BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 14214, 13 November 1909, Page 4

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

'The Flower of the Heart.’ Bv H. B. Mar-riott-Watson. London; Methuen ami Co. Dunedin: Whit-combe and Tombs. ‘The Tragedy of a Flirtation.’ By H. B. Vogel: London : Greening and Co. Dunedin: Whitcombe and Tombs. We have bracketed the above together because they happen to be by New Zealand authors, are both cleverly told, and each has as its main pivot an ugly, repellent, and indescribable episode. This is where the literary dabblers in and investigators of human muck-heaps have the advantage over their Press reviewers. They make their stories depend on and put their characters in situations the climax of which has to be represented by asterisks, and therefore can neither be discussed nor mentioned. All that can be said is that novels—and there are far too many of them—so made up, no matter how “ clever ” (we think this is the fashionable word) the writers may be, exhibit a want not alone of elementary taste and decency, but a mental paucity and an imaginative deficiency that stamp them as intruders, and unworthy to till the role they have rashly and arrogantly assumed. The man or woman who cannot toll an interesting story or present a natural picture of life as it is without nosing in the swine trough of Zolaism ought to be censored | out of existence. The great novelists of the nineteenth century, and those whose works still sell in their thousands and circulate throughout the English reading world in their tens of thousands, are Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, *nd Eliot, and it is to the eternal glory of their names and of the nation to which they belong that none of them has written a line that cannot be rend m the family circle, by the youth to the maiden, as well as by the. professor, the divine, the business man, and the worker. 'llie efi’ects these authors produce arc legitimate, and the appeal they make is to the best that is in us. They neither pander to our baser part nor exaggerate, the sex clement to a wholly disproportionate degree. The evil that lurks in so largo a percentage of the light fiction of our day is that it makes vice and immorality attractive; the social crimes that lead to the vulgar publicity of the divorce court aie not regarded as morally offensive; llicy are discussed and gloated over with the zest of a. satyr, and their cumulative effect on tiic mind of the reader is irritating and upsetting. it is trut that these worshippers at the shrine, of lubricity, like the Restoration dramatists, tack a moral on to their " psychological studies.” but for one person who heeds this tardy deference to the standard conventions twenty will concern themselves witii the sayings and doings of the people who have made such semi-apology nccessaiy. Both Hr Marriott-Watson and MrAogc-I have written a strong, vivid, and telling story, yet neither can hope for any permanent success among serious readers. .Mr Marriott-Watson is undoubtedly the abler writer and more skilled story-tellor. Tie has knowledge, wit, humor, distinct ion in character-drawing, and a clear, forceful, and si'inpathclic style that have earned him fame in the world of light literature. In ‘The Flower of the Heart ’ we are in close touch with the mysteries and iniquities of company-promoting, its victors and itdupes, its tools and its methods. It is a. queer- jumble of rogue and saint, rascal and blackguard, go<xl and bad. that wo meet at High House, the country home of the goodhearted bounder and swindling promoter Sam Eversley. and it is around his beautiful and simple wife (whom lie uses as a decoy to secure mtain aristocratic and influential I. en on his directorate) that the tra- » gtdy forms and lakes shape. Of the horrible and repulsive episode that gives biiili to the aftermath of shame and punishment one can only say that it detracts from Hie pleasure of the bool:, and not all Mr Mar-tio't-Walson’s dressing and trimming can make us wish that Tim Flower of the Heart ’ ought to lie read. The onlv soit of people who would “enjoy” its plot and sympathise with its plentiful use of expletives are the ones who do not road a hook once in twelve montlcs. Mr Vogel’s stoiy, though wildly improbable, in of mote than pausing interest, as its principal /.cones are laid in the North Island, and his knowledge of Maori habits and acquaintance with New Zealand scenery stand him in good stead. He is happy, lively, graphic, and agreeable in style, and the story catties the reader along, willy-nilly, to the end. But both Mr Vogel and Mr Mariolt-Watrou have marred what they have to say by their way of saying it. Their Alec Gatneron and Colonel Devigne arc two of the worst bounders we have met in recent fiction—they ought to have been shot. It i.; characteristic, however, of the hour in

which we are permitted (o live and move and have our being that our authors appear to be tinder the impression that each has depicted a gentleman, and a man of honor. Truly, the standards of our fathers have fallen, and the fetid vapors of the sewer have blinded us to the light of the sun.

‘ The Death Gamble.' By G. 11. Sims. London : Stanley, Paid, and Do. There is an aspect of insurance—life, fire, and marine--that does not come into the ken of the ordinary mortal, an aspect at once dark and terrible, but Mr G. R. Sims has made it the central theme of his latent hook. In the- preface to this collection of insurance stories Mr Sims gives plainly a table of facts that are as startling as (hey are' horrible'. This proface is headed ‘ The Dark Side of a Bleating,’ and his indictment is a vorv powerful one'. Murder for insurance money has been practised ns a fine art. That astounding and disquieting feature of cm- civilisation, tho cruel neglect of helpless children, is not a sin of tho very poor. Ill’s to be found in all classes of society', and sometimes in its most revolting form in tho homes of the cultured and wealthy. . . . Out of 115,002 children involved in ono year's record of cases of criminal neglect, 5L518 wore insured for £164,887. No argument will convince a person of ordinary intelligence, that grots and cruel neglect is the royal road to increase the chances of protracted premium paying, and lessen their chances of drawing the insurance money. A system of granting deatli certificates, once scandalous in its lack of percautions, and oven now amazing in its careless nets, makes it comparatively easy for the Death Gambler, if be or she tala's ordinary precautions, to obtain a certificate which obviates all unpleasant inquiries. The long, black record of life insurance frauds which, to ho carried out, necessitated deliberate murder is practically a record of carelessly - granted death certificates. The money won by such terrible means is not hoarded; it is flung away with both hands. For a gold mine has been discovered which can be worked with comparative ease. The book is cram full of horrors. On that account there are many timorous souls to whom it will not appeal, but Mr G. R. Sims uses the hand and skill of a master when ]ie delineates the truly wretched side of London life. His object in writing this lurid brochure is stated by himself at the close of the preface. In nothing I shall write do 3 desire for one moment to minimise the blessings of insurance. These true stories of the Death Gamble do but show the dark side of it.

‘ Tho Gilbcrt-Sullivan Cycle.’ By Sir \A m. 8. Gilbert. London ; Geo. 801 l and Sous.

This delightful volume, which is supplied with illustrations from tho pencil of W. Russell Flint, comprises a series of scenes from the best-known operas of that wonderful and successful collaboration. Not the least interesting chapter in the book is that in which Bir William chats racily concerning tho evolution of some of the characters in hia librettos.' For example, Bunthpme and Groavenor were at first described as the rival curates cf the ‘Bah Ballads/ but the idea Was not followed up because it occurred to the famous librettist that a chorus of comic parsons would not be in the best taste. The secret of the origin of ' The Yeoman_of the Guard’ is also disclosed. Sir William was once belated at Uxbridge station, and while there saw an advertisement of the Tower Furnishing Company containing a picture of a Beefeater. Then came the suggestion of the Tower of London as the- “ scene.” Later in the same

day, and at tho same place, his eyo was caught by a picture in a magazine of a jester, and so “Jack Point” became a famous character in light opera. MR ROOSEVELTS FAVORITE AUTHORS. Mr Roosevelt states in ‘ Scribner’s Magazine’ that bo took the following library of books with him to the wilds of Central Africa for solace during his sporting expedition : Bible. Apocrypha. Borrow: ‘Bible in Spain,’ ' Zingali,’ ‘Lavcngro,’ ‘Wild Wales,’ ‘The Romany Rye.’ Shakespeare. Spenser: ‘ Faerie Queen.’ Marlowe. Mahan: ‘ Sea Power.’ Macaulay: History. Essays, Poems. Homer: ‘lliad,’ ‘Odyssey.’ La Chanson De Roland. “ Nibclungcnlicd.” Carlyle: ‘Frederick tho Great.’ Shelley: Poems. Bacon: Essays. Lowell: Literary Essays, ‘Biglow Papers.’ Emerson; Poems. Longfellow. Tennyson. Poe; Talcs, Poems. Keats. Milton: 'Paradise Lost’ (Books I. and II.). Dante; ‘lnferno’ (Carljde’s translation). Holmes; ‘ Autocrat,’ ‘ Over the Teacups.’ Bret Harte: Poems, ‘Talcs of the Argonauts,’ ‘ Luck of Roaring Camp.’ Browning: Selections. Crothers- ‘Gentle. Reader.’ Mark Twain: ‘Huckleberry Finn,’ ‘Tom Sawyer.’ Banyan's ‘ Pilgrim's Progress.’ Euripides (Murray's translation): ‘Hippolytus,’ ‘ Baccha?.’ ‘ The Federalist.’ Gregcrovous: ‘Rome.’ Scott: ‘Legend of Montrose,’ ‘Guy Mannering,’ ‘Waverley,’ ‘Rob Roy,’ ‘Antiquary,’ Cooper: ‘Pilot,’ ‘Two Admirals.’ Froissart. Percy’s Relics. Thackeray's ‘Vanity Fair’ and ‘ Pendcanis.’ Dickens: ‘ Our Mutual Friend,’ ‘ Pickwick.’

JOHNSON’S BEST PAGE. Johnson wrote so much and on such a variety of subjects that there will ho great diversity of opinion as to which is his best “page.” Some will fix on a certain passage in the ‘Life of Richard Savage,’ others may prefer tho famous paragraph on lona of which Boswell thought so much and which he imagined he was praising so highly when he wrote: “Tho present respectable president of the Royal Society was so much struck on reading it that he clasped his hands together, and remained I far some time in an attitude of silent ad- [ miration." Tho letter he wrote to Ins | dying mother u hen poverty prevented bis being by her bedside lias some claim to (he > first place. it is. in Carlyle’s phrase, j "tears trickling down the granite, rock." j the bitterest and tenderest of (ears. R is : heller than all tho ‘Ramblers’ and ‘.Adventurers.’ better than ‘ Rasselas ’ and' Irene,’ better Ilian the great Dictionary itself. Here, in its brevity, it is, and every word is from the heart - , Dear honored mother.- Neither your condition nor your character makes it lit for me to say ‘much. You have been the best mother, and. [ believe, the host woman in the world. .1 thank you for your indulgence to me, and beg forgiveness for al! that I have done ill and all that 1 have omitted to do well. Cod giant, you His Holy Spirit, and receive yoip to everlasting happiness, for Jesus ( hrist s sake. Anii-u. Lord Jesus receive your spirit. Amen. —I am, dear, dear mother, your dutiful son, Sam. Johnson’. Ex forti duh-edo. 1 WOMEN WRITERS IX FRANCE. Three thousand bluestockings in France! (Xciaiins a. statistician, who is alarmed at. liis discovery. Ibis is only a rude way ol saying that that number t ,f Frenehwoiueii write. Fifteen hundred of them are novelists, 500 write -school books, and cO are poetesses. Ihe remainder are miscellaneous authors. Among them arc* 060 journalists, ol whom, however, onlv twenty write on oilier topics than fashions. .1 iftecn hundred women belong to tho French Society of Authors, and sixty to that, ot Dramatic Authors. The statistidiscovery dens not seem a Very alarming one. Tlnee hundred poetesses, it is true, is rat her a high figure, but only I.oCO lady novelists lor a population o! over foriy millions soi-ms quite moderate. -■— London ‘ Telegraph ’ Haris eoirespon- | dent. BEGINNINGS O v THE LINOTYPE. One of tin* late Mr (I. Manvilie Fi-nn’x recollections of his boyhood had to do wifii one of the many early attempts al j tho invention of a. composing machine. A j triend of his father's in led as engineer 1 for the two inventors. Young and Del- ! camlne, and made their machines for tin in. Many a. time young l-V-im ■‘ watched tin- young ladies seated at a. piano-like keyboard, a. I ling free by a touch one by on;- from their tall lolunn.s tic* tiny tyru s to their resneetn e concr-s along the grooves.” 'These'machines were used in setting up the ‘ London Phalanx,’ which, as Mr Eciin remembered it, “related soul-enthralling matters regarding the Countess of ll Hillingdon's connection.” The same, invention was alio called into Hie service of a new venture in magazine literature, a. broad rii -et of four peg-s, which gave, lu.lw.vn (he prin-eioil words of_its til!", a. “ renre-seid.-ii-on of rice machine with its fair wo;hers." The macliino itself ha<! not a. long life, having been only the proems..r of more c.Teetivc means of quickening the speed of the compositor. The new magazine, however, has had a can ■or of inibmken prosperity, J( was the ‘Family it era id.’ CHESTERTON ON SHAW. Shaw has; many of the actual opinions ol Tolstoy. Like Tol.-. toy lie tells men., with coarse innocence, that romantic wails only butchery, and that romantic love is only lust. Bn). Tolstoy objects to there things because they are real; In; really wishes (o abolish them. Shaw only objects to them in so far as they arc. ideal: that is. in so far as they are idealised. Sha.w objects not so much to war as to tho attractiveness of war. Ho docs not so much dislike love as tho love of love. Before tho temple of Mars Tolstoy stands and thunders “ There shall bo no wars.” Bernard Shaw merely murmurs “Wins if you mutt, but, for God’s sake, not war songs.’’ Before tho toaiplo of Venus Tolstoy cries terribly “Como out cf if.!” Shaw is quite content to say “ Do not be taken in by it.” Tolstoy teems really to propose that high passion and patriotic valor should bo destroyed. Sha.w is more moderate, and only asks that, they should bo desecrated. Upon this note, both .about sox and conflict, ho was destined to dwell through much of his work with tho most wonderful variations of witty adventure and intellectual surprise. H may be doubted perhaps whether this realism in love and war is quite so sensible ns it looks. t'ccurns judieat orbis ten-arum: tho world is wiser than tho moderns. The world has kepi, i.ent {mentalities simply because they are tho most practical things in tho world. They alone make men do things. Tho world does not encourage a quite rational lover, simply because a perfectly rational lover would never get married. The world does not encourage a perfectly rational army, because a perfectly rational army would run awav.

The death is announced from St. Petersburg of Madame Olga Nikolaiovna. Tchumin, who was well known in tho Russian literary world for her original poems and remarkable translations of Shakespeare. Milton, Byron, Tennyson, Dante, and Schiller. She was forty-seven years of ag®. “