LITERARY NOTES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2691, 14 December 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

LITERARY NOTES.

'* I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of hooka than a king who did nob lot o reading."—Lord Maoaulav.,

WITH PAPER-KNIFE AND PEH. “ Degeneration,” by Max Nordau (Hcmnomann’s Empire Library). Loudon: Wilr liam Heinnomaun. Mr Heinuemann, already 'veil known to the; reading public as a , publisher of except tional enterprise, is placing colonial; book-: lovers’under as'debt of; gratitude n >by the issue of his new venture “The- Empire, Library.” / Hitherto . “ colonial libraries ” have-. mainly-been composed of works of fiction, but MrHeinnomann is now making ai new. departure in issuing a special edition,' for sale, in the colonies and Indifi* of stands ard works of science, history,'geography,., §tc;i published shy -Vliim' - and; hitherto, obtainable bnly->t prices beyond the roach; of the average colonial purchaser of booksl The first volume of the “Empire Library vhas now reached us in" the shape ’of Max’ Nordau’s famous work “ Degeneration.” This book, which in its English edition is priced at 17s, is presented.; to, us ,in the Empire Library, tastefully' and stoutly bound, printed in good bold type on excellent paper, for five shillings! Here, indeed, is a boon to the colonial reader, and as succeeding volumes are mostly books which have been well received in the Old Country,- Mr,, Heinnemaunh now library should have a big success. Max Nordau’s “ Degeneration ” is in many ways a notable work.. It has been translated in almost every European language, 'iand its vogue has been unprecedented for a scientific work. In “ Degeneration ” the great Gorman philosopher and psychologist gives us a searching criticism of the pessimistic and pornographic tendency, so disagreeably evident, in modern ..European life and ;literature, and - v incidentally examines tjie decadence of tone, in pubr lie and private morality, which has caused so much alarm amongst students of';the: sociology of the dater. period of the dying* century. Kordau submits pur modern life,manners, customs and vices to a dissection which reveals much that is strange; and; curious, and not a little that is ugly, not to ’say revolting, His literary style is admirable, the opening chapter, “The:Dusk of the Nations,” .being a-..triumph of vividly.; picturesque 'description of the •; wide-1 spread: folly and depravity which uro the outcome of a so-called ciyilizjitionl. Herbert! Spender has been credited with making, tho: science of sociology ah attractive subject* but this latter-day German celebrity, simply; dazzles us by tho cogencyofhis arguments, the depth of/his encyclopaedic character of the material upon which he ;has drawn to point hia moral and adorn his tale; aud above all, by his forcible invective and brilliant literary style. French, English, and German literature of tho aesthetic, decadent and realistic schools is put under amerciless flood of all search inglight, and fads, shams, and frauds of; all descriptions aro [exposed to the test of common sense, truth and purity.. The. vicious tendency of a certain class of modern fiction and . poetry is traced back to mental disease in the authors, and terrible pictures ,aro drawn of tho awful results of diseased brains and ill-disciplined minds. No more powerful indictment of the vicious in literature has ever appeared than this brilliant book of Nordau's, and no wonder it has caused auch a widespread sensation. Largely, influenced by Professor Lombroso, * to whom, indeed, the book is dedicated* “ Degeneration'” is a book which will,make' men think, and if at times the reader-is tempted to say Nordau exaggerates ; and' paints bis pictures in too deep a tone, he is 'confronted by such a mass of quotations/ facts, figures and exemplications as make; •him withdraw the objection and admit the German philosopher is in the right; The chapter on “ Ibsenism *V.has never been equalled in modem literature for its merci-' less flaying of a literary celebrity, and the same may be said of that in which “ Zola and his 8chool”:aro put under the Nordau .microscope and scalpel. : TJio concluding chapters deal with- suggested cures for tho “ degeneratioiTbf the age,” and here' it is a pleasant relief to notice that N ordau can see a possible cure for the pervading immorality .in modern'art; and literature, and is not without hope that the twentieth century will produce something cleaner, nobler and more healthy. Detailed criticism of such a book as this is impossible in the brief space at our command -iSuffic© it to say that “ Degeneration ” specially appeals to the thoughtful.and cultured reader, and in its present cheap form should have a place on the shelves of every library l where fiction is accompanied by moro solid faro for tb© reader.

Ax IjiagiinAllVZ Man,” by Eoberfc S. ; Hiohens. Heinuoznann’a Colonial Library. (London; William Heinnemann). Mr ■ Hiobens’ first book, “ The Green Carnation/* was a,very smart 1 satire upon the aesthete?, literary and society poseurs, of whom a more than ordinarily eccentric type was found in a person now an inmate of on© of Her. Majesty's prisons. “The Green Carnation ** was an undeniably clever and amusing l book, and gave promise of better and stronger work to, come. Certainly' in Mr Hxchens* second effort, “ An Imaginative Has/ 4 we have power,

but the general tone of the story, not to speak of some of its principal incidents, is ; so morbid and unpleasant, and the main idea verges so perilously upon the impos- ! sible that it can hardly, wo think, be voted a success. If ever a book were written that justifies Nordau’s theories in “ Degenerationit is aa “An Imaginative Man,” for Henry Dennison is exactly' one of those “ Ego-maniacs ” whose mental disease, has been so carefully studied by the groat German. Dennison is a man of wealth and culture, married to a wife of no great individuality, but nevertheless a handsome and charming woman. Unfortunately', Dennison is. a man biassed—tortured, perhaps would be a more correct term—with an over-vivid imagination. He lives continually in a world of his own creation, an egotistical, selfish fellow, who hides his inner nature by an outward affectation of cynicism and sarcasm. The Denni-1 sons go to Egypt for the winter, and here —please don’t laugh, for the incident is so wonderfully well described by Mr Hichens that one can almost believe it—the imaginative man falls in love with the Sphyux, that ‘ colossal and mysterious head Which 1 stands amid the sands of the’ Hand of the Pharaohs, an object of curiosity and wonder formany so centuries.. His insanity, far such, of course, it is, although to accurately diaguise it we require a Hombrosp or a Nordau, gains upon him, he neglects his wife, and finally, in an agony of mingled ecsbmy and despair, ho dashes his -brains out against the solemn, silent, mass of granite, whose inscrutable smile had proved for the man such a demoniacal allurement. The morbidity of the story is unquestionable,, but the power with which the gradual descent to the death of the madman is narrated, is equally undeniable. Minor personages in the story are a widow lady, Mrs Ainslie, and her consumptive son Guy. Doth aro novel but unpleasant creations. The son, the sands of whose life are fast ebbing out when ho arrives iu Cairo, plunges into the most unbridled debauchery, ond in a chapter which will, such is the perversity of human nature, send the sale of “An Imaginative Man” up to many thousands, the author gives a most realistic and, indeed, a most revolting picture of the night side of.modern Cairo, withits dancing girls, its immoral, “quarter” and its thousand and one attractions for the more depraved amongst English and American tourists. Tho mother, and this is perhaps tho most revolting feature in tho book, winks at her boy’s profligacy, and what is worse, actually defends it. “An Imaginative Man ’’ is a subtly clover book, but taken on a whole, it is one of the most unwholesome that wo have read for some, time past. ,

“All Men are Liars,” by Joseph Hooking-. Ward-Lock’s, Colonial Library., (Wellington; H. and J. Baillie.) A couple of months ago wo favourably,, reviewed Mr 1 Hooking’s admirable, novel' “ Tho Story of Andrew Fairfax;” , Another' story ( ,by the same writer. now reaches us in Messrs Ward-Lock’s well-go t-up Colonial Library, and it is with pleasure that wo can again most honestly recommend Mr Hooking's work to our readers.' ■ The title of his latest story is'misleading;if it engenders the idea that the book is, a cynically conceived; attack upon .society., On the contrary Mr Hooking’s -story- is an ingeniously conceived and well wrought out protest against the pessimism which is so unpleasantly prevalent j ust now in English fiction, and-conclusively proves the folly and, wickedness of assuming, as is so frequently the case with modern writers, that thereis no good in the world and that that is true and noble in life is to' ha ’ sneered at. as false and hypocritical. The moral of the book is excellent.. The hero, Stephen Bdgcumbe, is a young follow of considerable intellectual-talents, and possessed of high ideals; Unfortunately, he comes under-;the sinister in-: fluence of a mercenary, cynical uncle, and later on of a tutor, who is a pronounced pessimist. - The effect of the malign. influence of tho.uncle and the tutor gradually makesitself: felt .on , the. young man’s, character. He marries a lovely girl, and is allowed a handsome income by his (uncle,who, however, 'falls, and compounds with his creditors. The uncle, after the manner of many bankrupts, saves a; goodly amount from the crash, and is willing to continue his allowance to his nephew. The- latter, however, honourably refuses to accept the money, holding—a most ’ quixotic -idea according to the undo—tho creditors . have the firtt and full right to the money.' The wife at-this'juncture is ' indignant at her husband's uuworldliness. ‘ and goes, back'to her father, and by a rather stagey, device finds a pretext for an action , for divorce. The hero refuses to defend the action, and his- wife .marries again. Now the the leaven of the cynicism mid pessimism so carefully inculcated by ’ the uncle and tutor at an earlier stage take their effect. Edgcumbo goes deliberately to the dogs, (Reckless,..desperate,, holding friendship, honour, truth and virtue to, have' been proved worthless shams,- ho ■ plunges into tho lowest debauchery and disappears into tho “ nether world ”of London. : -Of London low life tho author gives us some. lurid pictures, but happily, after a long period of sin and shame, the “ better days ” come at last, . and partly.through the, exertions of an old college chum and partly through Hope Hillyor, a young girl whom, in earlier days, Edgcumbe had rescued from a drunken aunt, he is reclaimed, and the story ends by 'the 'much-tried hero (his first wife being killed in the meanwhile by an accident) finding rest and comfort in the embraces of Hope, who, we are led to believe, will help him to Rise on stepping-stones . ■ j Of his dead self to higher things.

Mr Hocking ' knows his London'' by heart, and some of the best in the book are those tin- which the .busy life of the streets and the parks»of tho great metropolis are depicted; “ All Men aro Liars ” is a story which would make a capital gift book for a young man just entering the sterner stages of life. Its moral is' excellent, but there is no “preaohiness ’/, about, it, and the story as a story pure and'simple is interesting in tbe extreme. Mr Hocking is a writer whom tho, more we read of him the more we like. ; “The Family at Misrule/’ by Ethel Turner. (London and Melbourne ; Ward, .Lock and Co. Wellington: H. and J/Baillic).'

As a rule sequels are not a success, but in the case of “ The, family a* Misrule,” in which is continued the story of “The'fjeven Little Miss Turner provides a most decided r yi One of the “ Seven," poor as readers of Miss Turner’s‘firsKfedok'will remember, missing, but she has given place to another and.almost as interesting a , character in the, . person of Esther, who, ds -jocularly; christened by her irreverent brothers as " The Scrap.”, With the exception of Judy, all our old friends are here, hut five years, the • cnlracta as it, .were-between the,-two storiesi have passed away, and we now find 'Mega'wotnau and Pip in the stageof calf love. Nellie is now a pretty, lively Sample of Australian sweet fifteen. Bundy (here, by the,'way, called Bunty) has . advanced to such a; stage that .he can be accused ;(wrongfully, of course) of. stealing money, from his schoolmaster, and runs away frbm home,' whilst Peter, ; otherwise the General,” is six, and that engaging-little elf of the first story. Poppet, to wit, is now a charming, child. of- nine. The, Woolcott family are as delightfulto ineet.with at this later stage as ever- they were,.and they go, through a bewildering series of escapades, and move their reader friends to tears and laughter, to sorrow and amusement, just as they did in the. old household so charmingly' described hi Miss Tumor’s first book. Miss Turner, as we pointed out last week in our notice of her i‘ Story of a Baby,” has made a wonderful advance in her art since she first - captured the reading world'of the colonies with her “ Seven Little Australians." The portraiture is stronger, better defined, there is greater ease and succinctness iu.. the narrative the stylo shows improvement all along, the line. . As a good example of Miss Turner’s, ability to hit off types of Australian society in a few smart, pregnant lines, wo, give a short quotation from her description of the Fitz-Brownes, Papa;Fitz-Browne, once plain Mr Brown, 1 made his "pile” by. Government railway contracting, and the Fitz-Brownes , now live: in great style. Mamma Browne, however—honest, simple .soul that she.is- —-is. by no means enamoured of the altered conditions of her life, and regretfully ■ recalls the old days of her ■simple, quiet life before wealth had brought with it a desire, on behalf of the family, to shine amongst the “swells.”," Poor Mamma Browne, who. sometimes .'thought wistfully of the long-dead days when Palm bad been ; only an honest navvy, and her little girls .and .hoy too small to snub and,suppress ■ her' and- "order-'her 1 about I —Mamma Browne; i. wlfoV,, had liked bay - little, old ■ best ’ room, .with, its big. round table, holding, the Bible,, three, gilt-edged, books, and, some wax grapes .under. a glass shade, far better than her grand new drawl-ing-room, that .was like a furniture show-; place, all mirrors and : cabinets, and green and gold.- How many Mamnia\ Brownes there are in Australia! IV is quite pitiful.; Good, dear creature.-:, with their hones too set to adapt themselves to - the -change the golden days have-brought 1 poor, simpleminded 'things, who,' having consistently left ‘ h ’ out of their language for forty or fifty years, cannot rememberdt now till an embarrassed cough ora bluah-ahd sheerfroih a MisS Hy pH en Browne makes' their oldbearta ache for shame of themselves. Dear housewives who. wasted not their, hushands’ fiubstance in-the old days, and now bring down vials of .contempt from their (laughters for anxious watchfulness over reckless servants!

Sociable old bodies, to whom a cup of tea in the kitchen with a gossiping friend had been happiness j but ‘at homes,’ thronged with stylish people whose speech fairly bristled with h’s and g’s, bewildering misery." It is, however, in her sketches of juvenile life with its small sorrows and simple joys that Miss Turner excels, and wo prefer her delightful little scenes in the Misrule household to her more ambitious and slightly acidulous portraits of the “ grownups.” No one who road " The Seven Little Australians ” should fail to possess themselves of the sequel, which can, however, be road by itself, as the author introduces us very cleverly in her first chapter to the Woolcot-t children and very ingeniously puts one aw courant with such of their past history as is necessary. The story is well illustrated and the book would make an excellent Christmas present. ■ —“ C.W.” in the' N.Z. Maid.