The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 8, 1903, Page 6

Mrs. Austin’s Picture of the PAINTED | DESERT o f California. e the charm of revealed to ¥ sketches glades where man fe—these he volcanoes fight hard f ] ke their place n paints of the from its au- that threugh gz and sceing L iies hidden be- romy of life . book to her. She knows ted geed es dormant in luck; 2 s v r. She know; ¥ e buzzard. why the rocks are 1o her an un- = of her book Mrs. jucezed up vermilior e. Be- i-looki:g or nar- The n e cks about stub- ween them the =oil . waste of the world something, says s men to it while s a jotus charm in se of riches beneath a full deep semse of 1 binds the vagranc r to the so. by bt s forging. Mau of independence The golden tr ure of the desert i shown 1o be the tiny water rill hidden be- neath some black basait rock in & cranny of the 3 About this weaves the whole trage emong the four-footed kind the tiny tralls of the descrt ngaroo rat; thither I 2§ bob-cat, the coyoie and the fux Each furred or feathered creature must venture to the waterhole and there ri:x bis life on the hazard of a drop of the precious fluid. Life for the four-footel is & grim reality in the desert. Mrs. Auciin makes one feel for the sucdden death of a rat almost as be would for the agony of the desert land their home she gives a striking picture. The vagrant pocket hunter who ranges the mountains from Mojave to Truckee, slways scratching and grubbing &t the rocks for the golden treasure which he rarely finds, has a warm spot for him- self in the heart of the author. Deser ing one old vagabond, Mrs. Austin says: “He was & small, bowed man, with a face and manner and speech of no char- acter at all, as If he had that facuity of small hunted thingsof taking on the protective color of his surroundings. His ciothes were of no fashion that I cowd remember, except that they bore liberal markings of pot black, and he had a curious fashion of going about with his mouth open, which gave him a vacant look until you came near encugh to per- ceive him busy about an endless hummed, wordless tune. He traveied far and took » long time to 1t, but the simpiicity of tus kitchen arrangements was clemental.” To the care-free, manana life of the Mexican herders 2nd the dull, colorless existence of the desert Indians the author devotes her attention. There are still some places in the West where the qualiis ery ‘cuidado says Mrs. Austin, “where all the speech is soft, all the manners gentle; where all the dishes have chile in them, and they make mere of the l5th of September than they do of the Fourth of July.” She then gives a soft picture in brown tones of the little “town of grape vines,” where everybody waits until the sun goes down and then dances in the plaza to the tinkling of the guitars. To this is contrasted the flat, emotionless lite in Bhoshone iand. Mrs. Austin's desert book does not weary you with & sermon nor claim your close attention with a plot. Tt is a fresh, wholesome taste of nature, sparkling with re air of the desert. Kven without ns from the pencil ely beautiful compeiling from cover to cover. little town of Independence there e student and writer of na- e claim to a place among Cal- s writers is well founded. ghton, Miftiln & Co., New York. Price $2.] FRAKHK NORRIS GIVES RULES FOR THE NOVEL I T must be with a compelling sense of own unworthiness that the aver- age reviewer dares to approach the s0us volume of Frank Norris' eseays which has been re- m his contributions to various azines. For in one of his on things literary as they nd siould not be Norris takes the N to tear the v from the poor newspaper reviewer and show him to the world in his true colors as a driven hack who reviews a column of novels four a fieeting n honored g is a book which The public needs it; of novel el.st wha ess warrants the forward and given view of what the his methods and z s novei aud a guide to novel writ- pecial interest attaches itself to these for in them we find Norris’ ideals g the novel if not the key it- seif to t e works in fiction which he has left behind him. One has only to take “McTeague.” *“The Octcpus” or’ “The Pit" and see clearly what was the mo- tive spring which created th - less can'one see wi fell short of the standard which re mature study of the aims anud ethics of the novel has thus established says. Nor can one but feel and above dll else Norris was workman who strove to express jons that which he felt to s own heart. The essavs in e his earlier crudi- that they the ideal and er in be true in me vindie were gen not affectatic In the ¢ the chitecture g in the middie the Renaissance; pit and the press, it is it factors in the life th the p of the three gre With that declaration he : a_#tern infunction upon the novel writer of to-day. How necessary it becomes then,” he says, “for those who, by the simple art of writing, can Invade the heart's heart of thousands, whose novels are received with such measureless earnestness—how necessary i1t becomes for those who woulq wield such power to use it rightfully. Is it not expedient to act falrly? Is it not in heaven's name essential that the people hear not a lie but the truth?” In a vigorous attack upon what he s the “tin pot helmet and baggy hos style of historical romance, which still has its vogue in the book marts of to- day, Norris proceeds to tell what he thinks is not the truth. He brands the pseudo romanticists as “business men who prostitute the good name of American iiterature for a sliding scale of royalties.” He will have none of that in his. The lite immediately sbout us is the thing which Norris would have the novelist depict— the story of the neighbor around the cor- ner. He would gyidently prefer a second McTeague to anSther of Charles Major's knight in full bloom. And really who would not? - After discoursing upon -novels of pur- pose and purposcless novels, Norris pro- ceeds to define what he must have striven for in “The Octopus” and “The Pit"—the novel which “proves something, draws conclusions from a whole congeries of forces, soclal tendencies, race impulses; devotes Itself not to the study of men, but of man.” This he asserts to be the ideal novel—the teacher of the people. Certain aspects of American literature next claim the author’s attention. He characterizes the so-called popular fiction, He notes the Introduction of the study of nature Into popular fiction such as In ex- emplified In * th and Her German S FRONTISFIECE EETITE PETE.,, Garden.” He mourns the rallure of the typical great American novelist to ma- terialize out of all of the fiction writers of the country. He urges the writing of a great epic of the West. Through it all runs a strong personal note, which makes the critical essays come home as if Nor- ris himself were speaking. Those who have not delved in the deeper realms of esthetic criticism will read “The Responsibilities of a Novelist" with more understanding than they would any critical essays of Matthew Arnold or Hamilton Wright Mabie. - For forceful statement of fundamental facts in novel writing and reading at least Norris’' col- lection of essays could be better recom- mended to the fiction readers at large than anything Arnold or Mabie have writ- ten. (Doubleday, Price §1 %5.) Max Pemi:erton Gains Nothing By New Novel N his new novel, “Dr. Xavier,” Max I Pemberton has not added anything to Page & Co., New York. his reputation as & popular writer. He gives us one of those tales of an im- probable ‘country with Iimprobable characters, but he falls to make these characters anything more than lay fig- acted upon by the machinery of the And the machinery is of a fearful and wonderful type. Glven the typical poor but honest Eng- lish girl out of a situation to commence with, Pemberton leads her through a list of experiences well calculated to whiten every hair on an ordinary mortal's head, put she comes out of it triumphantly and has ber head resting on the bosom of a THE SUNDAY CALL \ ’ Prince when the author has finished with her. She meets with a strange physician and by him is taken to a house in Lon- don which is fitted up like a palace of t! genil. There she undergoes a marvelous beauty-making process, consisting of Turkish baths, delightful dreams in beds of rose petals and douces of radio energy. But the radiant beauty ensuing is only used by the wily doctor to catch the eye of & wandering Prince of some unknown kingdom up the Pyrenees and fearful complications follow. Pemberton's story is a combination of b ern Arablan Nights,” ‘Prisoner of ZehBla,” “Graustark” and other tales of the Improbable. Stevenson’'s mysteries are handled so delicately as to give the impression of credibility; Anthony Hope's romance i8 so fetching that the reader does not stop to question its probability; but in this latest book Pemberton’s plot machine clanks so regularly and &0 sonor- ously throughout the whole tale that nothing is left to the characters but to be whirled from one situation into an- other. * At one point does.the author redeem himself and that is in the many descrip- tive passages. He has the power of bring- ing striking pictures vividly before the reader and fixing them by & few well ) ) 1OST FoRr > = ~-THREE DAYS é/’,/‘/?///- IN THE DESERT" X (D. Appleton $1 50; illustrated.) Great Jewish Encyclopedia Now Growing N these days, when the restoration of the Hebraic empire In Palestine is be- ing agitated by Jewish dreamers, and ~even the most prosaic of the race are beginning to feel & unity among the Jews the world over, not & small factor in the onward movement of race coalition is the Jewish Encyclopedia, the fifth volume of which has just been published by the Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York. This comprehensive work, compiled from the contributions of noted Jewish schol- .noflrmnun'nfld.hnm of facts upon every known subject touch. ing upon Hebrew history and Hebrew tra. m{“ouo!m five there articles n v are 1326 upon topics ranging from the myths con- cerning the garden of Eden to the uses of the goat in Biblical times. Under the title “Egypt” the story of the bondage of the children of Israel is told in detail. Re- uctions of anclent hieroglyphical plo- the Egyptian task masters P tures of and Hebrew slaves plentifully filustrate the text. The Book of Ecclesiastes is the subjeat ' ILLOSTRATIONS CCPYRIGHT BY HOUGHTON , MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. of & long discussion by Dr. Margoliuth of Oxtord. This crux of Biblical scholars of- fers itself to the noted antiquarian as a worthy subject for inquiry.. Every noted Jew of history, art or philosophy whose name comes within the alphabetical scope of the present volume Is given a place in the work according to his importance. Dr. E. G. Hirsch, the famous Jewish scholar of Chicago, contributes a remark- able article on the topic “Gentile,” which breathes a falrness of spirit and catho- lcity of religious opinion which should recommend it to a gentile reader. Dr. Schechter contributes an article on the genizah; Dr. Benzinger writes of the an- cient priests’ ephod. The Jewish Encyclopedia is not limited in its subjects only to things Hebralc. Every known fact is treated with erudi- tion by writers of note. WATSON COMES TO THE RESCUE OF JEFFERSON N extremely Interesting work Is “The Life and Times of Thomas Jefterson,” from the pen of Thomas E. Watson, the Georglan ex-Con- gressman and author of works on the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte. Interesting it is not for any new historical facts set forth, but for the remarkably controversial attitude which it takes against all standard writers of American history. Mr. Watson's book is boldly hurled into the camp of contem- porary historians as a deliberate chal- lenge, provoking reply by the very pug- pacity of its assertions. “The Life and Times of Thomas Jeffer- spn” 1s nothing if not belligerent. With sleeves rolled back to the elbow and pen hurtling across the page the author has get himself to avenge all of the calum- nious assertions against Jefferson which have been made by such historians as Henry Adams, Woodrow Wilson, Willlam Eleroy Curtis and Theodore Roosevelt. He declares that, unfortunately, Ameri- can history has been written by New Englanders alone, and despite the lapse of years the venom of the old Federalist party has so emblttered the blood of the modern scribes that Jefferson has suf- fered nothing but contumely and oppro- brium at their hands. Stinging personal rebukes to each of the offenders in turn are administered unsparingly by the Georglan writer, and they are admonished that now is their time to come forward and establish by facts the strength of their disparagements. Because Alexander Hamilton, the Fed- eralist, consistently opposed the political views of mas Jefferson, the first Dem- ocrat, Watson pours forth upon the hon- ored head of the first Secretary of the Treasury the vials of his pent-up wrath. He charges Hamilton with being a pluto- crat, a merciless oppressor of the poor, an unscrupulous upholder of class privi- k:l:.;l‘dd to throw his hero with Demo- cratic ideas more prominently into the light the author casts & most Stygian blackness over the principles of the Fed- eralists and the political actions of that party. He brands Washington's policy toward England as craven; he declares that the Federalists’ treatment of.the overtures from the French republic was dastardly, ungrateful and immedlately re- sponsible for the embargo act and conse- quent financial disaster during Jefferson's administration. He maintains thet had Washington's Cabinet treated Citizen Genet fairly there is no telling how the United States might have profited by the wars of Napoleon. Ot the reaction against the Federalists and the final triumph of the Republicans, then so called, with Jefferson, their lead- er, In the Presidential chalr, Watson writes with fairness and careful minute- ness of detall. With great dramatic force are recounted the detalls of the hotly contested election between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, when the House was called upon to decide the tle vote of the elec- tors. Watson takes occasion to champion ‘Burr’s discredited reputation by showing, and with justice, the sterling qualities of the man and statesman before he was e though it manifestly may be, even incorrect In places. Thomas Watson's book should be read. It should be read not as & history, but as one man’s strong opinions about one of the great characters in American history. (Appleton & Co., New York. Price #150.) | Gossip About the Popular WRITERS and NOTES OF the Publishers. HERE is no doubt, I suppose, that if some one should get up “ a voting contest to see who is the most eminent of living American authors, Mr. How- ells would get away with most of the coupons,” writes a reviewer of “Letters Home,” in the Syracuse Post Standard. “Whether they read him or not people know about him and like him, or, as the expressive phrase goes, ‘stand for’ him. I guess the secret of it is, for one thing, that every one has a strong faith in Mr. Howells’ genuineness and Ameri- canism. He does not go to Italy for his scenes and characters as Marion Craw- ford does; he does not retreat Into the past as Mr. Churchill and most of the other romance writers do. He deals with the here and now, with Broadway and Beacon street, -with Iowa and Central New York, with the election of Mayor Low and the trust movement. He han- dles all these familiar, commonplace and homely things and makes good stories of them—no easy task. And with all his humor and clear insight he preserves a noble faith in everything that is Ameri- can.” Peter Newell has {llustrated “The Hunt~ ing of the Snark, and Other Poems,” by the author of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and Harper & Bros. are now bringing out the book in a handsome holiday edition uniform with “Allce™ and “Through the Looking-Glase,” alse illustrated by Mr. Newell, which they published last year and the year preceding. In connection with the new volume, which has a colored fromtis- plece and numerous amusing pictures in tint, Mr. Newell explained to an inter~ viewer that though most of his Ulustre- tive work is reproduced in black and white, or in one tint, he really paints the greater number of his pictures in colors, finding it far easier and more effective to work in that medium. “And there is more inspiration in color,” added the artist. It is not generally known that Mr. New~ ell has exhibited pictures In oll at the New York Academy of Design; and at the Atlanta exposition one of his water colors was purchased as the nucleus of & pro~ posed gallery in Atlanta. NewBooKksReceived PA GLADDEN: Elizabeth Walts; the Century Company, New York; {llustrated; price $1 50. THE POOL IN THE DESERT: Mre Everard Cotes; D. Appleton & Co, New York; price $§1 50. iy THE TRIFLER: Archibald Eyre; Smarq Set Publishing Company, New York; (llus- trated; price 31 2. THE BEATEN PATH: Richard E Makin; Macmilian Company, New Yorkg price $1 50. FOUR-IN-HAND: Geraldine D. Appleton & Co., New York; mmum price 31 50. THE KNOCKER: Frank Voorhiesy Mutual Book Company, Boston; Wuse trated. MORE FIVE-MINUTE STORIES: Laurs E. Richards; Dana Estes & Co., Bostonj {llustrated: price 51 BILLY WHISKERS' KIDS: Frances Trego Montgomery; Saalfleld Publishing Company, Akron, Ohlo; illustrated. MY CANDLES AND OTHER PORMS: Eliza Boyle O'Rellly; Lee & Shepard, Beaton; price SL SHAPES OF CLAY: Ambrose Blercsg W. E. Wood, S8an Francisco; {llustrated. TO CALIFORNIA AND BACK: C. A Higgins and Charles A. Keeler; Double- day, Page & Co., New York; llustrated; ., price $§1 50. ALONG FOUR - FOOTED TRAILS: Ruth A. Cook; James Pott & Co, New York; fllustrated; price §1 =, BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES A 8. VIVIAN; Imogen H. Vivian; Whitaker Ray Company, San Francisco; {liustrated; price 1. THE PHILIPPINES: Bamuel MacClin tock; American Book Company, New York: mu-xnted.“ Pk ORIENTAL AMERICA: sodore W. Noyet Judd & Detweller, Washing- ton, D. C. BACKGROUNDS OF LITERATURD: Hamilton Wright Mable; Outlook Com~ pany, New York; illustrated; price $2 WE, THE PEOPLE: Edward Everett Hale; Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; fliustrated; price $1 50. MODERN PRACTICAL THEOLOGY: Professor Ferdinand 8. Schenk, D. D. Funk & Wagnalls, New York; price 1. MONEY BANKING AND FINANCH: Albert S. Bolles, Ph. D., LLD.; Amer- fcan Boo; C:#:"fi"c'ig" York. MONE N DIT: Wilbur Alde rich; Grafton Press, New York. STORY l‘))FARAP[D TRANSIT: Beckles ‘Willson; D. Appieton & Co., N iy New York; PHYSICAL LABORATORY MANUAL: 8. E. C 8. B, A. M.; American Book Company, New York; Py oW York; ilustrated;