—Eden Phillpots. ‘A Pawn in the Game.’—Rev. W. IT. Fitchctt. ‘My Lost Duchess.’—Jesse Lvnch Williams ‘The Song of Hyacinth.'—.John Oxenham. ‘The Easy-Go-Luckies.’—Maud S. Rawson.