LITERARY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 77

LITERARY NOTES.

— "any people — and not young, people only — will probably welcome (says the Westminster Gazette) a book by Messrs E. F. Benson, and Eustace H. Miles, entitled "Diversions Day by Daj>-." Herein is shown what games may be played in rooms and confined spaces, and how healthy exercise may bo enjoyed in tho streets of a town even by persons who find walking "dull.' Iv. a ob&pb&r with the heading "Street Romance " something of a mystery is unveiled. There are many illustrations in this euricus volume. .

— You rennot write a story with a set of copybook maxim* in front of you, for many copybook maxims are falsified in real life ; but you may be sure ',hat if you try to describe life as it leally is, the balance will be 1 oft the side of what is good and wholesome, and. the impression that your book will leave in the mind of the reader will not be a bad one. On the other hand, if you attempt to preach a sermon your book will probably not be read at all. — John Oliver Hobbes.

—^Apropos of a reminiscence of Sir Walter iiesant, th's story is told by the London Spectator:— "When 'The Chaplain of the Fleet ' was about to appear, the" binder, apparently proprio motu, adorned tho cover with some small nautical emblems, and showed it, not without pride, to Mr Downey. Ho was aghast when it was pointed out to him that it was not tho nautical ' Fleet ' which was concerned. When ho was told that Mr Cliatto would overlook the blunder, he replied : ' Unfortunately, it is not with Chatto and "Win-lus I have to deal, but with the author; and I'm pretty certain lie won't overlook it.' ''

— "Evan Harrington ; or, Ho Would Be a Gentleman," was written over 40 years ago (says T.P.s Weekly), an exuberant book, in which Mr Ge&rge Meredith proved satisfactorily that an innate nobility could survive in a tailor. In "Will Warburton" (Constable; 6s) the late Mr G. Gissing shows us that a gentleman may remain, a gentleman even with the handicap of a giocer's apron. Between the two novels there lies the abyss which separates the temperaments of the two novelists. There is nothing exuberant in Mr G&»ing's last philosophic comment on the sad greyness of modern life. It is nofc the microscopic study suggested in the pages of "The NW

Grub Street." Will Warburton is not at all a "Mr " '1-ev Grocer," stud od critically from tlio oul-ide; he is ihe lonely and fastidious dr'vuvMT. swamped l>y tho cnerg-et'o mediocrity of the modern hurly-burly -uifh which "H3 many powerful no'ols rave ms ' ■ us long familial". — Th© New York Tribune does nor vein to bo .]uite sure whether Marie Corclh is poking fun at the American girl or not in I a recent \olume. That young: woman in question has lately been leoeiving rather J hard rubs in various quarters, and it is quite possible that it will not do her any harjn. The following qvo^at-on is v'• '•» 'i'nbui-o ■ •}!'-. Mi-. -> >i .'s '•nocniipliuieni''. -"'Sb-e is 'all there.' ;3he ..;,•: take the measure of a man in about 1C minutes, and ola-ssify him as though ha wer« a botanical specimen. She realises all his limitations, his 'notions,' and his special and particular fads,— and sh© has the unoommonly good sense not to expect much of him. She would not ' take any ' on thp • Lily-maid of Astolat, the fair Elaine, who spent her time in polishing the shield of Lancelot, and who finally died of love for the most immoral but fascinating Knighfc of the Round Table. No, she wouldn't polish a shield, you bet! She would make } Lancelot polish it himself for all he was worth, and polish her own dear Ittt'/? boors and shoes for her into the bargain. That j is one of her secrets — masterfulnes': — or, let ) us say, queenliness, which sounds better. The lord of creat'on can do nothing in th© way of ordering her about, — because as the Irxdy of creation she expects to ord-er him about, and she does !" I — The author " The Truth About Man," ""- "A Spinster" (Hutchinson's), I am told, a woman of great literary distinction ! - can well believe it, since she confesses ito having been snubbed by pretty well ! every magazine editor in London, and pooh- | poohed by not a few newspaper conductors j and by 15 publishers. To some the snub is I d s'heartening. To some it really means : failure. It turns genius an ay from its arc- | bition. To others it inspires a toil of pe;--si&t-anoe, oreates a passion of defiance, impels' them to a kind of ''won't-you-have-n;e-but-you-shail!" condition of mind and resolution. And so the goal is reached at lagt. Here, for instance, is this spinster of the new book. She has fought her way through ths mud and tangle of the London publishing world, submitted to insult, seen her letter-box filled with her rejected, manuscripts, or had them literally flung 'in ht-r face by publishers' clerks and editors' secretaries, to have the way made smooth ai last, and he. wo>-k .--olicitod by bowing and over-polite directors of great periodicals, and her books reviewed by admiringcritics. But, mind you, it is not every ee«ker after fame and money that has the courage or ihe staying powers of tli c professed spinster of "The Truth Abour Man." What one c*n honestly approve in the I book is its veticenoe where thfe prurient1 minded would be otherwise, its bright ard engaging -Uyle, its generally honest view of both sides of the human question of men's and woaici's lives, and the capacity io onoe m a way sec i'ho case "udieiallv — Joseph Hatton, in "Cigarette —It is a matter of move oi v. 3 , & u-'-prise to find that though Spain is neither far to seek nor difficult to reach, it should, still belong to the list of the somewhat ui.beateu tourist routes. The New York Times speaks with mteraet of "Two Argonauts in Spain," by Jerome Hart, now°in. its second edition :— 'This is a second edition of a very pleasant book about travels in Spain— a book by a man who thinks the Spaniards have been rathor maligned by tho makers of travellers' tales. He declares that the Spanish railway trains are usually on time, and ihe appointments of them excellent; he will have it that th© customs officials are not troiiblesome, and that one gets very good fare in Spanish hotels. He is astounded to find how modern some Spanish cities are to look at; he admires the mule teams which the members of tl.-c" first society of Madrid put to their carriages when they drive in the Prado, and he tel s you about Spanish newspapers — with coirpos'tors setting type by hand; about bullfights, of course ; about the game of pelota, and about the Slpani3h theatre and opera, to Avihioh the ladies of Spain will perverseiy wear Paris hats instead of the mantilla of romance. By the way, the author doos not share tho usual opinion of the beauty of Spanish women— high or Jow. He tells you, of course, about Toledo, Cordova, Grenada, Seville, Barcelona, and inveighs somewhat against the Spanish devotion to tbe cigarette, wfoioh he connects with the fatal prevalence of pneumonia in Spain. There are large - numbers of very good photoguaohic reproduction, and the book (as the author says) is interesting, if not valuable."

— Mrs Campbell Praed's new story, "The Maid of the River," is being published in Unwin's Colonial Library. The book *s described as "an Australian girl's love story," and the local colour is doubtless drawn from the author's own experiences of colonial life. Many readers will remember the fascinating book of reminiscences which sMj^fave- i'.s under the title of "Sly Australian G:rlhood." — A new volume in Unwin'p Colonial library is "The Story of Lohengrin," by Mr Bernard Capes. The story which forms the bas's of Wagner's great mystical rrusicdrama is here toM in simple yet cuguifiixl English. The book should appeal to -overs of the great composer and poet. It is illustrated by Sarcade Pog'any. — A now novel by Mr Chares " a;- .< author of that much-read book. "Th • Column,' is also being- added to tho series. The titic- i" "Mre Alemero's Elopement." The Pall Mall Gazette says:— "The book is a study af the effect of love on a man, wren tho passion is nob the end of life, for the doorway on whose lintel is inscribed ' Inoipit Vita Xuova,' by an inr-i-tl-ent ;n T ,he development of character. In plot an-J design ' Mrs Alemere's Elopement * is quite equal to th" author's latest book. while in lightness of touch and method of treatment it io, wo lhin.k, supoiior."

In these new-fangled days of the prying* X-rays, Of faith-hoaliag, and trance that's hyp* notic, As life's secrets unfold, it's & wonder vlitf , old King* of Terrors is still so tiespotio; | But his grip is as strong as it was in tre long, Long ago, ero the world was rr.atur-a, Though we'll not give him best while eacH cold in the chest Yields to Woods' Gbbat P^ppermin 1 / CUBB k *