The Bookshelf.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 19, 8 May 1912, Page 47

The Bookshelf.

By

DELTA,

FEUILLETOJC A Correction. IN our review last week of “The New Life of George Borrow,’’ by Mr. Herbert Jenkins, we wrote: “The only other work of Borrow’s that attained popularity was that inimitable itinerary. ‘Will Wales.”* This should have read: “a measure of popularity.” Of Interest to Dickensians. Ali-s Alary' Angela Dickens, is the author of several well-known novels/ has the added distinction of being Charles Dickens granddaughter. Iler father was ‘I hat great master’? eldest son and namesake. Iler new novel, “The Debtor” (Hutchinson and Co.) has for its theme the re?! oral ion to health of an invalid ’l»y faith healing. The heroine. Alary C hiche»ster. is a young widow, whose unmarried life had been an unhappy one. After her hu-dxind* death nhe .successfully runs a Bond-street tea-shop. She becomes engaged to Donaldson, an aviator. who, like herself, is an agnostic. Airs C hichester falls ill. and is declared by two specialists to he dying of heart disease. She pays a visit to a C atholic ■friend in Devonshire who lives in a beautiful old house, to which is attached a simple chapel enshrining a small statue of the Virgin. The invalid pray* earnestly before the shrine and is healed. •The doctors conclude that their diagnosis v..is wrong, but one of them is not siitis'fled and ends by becoming a Catholic. This step causes her to break with Don alds<>n, ami she ends by giving tip to good work. A Novel of Purpose. An interesting novel of purpose “The Relentless Current,” by Maud Charles worth, which the Putnams published in February this year. It is a novel of purpose, and the author’s motive in writing it has been to induce public thought on the utter unreliability of circumstantial evidence, and shows liow a miscarriage of justice may result if the sentence of death i* meted out to one so convicted, a sentence which does riot enable the State to make rest’d utioik. even in some slight degree, for its error, when that error is discovered. Air*. Charles wort h’s dory is not merely imaginative for, though the fictional element i- present, there is a solid 6iil» Stratum of fact underlying it, fact unsuspected by those who have not made tt study of prison life. Though Mr*. Charles worth’* novel is one of purpose, readers may rely upon the novel being n felicitous blend of the various constituents that go to the making of a thoroughly readable novel. Lady Gregory, as Viewed by George Bernard Shaw. The Putnams are about to publish, in two volumes, the •‘lrish Folk History Plays” of Lady Gregory, which in the form of buoyant comedy and poignant tragedy present the spirit of Ireland at important periods of its history. The author’s name has become a household word in America and her works should ■occupy an exclusive niche in every library. Even the hoodlumism ami vegetable hurling propensities of a certain section of our democracy ha* not blinded the more discriminating to the dramatic value of the product ions of the Irish players. Lady Gregory, who is so closely identified with the Irish players, was pronounced by George Bernard Shaw in a recent interview, “the greatest living Irishwoman.” The author of’ “Mail and Superman,” commenting on the hostility shown by a certain portion of the Irish-Auum!ran public to the plays of its (most krt*|/ive writers, added: “Even in the plays of Lady Gregory, penetrated a* they are by that intense love of Ireland which is unintelligible to the many drunken black-guards with Irish names who make their nationality an excuse for their vices and their worthlessness, there i* no flattery of the Irish; she m rites about the Irish as Moliere wrote (limit the French, having a talent curiously like Moliere.” This is high praise indeed, coming as 5t does from that candid writer ami critic, George Bernard Shaw, whose high 'worth, and whose mission is just In-giii Hing to be glimpsed by the multitude.

A Biography of the late Henry Labouchere. Air Algar Thorold, a nephew of the late Henry La-bouvhere, has been entrusted with the task of writing hi* biography. It should l>e interesting, out of the ordinary, for Labouchere, in addition to being a great public man, was in private a most eccentric character. In short, in entertaining interest, it should be the biography of the year. ’William the Silent. Those of our readers who have been privileged to read Miss Marporie Bowen’s line trilogy of novels on the Prince of Orange, will be delighted to hear thac Air Jack tolling* Squire, who is known in the less serious walks of literary lite as a very ingenious and caustic parodist, has written a “Life of William of Orange,” which Messrs Methuen published on March 14. In this ‘Life,” Air Squire has endeavoured to bring out to

the full the picturesque and dramatic elements of William’s personal career, and of the great, struggle against Spain, and to give a vivid presentation of the time and place. Interesting to Home Rulers Lord Eversley has written what may be considered as a “timely” work, en titled “Gladstone and Ireland.” Itv* book is a history of the legislation given to Ireland by Air Gladstone in the endeavour to pa-cify that country, and to help solve the Home Rule problem. Lor i Eversley. who will best lie remembered by an older generation as Mr G. J. Sfiaw•Lefevre. was a member of several of Air Gladstone’s Governments, and he was in the Cabinet of 1892-3. Not only was Lord Eversley intimate with his chief, but he took a deep interest in Irish questions. a combination which peculiarly tits Lord Eversley for the writing of this work. Alethuen’s were to issue th? hook about the middle of March, and 12 s Gd, we understand, was to be its price. Two New Reprints. The two latest additions to the Methuen shilling library are “From Midshipman to Fiel 1 Marshall,*’ by Sir Evelyn Wood, ami “Black; The Story ot a Dog.” by Alexander Duma?. Thi? latter work was first issued in 1857, and was the result of a visit to London; here Dumas went to a dog show at Fhelp’s. a public house in Westminster, ami the memory of a little black dog, with long, silky ears haunted him much that he determined tu immortalise

it. These Methuen shilling reprints have gained a great vogue «iit this city. So great a vogue, indeed, that certain popular author’s are unprocurable a few days after they reach here. We hunted all over the town the other da\ for copies of “Spanish Gold” and “Barbary Sheep,” and in vain. Which is a pity, siiy-e it can only be by big sales that publisher’s van recoup themselves by the issue of cheap reprints of quite modern authors. Which is Dickens’ Greatest Book ? Ask a dozen Dickensian* which they think is Dicken’s greatest book and you will have a dozen different answers. Discussing this oft discussed question with a couple of ardent Dickensians. we hazarded the personal opinion that ‘ A Tale of Two lilies,” was the greate-t amt quoted Air G. K. I hesterton in support of our contention. Say instead, murmured the friend on our right, who thought that all Dicken’s work* ‘were “bos’ works, “that it -is the work you like best.” and we thought the suggestion t felicitous one. But it may interest our readers to hear what some eminent craftsmen of the pen and brush think on this subject. Mr G. B. Shaw would seem to favour “Hard Times,” ’Our Mutual Friend.” and “Great Expeetations." Dr Alfred Russell Wallace agree? wit’i

A NEW DISEASE? He: “What’s the matter with poor young Thomson?’’ She: “The doctor says it’s Locomotor Ataxy.” He: “Ah! I’d ’ave the beastly things taken off the road if I ’ad my way!”

us in thinking “A Tale of Two Cities,” is Dicken’s greatest work, followed very closely by “Barnaby Budge.” Sir Frances Burna nd singles out “Pk-kwick,” ‘David Copperfield,” and the evergreen “Oliver Twist.” Mr Andrew Lang wonders who reads Dicken's nowadays, and gives “Pickwick,” and “David Copperfield,” first place. Mr F. Anstey thinks “David Copperfield” first, “Great Expectations” second, and “W Tale of Two Cities” third. Mr J. Ashby-Sterry votes for “David Copperfield.” “Great Expectations,” and “Dombey ami Son.” Richard Whiteing. of “John Street” fame, plumps for “Martin Chuzzlewit” (if only for the sake of Alark Tapley). “Mark.” Mr Whiteing says, “is a thing of imagination all compact. It is a whole philosophy of endurance and great endeavour —Epictetus. Marcus. The Bhagavad. and the Little Flowers of St. Francis—in a Hash of idealistic caricature that varries to its highest point the frolic gaiety of heroism smiling in the face of dc.it h. All the others go mtiinchance through this ordeal; this one takes it in a How Dickons came by it. and to it I could never make out. Perhaps it was some Christmas present from the skies.” Harry Furniss. who has -illustrated ?•» many of Dicken’s works, thinks “Great Expectations,” Dicken’s greatest work. “I have always considered 'Great Expectatiuns* Dicken’s greatest I mk.” he says: “Long belore I knew that Dickens himself hold the same opinion.” Jerome K. Jerome, and Cecil Al tin prefer, respe. lively, “David Copperfield.” and “The Pickwick Pa|»eis,” which latte'Mr Aldin has illustrated. Mr Robert

1 lichens and Mr Frank Reynold* j.ref*‘r “David Copperfield,” ami Lucas Malet > divided l»etween the merits of “DivM Copperfield,” “N’ichohi? Ni kleby,'’ an I “The Tale of 'i’wo Cities.” ‘ “Daiid CO perfield” is the choice of the writer of the inimitable ‘ Beloved \ agabond,” an 1 “A I ale of Two Cities” m plainh th * choice of Mr William De Morgan, “v’o.iceive the difficulty.” he exclaims, writing the ‘Tale’of I’wo (iie-.’ as against ‘David <‘oppertivLl.’ ” \nd Mr De Morgan ought to know. Mr < Hester ton, incurable optimist (hat he is. con siders “Pickwick.” Dicken?’ greatest h *ok. Whivh variance of upmii.n n.. ar.s, of course, that Dicken? ha I separ.u me-tsage for all tliesc people. REVIEWS. Four Ward. Lock and Co.’s New Publications. “God ami Mammon”: By Joseph Hocking. “Princess Katharine’: By Katharine Tynan. “For the Queen”: By E. Phillips Oppenheim. The Pioneer”: By Harold Bindioss. (London. Melbourne, and Toronto: W’ard. Lock and Co. Auckland: Wildman and Arey. 3 G.) Mr. Joseph Hocking, even with the Lee of the Scarlet W'omaii in his bonnet, was always an interesting and arrest ive writer. But he is infinitely more impressive in this latest novel of hi?, which is founded on the text “Ye cannot serve God and Ala in mon.” Here is :U i outline <»f the story, which we have no hesitation in saying is the best that Mr. Hocking has ever written, and which Jias given us unqualified -pleasure in the perusal ; and a story 100. that should prove of infinite value to ambitious young men entering upon the threshold of business, or prqfessioual life. George Tremain, the son of a Cornish solicit<»r, in good county practice, is tired by the ambition to go to London and try his fortune there, by hesjing a conversation about the wonderful success of a Waterford man who had achieved wealth, rank, and high -fluaneial position by sheer industry and financial genius. George, feeling himself capable of higher legal and financial flights than he had space for in Kt. 'l’idy, his native town, prevails upon his father to allow him to make the vert ture. pledging himself to return in a certain time ami report progress, 'the rest of Air. Hocking’s superlatively told story is concerned with the rise and fall of George Tremain and his prodigal like return to St. Tidy, fully convinced of the truth that “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.” Of course, a delightful love story runs like a silver ribbon through this novel, which is half romance, Kalf admonitory, ahd wholly sympathetic? The Pioneer: By Harold Bindloss. Mr. Bindlqss lias < a considerable re putation and vogue as a writer of stories that deal with Canadian pioneer life, lived primitively and strenuously. In the present story we have English greed and craft contrasted with Canadian gen erosity and simplicity. We lik<* Mr. Bindloss’s work, not only for its valiia as a human document, but for its superb descriptions of Canadian back-country, and the exciting sport ami adventure that country provides. Lovers, both of pure sentiment and life in the open, will do well to invest in f ’The Pioneer.” Princess Katharine : By Katharine Tynan. W'e have been a keen admirer of Kath arine Tynan ever since she wrote ’’’l” • W'ay of a Maid,” and her vogue does but increase with time. r l here i? probably no writer of Irish lid inn who so tho roughly understands and so voraciously and proportionately, and we may ad I so sympathetically depicts the L*h people. The “Katharine Eyre” of this exceedingly uplifting story i< one of the finest creations in Irish fictional art. and tlir noblest to boot. The humour of Ihe book, too, is entrancing ami pi? u liarly Tynan ian. Hero i? a delicioti? ox ample: The English wife of a corlaiii Irish poor was very shortsighted anl bowed impartially to all -die nut lc?l they should be of her acqu.iiutam c. This habit of her ladyship wa-» a t*au?<* of great joy to the people about, e?p<« iall\ ns she had been known to wave her ha ml to a scarecrow over a hedge and to bow graciously to the village p;mi|>. Even her purblind la<h ?hip wa? able to recognise Katherine as a figure of singular olegam >*. ‘W’hu is she. Thomas?’ she asked, tapping the conchniaa

on his box with the ferrule of her paraeol to attract his attention. 'Who is that young lady? Someone I know?’ ‘I never seen her before, your ladyship,* said Thomas. ‘Don't you be troublin’ your ladyship’s head about people goin’ the road. 11l keep a good lookout and let vou know when I see anyone you’ve a right to bow to.” Princess Katharine, decidedly, must not be missed by lovers of witty, wholesome entertainment and sound moral. For the Queea : Ry E. Phillips Oppenheim. Fifteen capital short stories comprise this book, which is this popular author’s latest contribution to fiction. The majority of them are stories in which romantic sentiment is blended with exciting incident and mystery. “In an Oxfordshire Lane” is the chronicle it which we think Mr. Oppenheim appears at his best. There are other stories more complex and exciting in plot and incident than tile story aforementioned, but none that is so permeated with generous human sentiment. “For the Queen” would be a delightful holiday companion, for, while all of the tales are racy and clever, there is not too great a tax upon the intelligence of the ordinary reader, and yet there is variety and entertainment for every class of reader. And now a word about the new binding Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co. have adopted of late. An attractive binding naturally enhances the pleasure of a book to a genuine book-lover. And the Ward. Lock new bindings are very attractive indeed, especially the chaste blue eover of “God and Mammon.” The above four novels have reached ns from Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co., J-J, MacKillopstreet, Melbourne, through Wildman and Arev.

Essence of Honeymoon : By H. Perry Robinson. (London: William Heinemann. Melbourne: George Robertson and Co. Auckland: Wild* man and Arey. 3/5.) A more delightful satire on honeymoons and honeymooners could not well

be imagined than this novel of Mr. Terry Robinson’s, which describes the advent ires of a honeymoon coupi-r who aro extremely anxious that no one shall guess that they are newly married, and who fail signally in the effort. But the book is not all about honeymooning. There are splendid descriptions of country life and sport, humorous descriptions of house agents aud house-hunt-ing. and contains besides many pleasantly discursive passages about people and things in general. Mr. Robinson may be remembered as the author of that delightful book “Of Distinguished Animals.” In “Essence of Honeymoon” we have described to us as only a lover of animals could, the peculiarities aud characteristics of two domestic pets, viz., a pony who rejoices in the Old Testament name of Habakkuk, and Bob. a collie of more than ordinarily mischievous tendencies. But the book must be read to be appreciated, for, as the autlior asseverates in the foreword, the story is “too spasmodic and lacking in continuity” to comprehensively outline. But we can assure readers that "Essence of Honeymoon" is pure joy and entertainment in the reading. We are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. George Robertson and Co., Melbourne, for our copy. Hushed Up : By William Le Queux. (London: Eveleigh Nash. Melbourne:, George Robertson and Co. Auckland: Wildman and Arey. 3,6.) Lovers of the creepy-sensational and the stagey-roniantie will simply revel in this “new mystery novel” of Air. Le Queux, whose plot deals with a gang of ’crack burglars and blackmailers, whose operations extend all over England and the Continent of Europe. The plot is a somewhat involved one, and its unravelling is masterly. Indeed, the reader who invests in "Hushed I jK’ unless he be the veriest of gluttons, is likely to have more than his fill of sen* sation and gruesome happening before he comes to the end of the book. We are not a lover of the melodramatic novel, but we are compelled to admit, while we depigeate the waste of talent, that as a writer of sensational fiction who knows to perfection how to blend his sentiment with sensation and mvs-

tery spiced with the sordidly gruesome, Mr. Le Queux has no rival. Our eopy has been received through the courtesy of Messrs. George Robertson and Co. BITS FROM THE NEW BOOKS. Two Good Parson Stories. “There appears to have been once a parson wlro. preaching upon an occasion before Lord North, took for his text, •Promotion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from the South.’ Another parson was once preaching his farewell sermon. He had quarrelled with his parishioners, and thought them a mean lot. He explained that he was going away to take an appointment as chaplain of a gaol. His text was, T go to prepare a place for yon.’ ” —"The Cheerful Day,” by Reginald Lucas. Beauty’s Handmaiden. "Happiness is most awfully becoming.” —"Maid’s Money,” by Mrs. H. Dudeney. The Good. “To be born good is luck, to become good is a imraele.”—“The Third Miss Wenderby,” by Mabel Barnes Grandy. The Power of Wfords. “The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense. You cannot fail to see the power of mere words; such words as Glory, for instance, or Pity. Give me the right word and the right accent, and I will move the world.” —.“Some Reminiscences,” by Joseph Conrad. Our Progress. “We of the British Isles move forward in the style of the kangaroo. In motors, in aeroplanes, in national insurance, to take three recent instances, we wait to use the experience of others; we then give a mighty leap, and land ahead of those who have inspired our move; and there we stick tiH the world has gone past us again.—" Health and Empire,” by Frances Freemantle. The Theatre Lottery. “The late A. M. Palmer confessed, after a lifetime of experience: ‘There

does not live a man who ean tell a good play from a bad one by reading it. Personally, I have refused so many moneymakers and accepted so many moneylosers that I select material nowadays by guees-work. 1 tossed a coin once to decide whether or not I should buy what afterwards proved to be one of the biggest hits of my career.’”—“Footlights Fore and Aft,” by Channing Pollock. Affection’s Limit. “If he forsakes her. it will be the death of her; she thinks the world of him. She’d kiss him even when he wanted shaving!"—"Cupid’s Time Sheet.” by D’Arcy Martin.