LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3114, 19 November 1913, Page 78

LITERATURE.

BOOK NOTICES. “Unpathcd Waters.” By Frank Harris. London: John Lane, "The Bodley Head.” (3s 6d, 2s 6d.) This is a volume of strikingly original short stories —each one a gem in its way. The three first, entitled rosocctively “The Miracle of the Stigmata,” “The Holy Man,” and ‘The King of the Jews,” touch in reverend sympathy and subtle understanding some of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith, showing an inner meaning and clear underlying lesson which is curiously simple, yet immensely deep, a hint of the faith of “the little child” united to the deep spiritual intuition of the seer. The fourth story, “The Irony of Chance,” touches on some of tiiose semi-scientific 'problems which are as mysterious as inexplicable:—“Think what the scientific equivalent of a palimset would be. Suppose strong sunshine beating upon a rock. Every shadow of man or beast cast on the rock modifies the sun’s influence, and so leaves an imprint, however faint, on the stone. Fancy if, in time to come, we were able to read such a palimset, and print off photographs of Plato and Sophocles from some rock in Colonies. Science will yet decipher palimsets a great deal more interesting than any sheepskin puzzles.” The author goes on to set more than one similar scientific problem before Ins readers, and in the working of them out he partly explains, partly excuses, some of those instances of fraud by which fundamentally honest investigators sometimes supplement their public, exhibitions lest, at the i-uprcme moment, their psychic power should fail them. The fifth story, “The English Saint,” is a bit of most subtle

irony, aimed at modern ways and modern days, showing, forth the conditions which in our own time too often make for recognition and success in that calling which should be, of all others, the most unworldly, imt is too often a desperate, if silent, struggle for the loaves and fishes of ecclesiastical preferment. In ‘‘Mr Jacob’s Philosophy,” “The Ring,” and "The Spider and the Fly” our author exposes certain business methods of the get-rich-quick order. Among other clever sayings he here remarks: “Have you ever thought who it is wins most pretty girls in life? Not the handsomest man, or the strongest, or even the richest, but the man who goes, after them mast, who desires them mest. . . . It is the same thing with money. It is not the man with the best brain or the man with the greatest resolution,* what you call character, but tim man who most desires it who gets money—the greediest man.”

“The Jew does not make money : he gets money. Money-making is too slow : only the fool makes money. . . . The Jew gets money by buying that which has no settled .value and selling it for as much as he ran induce a purchaser to pay. He begins with old clothes and goes on to the greatest of all financial problems—all things which have no settled value except the need or the desire of the customer.”

I lii tho last story, ‘ The Magic Glasses,” ! Mr Frank Harris touches on a great ■ psychic problem—the same at which Hans j Anderson hinted in “The Emperor's New ! Clothes”.: the illusive nature of common | experience. The maker of the magic ; glasses is an enthusiastic truth-seeker. In : grinding lenses to aid defective sight he ; comes upon some strange facts. Among ; others he finds that the different visions i of a painter’s eyes sometimes induce that ! marvellous effect of colour or that pecu--1 liar wav of “seeing” things which has : produced his fame, and without which he i would have been but an ordinary colourist jor draughtsman. So he makes and sells j “Claude glasses,” “Bosetti glasses.” I “W lustier glasses,” etc. Then the idea | comes into his mind that it may be possible to make “truth-telling glasses” which shall show people and things, not as they appear, but as they really are. In this attempt he succeeds, only to produce his own financial ruin. People do not want to know the truth. They fear it above all things. Some, indeed, are too simple I to see anything different when they look through the glasees; they have no power to discern truth. Some, again, have “no sense of reality," they have “killed the innate faculty for truth”; they see nothing more than a blind man would. But the ordinary man beholds all things changed —including himself, his own face in the glass, and hates the truth-teller with a deadly hatred ; and persecutes him to the very uttermost of his power. So the maker of the “magic glasses” finds himself ruined in purse and person. Despised and rejected .of all men, tried for fraud, and dying in prison.

“The Determined Twins.” ]sv Edgar Jep.son. London; Hutchinson "and Co. (3s 6d, 2s 6d.) In tni.s amusing .story .Mr Edgar Jenson tells of the diverting adventures and exploits of two charming and delightful, ingenuous, and mischievous children, a boy and a girl—twins. Scions of an aristocratic family, and inheriting the noble name of IJangorfield, these voun> r persons have received in baptism the ro° mantie and poetic names of Hyacinth Wolfram and Violet Anastasia; ‘ which being quite unsuited to everyday wear have been converted by a discerning uncle into “Erebus" and '“The Terror/’ by which they are known throughout the countryside. I he children’s mother is a widow in poor circumstances, so that many of their exploits have for object the increasing of pocket-money and even the obtaining of useful and necessary articles, such as delicacies to tempt thenmother’s small appetite, and bicycles for themselves. They are country children, strong, sturdy, athletic, tireless. It is impossible for their mother to accompany them in their different excursions, so that she is compelled to let them go their own way and follow their own devices within certain well-defined limits. Like all children, they have a very vague idea

of meum and tenm. They regard the orchards of their neighbours as their natural prey ; and are not restrained from poaching by any scruples of conscience or fear of the law. At the same time they are absolutely .honourable and truthful according to their own code; and their manners and appearance are simply “angelic.” Most of their pranks are unique in scope and design—the whole episode of “the Cats’ Home” being exquisitely absurd, while the narrative of their relations with Sir James Morgan is a screaming farce. One of their principal, self -constituted duties is to act as “guardian angels” to their pretty and still youthful mother by protecting her from suitors unsatisfactory to them, by means, if not of the kind usually ascribed to guardian angels, at any rate quite efficacious. But when a suitable suitor appears on the scone they prove themselves veritable allies of Cupid ; and The Terror gives his future stepfather the clever hint : “I should think, you know, mum could be rushed.” On which advice Sir James immediately acts with the happiest results, Mr Edgar Jepson is a past-master of this peculiar form of humour, as shown in “Lady Xoggs,” “Pollyooly,” “The House on the Mall,” etc. His mischievous children are never coarse or cruel, but only animated by the spirit of pure frolic and misdirected energy, and, in the case 'of “The Determined Twins,” whether they are building and running a Cats’ Home, getting rid of an objectionable suitor, abducting a princess, ’or rescuing a friend, they remain children, simple, unaffected, well-bred, and always exceedingly entertaining.

“Earing for Health ” Bv O. L. M. Abram oweki, M.D., Ch. D„ Berlin. Mel bourne: Thomas C. Lothian. (Cloth, -3s 6d.)

Dr Abramoweki, late of Mildura and Melbourne, gives in this little book (revised and enlarged by the Rev. J. T. Huston) the results of his own experiments and experience in diet The author seems to have made all his experiments on his- own person, and ho tells of the result very simply and with considerable detail. Briefly epitomised, the result of his experiments convinced him that a diet of sound, uncooked fruit and vegetables, with nuts, honey, and an occasional egg, was. the natural food of man, on which ho attained his maximum of mental and physical development. It must, however, bo conceded that such a diet, though it may be well adapted for a tropical or subtropical climate, is hardly suitable for a colder country where a larger portion of caloric is needed to support the human frame. When snow is on the ground and frost on the window pane, a meal of cold, uncooked fruit and vegetables, even if those could bo ersity and cheaply obtained, would hardly appeal to the ordinary man. Needless to suy, the only drink winch the author permits is water, and as little of that as possible. Not only all forms of alcohol, but tea. coffee, cocoa, and even milk are tabu. Among his many strange statements wo noticed this: —“Our living body is a living organism, kept alive only by living food.” If carred out to its legitimate conclusion, this would surely lead to the eating of raw, freshly-slain moat, and uncooked fish. Wo had always understood that one of the chief arguments in favour of a vegetarian diet rested on the statement that it did not take life. Dr Abramowski, however, shows that the vegetable is as truly alive as the animal world, and that the living germs which have hitherto been considered deleterious to man are really nccessarv to his health-. Other statements in the book challenge the attention of experts. One thins-, however, that cannot fail to strike the ordinary Jay reader is the fact that, in spite of his ideal diet and his enthusiasm in preaching it, the author himself died at “the comparatively early ago of 58” His death was ascribed to influenza, accelerated by anxietv and financial worry. Like all books of this class, “ Eating for Health ” has already a considerable sale, which shows how all-important is the subject treated of, and how much public attention in invites. There are no doubt many sick persons who might be benefited by following the regime here sot forth; but it behoves all persons before doing so to tu.ee into account the differences of climate, temperament, conditions of life, and of vvork ; together with age, responsibilities, and many other things, all of which have a marked influence on digestion, and therefore on health. The present day tendency towards fads in food and feeding is very marked, and should not be carried to excess.

“I Don’t Know.” By Mrs S B. Schofield. London: Duckworth and to. (Cloth, 5s 6d). , . This is one ot those extraordinary psychic stories, of which 'Vc have lately bud so many Two men are apparently drowned in a yacht accident olf tne coast of Cumberland, one, tho captain of ine vessel, John Dane; the other, its solitary passenger, Anthony Crowthcr. Dane is the typical hard-working, clean-living sailoiu Crowthcr is a dissipated, drug-drenched degenerate ' A long time is spent in vn-. deavouring to restore respiration; ultimately Crowthcr shows signs of life; but the effort to resuscitate his companion is abandoned. it is the soul of Dane however, that has come into the body ot Crowthcr, and when the rescued man awakes to full consciousness he finds Ins ego in a new body and a new environment. This strange idea is cleverly worked on. The rescued man is practically, for all intents and purposes Crowthcr, with all Crow tiler’s advantages of money and worldly nossessons, including a wife, but m heart and mind and soul ho is Dane. I ho result is so confusing, and the change so extraordinary that he soon finds himself in a lunatic asylum, from which ho escapes, having learned the lesson of silence concerning his strange past. His relations with Mrs Crowthcr is truly one of the best bits in the book. Margaret Crowthcr is one of those restless, unsatisfied persons, of whom the world is now full. She despises her degenerate, and often brutal, husband, with proud indifference; and she hungers for real life and experience. r l hus she challenges the Higher Powers: and in due time the answer comes. She immediately detects the radical change in her husband s disposition, and declares that if that is madness, she “ likes him mad, ’ while to him she is a wonder. Cltimatoly they become really attached to each other, and then ho insists on a re-marriage, hut not until lie has told her his extraordinarystory. At first she thinks it is only another proof of madness, and humours tho

“ delusion.” But other circumstances force her to accept his positive statement. To his simple mind the explanation of changed souls is sufficient, but her more complex mentality requires further proof, and sho takes him to a private seance, where things happen, and Crowther’s errant soul makes a desperate attempt to reenter its former tenement. Crowther fights “the intruder” not only for his own sake but for that of Ibis wife, lest he should ‘‘ profane the sacred vessel of her body.” In the end he is “delivered.” She professes herself “ satisfied ” and willing to accept the doctrine of continuity on ” the Other Side.”

LITERARY NOTES. __—An attractive feature of many of Mr Kipling’s works is the verse with which he intersperses his prose narrative. His admirers will therefore be glad to learn that ho has now gathered a practically complete collection of all these poems and chapter-headings into a volume under the title of “ Songs from Books.” In some cases, where only a few linos of verse were originally used, he has given in full the poems trom which they were taken. The cultured agricultural labourer or miner is not an unfamiliar figure in Yorkshire, as the Book Monthly learns from Mr Joseph Uaykin, the secretary of the Yorkshire Village Library, which docs excellent work in the county of broad acres. “ 1 know one case of a minor,” he says, “ who' acquired through his work such a passion for geology that he carries on a learned correspondence with professors and university authorities.” Generally the reading taste of the villagers of Yorkshire is' very much akin to that of townspeople. Fiction is mostly asked for, and alter it come books of travel and adventure, works on nature, history, and biography. A good deal of poetry is also read by the villagers of Yorkshire.

Mrs Margaret Deland, the American novelist, lias a good word for the publishers. She was recently asked to join the new American Authors’ League. She replied that she would be glad enough to do this, but it must be clear that she would not ally herself with any organisation whoso existence was a criticism upon publishers ns a class. “ I admit,” she says, " that there are dishonest publishers, just as there are possibly dishonest authors; but i personally have never met any. My experience of some 25 years has brought me in contact®, only with a set of very high-minded,' Wry honourable, and even generous men.” That is a testimonial which was not needed, but which will be acceptable all the same. —■■ Interest attaches to ‘ Watersprings ’ for two reasons,” says the Spectator of A. C. Benson’s first novel (Smith, Elder; 6s). “It is the first regular novel from tho pen of its industrious and accomplished author, and it establishes something like a record in the annals of belles lottres. Since tho clays of tho Kingsleys, Charles, Henry, and Geoige, there has been no instance of three brothers simultaneously engaged in fiction, if indeed George Kingsley’s partauthorship of ‘ South Sea Bubbles ’ can bo regarded as sufficient to justify bis inclusion in the ranks of the romancers. Here, however, there can be no doubt as to tho simultaneous activity and popularity of three brothers, the oldest of whom now enters into formidable competition with his juniors in a department of letters in which they have already gained a considerable vogue.” —in Ids latest novel, ” Bcnclish,” Mr Maurice Hewlett has created for his readers a group of characters that is likely to excite the curiosity of those who are fond of literary puzzles. Bcnclish, the protagonist of the book, is a poet, a sentimentalist, a man of clcar-cut statuesque features, rejoicing in the “marble pallor” which is said to appeal to certain romantic souls as iho finest type of masculine beauty. Moreover, his baptismal name is George, he belongs to tho English aristocracy, and he lived in the early part of tho last century. All this seems to point to one inevitable conclusion; but, alas! Bendish was not lame, —and so, perhaps, Mr Hewlett does not intend him as a study of Lord Byron any more than ho intends his Gervasc Poore as a full-length portrait of the poet Shelley. It is more than likely that Mr Hewlett has not aimed to be photographic in his portrayals; lie is too fine an artist for that. But ho has given an excellent impressionistic study of tho Byron-Shelley circle of a century ago —a circle peculiarly rich in eccentric characters, —and readers of what is known as tho literary type of novel will find in his pages much to entertain them.

“Tigerland” is the title of the sporting’ recollections of a veteran (and anonymous) officer, which have recently been issued under the editorship of Mr C. E. (iouldsbury. The author, wo are told, was a stowaway on a sailing ship in the early fifties at the age of 15. able-bodied seaman at 20, all but drowned in the Ilooghli, a trooper in the Bengal Mounted Constabulary in the Indian Mutiny, and promoted to a commissioned rank in the Indian police at 23. But these experiences are as nothing to the interest of his hair-breadth adventures when the scene is shifted-to the jungle. Though tigers and tiger-slaying come in for the largest share of attention, there are diversions here and there (says The Times) concerning lesser beasts; the man-eating leopard which killed 154- natives in 21 months, and terrorised a district some 15 miles in diameter, boats the record of the man-eaters of Tsavo, even if bis end was less dramatic than that of those celebrated lions Another parallel between the felines of Asia and Africa is suggested by the storv of the man who. when carried off in a tiger’s jaws, succeeded in drawing a pistol from his bolt and blowing the ani- /

inal’s heart into fragments, himself recovering- with the loss of an arm. The similar case in Lionland was supplied a year or two ago by Major Stevcnson-Hamilton, one of whose subordinates was similarly carried off by a lion, and managed to stab it in the heart with his hunting knife. Tiger-fat. too, is evidently esteemed by tho jungle-folk of Bengal for its magic medicinal properties, just as lion-fat is similarly prized by negroes. The author's two parting shots, after 40 years in India, accounted for a tiger and a bear respectively, both bv miraculous flukes, as he candidly admits. The bear he shot through the head under the impression that a movement which he saw in some long grass was caused by a. email antelope; and the tiger was raked from end to end by a bullet which riccehettcd off a tree!