The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 4, 1904, Page 10

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. LONDON Deals in Brutality. jent of yvoung challen tales have t. serves s at wn it bruta! t d that tk comes to Hi esti- Van witness- months the in- Wolf Larsen, its as a literary that of naviga- ettante n it be istance that n for ed constructs His gross moves no- s nobody this jconoclasm, trength to the au- otion of his character—and to the 1estion: Does the of the iritual to the ad- bald, hard materialism make for true in a mnow ation of t element of the novel aside, it ma be heartily ass - ed that London has given here a vivid picture of the sea—vivid fo a degree most 1 n cannot appreciate. exhibited here, as in other stories, a remarkable facility producing an atmosphere for his which pric itself line for line on the retina of the reader’s imagina- tion The ¢ ng schooner Ghost, its crew of flotseam, Wolf Larsen are real—real as if the reader Van Wedén's sea dent of the attack upon sealing crew and the through the fog, as scription of anship in the ty ense vivi London has the knack of coloring essential detail in a manner s to embrace and out- line the w picture, ' The 2 D upon the course of true hrey whole ine of Van Weyden’s res- cue of Mau ster from the Ghost, of their s drifting in 2 open boat, their sojourn on a desert 181 their final emancipation from the lerness of the sea lacks the “convincing quality that charac- terizes the early part of the tale. It reads like an excernt from the story books. The vchological moment for pla ting of that kiss upo lips was not at the sight- deliverance, but at the aways set foot on En- the final the o nstant deavor Island. If, in resume, I may be permitted an exy on of opinion directly per- sonal 1 say that “The Sea-Wolf” will add nothing to Mr. London's credit and that another story of its frankly brutal nature would detract largely from his well-earned reputation. I do not believe that the reading world wants this butcher's meat, hacked dripping from the bonmes of realism. (The Macmillan Company, New York; illustrated; price $1 50.) CAINE’S “The Prodigal Son”* HOUGH Hal!l Caine is firmly com- mitted to the belief that this is the worst possible of all pgssible worlds, he has a master hand at painting the heavy' shadows of wretched humanity. Tragedy and heartbreak, the wi cking of hopes, the crumbling of re: es, the futilitv of all that makes for happiness in this world and glory in the next—these are the sable textures of all his novels. These he has utilized in the last of his stories, “The Prodigal Son,” with anscending that manifested in er works. “The Prod- terrible story, a strong i asant one. In sever eérlier novels, not- ably The M Caine n” and “The Bonds- tragedy out of —the accu- s piled up; the m. th others stronger artistic the because in hology of events uvon the psycho- of his characters. er - study of the of human emotions ; circumstance has to play m the machine; the human out own destiny, The not fiction, but life re- for line. 1 makes the theater for “The Prodigal Son.” acters are all In choosing the dull, drab setting of the bieak hills and the sim- ple, he »un peoples inhabiting them the author purposely place tragic tale of life the plane of fi principles. -Elemental in every respect are the comporents of the plot. The temptations that come to Oscar Ste- phenson are the temptations against which Solomon warned the youths of Israel; even as did Esau, he sells his birthright for a m of the world’'s potiag The tragedy arising from the hopeless frailty of this man is the com- mon world tragedy: But this tempta- tion, this sin, this tragedy, all burning forth from the harsh ompromising gloom of Iceland, give “The Prodigal Son” the crude, the bitter strength of the primitive. The plot has few complications; in- deed, the end may be guessed before Part 1 has been read through. A m mated love, a guilty love, the sins of a k man and the deeds of a strong— things and the story tells itself. the intensive study of the char- that the meat of the book lies. This Caine wrouzht in a manner suggestive of Eduard Rod, the e ad nent of the psychological novel in French contemporary fiction. Feeling is interpreted by action; shades of meaning gain significance by the man- ner of utterance as well as the import of the snoken word. His conception of Oscar, the brilliant, untrammeled soul who sins for the minute and lives to reap bitter repentance, is the best, the most masterly that Hall Caine has vet evolved. (D. Appleton & Co., New York;: price $150.) ARTIST Tries at Fiction. NDRE CASTAIGNE, one ’of the best known illustrators of the modern school, has essayved to es- tablish himself in a new depart- ment of the arts with his first novel, “Fata Morgana.” His initial at- tempt, however, is hardly flattering enough to encourage any further exer- tion in this line of endeavor; he would better stick to his last and continue in the province where his abilities have gained such permanent recognition. “Fata Morgana” is far from beinz a good novel. Good in spots but weak in construc- tion and almost absolutely lacking in coherence is this story of Castaigne’s. He begins his tale in the middle and then after several chapters goes back to pick up the threads that are wav- ing wildly about, demanding a place in the woof of the plot. Then when the premises of the action have been laid affairs carry along to the originai point of break and after one hundred pages the reader begins to find himself and to identify the present with what goes before. Another break. and the story carries to a castle on the Adriatic —a fiction castle, of course—where a strange melodrama of prophecy and present evil is enacted. At the end the reader gathers what he mav from the tangle and counts nearly 500 pages that have taxed his eyes fruitlessly. Bohemian Paris—the Bohemia of the Quartier Latin, the ateliers and the Bal de Quat'z-Arts—as reflected ‘in' Cas- taigne’s novel gives it its chief worth. Of course one like the author. who has lived his life in the student atmos- phere of Paris and who even now is the head of an art school there. has the atmosphere of the place at first hand, and Castaigne rebrodutes it with convincing surety. In the first chap- ters of his novel, wherein he deals with the early struggles of his hero to gain - a foothold in the art world, the author has given many clear-cut pictures of the rare bonhomie and generous good fellowship obtaining in the art quar- ter. His characters Poufaille and Su- zanne, the journeyman sculptor and his model, are the best in the book judged from the interest which centers about them. Hella, the heroine, is very like one of the artist-author’s lay models; she “stays put” wherever her creator wills it and her actions are as mechan- ical a lay figure’s. Philip. the young artist, has the originality of indecision, if this sole distinctive feature of his mental endowments can be called oriz- inal. If illustrations made the book “Fata Morgana” would be one of the most prized volumes of the eason. Over sixty of his pencil creatfons has Cas- taigne contributed to the text—all good. Had the author added to this number by about one-half again he might have omitted the story altogether and still given the reader as tangible a grasp of the plot as the printed page does. (The Century Company, New York; price $150) 5 NOVEL - of Clever Surprise. 1 HE MAN ON THE BOX,” Har- old McGrath’s new story, would have been a highly entertajn- ing little tale had the author stuck to the dominant strain of farce comedy throughout. The idea is novei, the situations ingenious and humor & bubbling from almost every chapter; but not satisfied with producing a tale which might lay no claim to being else than a frothy bit of fun makifg Mc- Grath has nougffl to cast a spell of mel- odrama over the plot’s conclusion and in so doing he has come well nigh wrecking his story. % A hero who, in the spirit of adven- ture, disguises himself as a coachman in order that he might enjoy the nov- elty of driving his own sister home from a Washington diplomat’s ball, counts not upon fate and finds himself piloting instead the girl of all girls whom he had worshiped from afar. Complications lead to the Police Court and out again. Still unidentified, this reckless young fellow takes service with the maid of his heart in the same guise of a coachman and even finds himself forced to serve soun to his rival when pressed into the capacity of a butler. What with his love for the one who is thus placed in the po- sition of his mistress and the pressing danger of discovery always attending upon his wild escapade, the hero finds things pretty much at sixes and sevens until he has an opportunity to climb through an open window and play the god from the machine in highly dramat- . fc manner. Then things straighten themselves out in an eminently satis- factory fashion. But that making of the girl's father into a traitor to his country and a very barterer of the nation’s secrets—that artifice with all the concomitant fea- tures of the villainous young Russian and the wreck of a fortune falls very flat. Even the author is not sincere enough in his tragic mood to make of the Czar's secret service agent a pass- ably conscientious villain. Time and again he temporizes with his impulse by voicing extenuation for all of the Count’s wickedness. This strained ele- ment of sensationalism, together with a vbry clumsy way of giving the story in the first person and making paren- thetical jibes and comments upon the conventions of novel writing, mar an otherwise brilliant piece of fiction fool- ing. (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indian- apolis; illustrated. e 23 FICTION and Fact Reviewed. OSSESSING much of the fascina- tion of H. G. Wells’ stories of the improbable and written in a style vigorous and tensely dramatic, James Barnes' mnovel, ~The Unpar- donable War,” is a book t¢ spur the interest of the most blase reader of fiction. Not that its fundament- al plot scheme {s startling in_its originality — stories of hypothetical wars between world powers have been written in gocdly numbers; but the vividness of the book's inci- dents of battle both on sea and land is cemmensurable with that of a pano- rama, so clear-cut does each feature stand out in near perspective. The au- thor’s description of the great sea fight between the -British and American fleets reads as if it were written by Captain Mahan. According to Barnes' story the echoes of the Russo-Japanese war had not been long dead when an unfortu- nate combination of circumstances brought England and our country to terrible blows. The sudden sweeping into the Presidential office of a candi- date of the People’s party and the at- tendant propaganda of quasi-Socialism had served to spread confusion to busi- ness at home and to make dangerous our relations abroad.. An unscrupul- ous owner of a svndicate of news- papers cognives with certain disreput- able members of the welk President's Cabinet to bring on a war in order that the mistakes of the party in power may not grow too large in the public opinion. By clever distortion of truth and insistent bully-ragging the newspaper syndicate. actually does bring matters to such a pass that the unintentiopal ramming of a British battleship by an American boat pre- cipitates hostilities. One great land tattle is fought near Montreal and one lengagement between the belligerent ficets occurs off the Atlantic coast, then by a wonderful invention of an American sclentist, the nature of which will not be unfairly disclosed here, war is suddenly brought to a standstill on account of the very fu- tility of the weapons of destruction. Aside from the vivid descriptions of conflict in the book not a little interest attaches to the author’s clever antici- pations of the strides of science. Both upon the ships of war and with the armies on land there are utilized in- struments of offense and defense which seem not impossible, though they are for the time being but the fisments of the author’'s imaginings. (The Macmillan Company, New York; price $1 50.) “Hearts in Exile,” John Oxenham’s story of Siberia and the secret arm of the great white Czar, is not sensa- tional as it might easily have been, but a strong, well balanced tale of dra- matic interest. The author exhibits all the earmarks of the true story-teller in his sympathetic handling of situations which would call for strained heroics or the crudest kind of bathos, from one less skilled in the art than Oxenham. Beginning with a marriage between a wealthy Russian and a girl who has aspirations for the uplifting of the masses, this story of Russia rapidly develops the dangers attending any work of reform in the Czar’s country. Serge Palma, the successful of the two rivals who had bidden for the hand of the philanthropic maid, finds that his interest in his wife's schemes leads to the grim road to.Siberia. But on his way to exile Palma meets Paul Pavlof, the disappointed but high- minded lover, and consents to the lat- ter’'s offer to change places in order that the girl behind may not be be- reaved. How the wife, not knowing of the change, goes to Siberia in search of her husband and finds there her former lover instead, and how, as her guardian, Paul leéads the woman out ¢f dangerous places to final happiness— these things make a strong and thrill- ing tale. (Dodd, Mead & Co., New York; illus- trated; price $150.) Imagination that can be made so vivid as to produce the semblance of reality is something not usually found in the work of present day ro- mances. Harris Burland, author of “The Princess Thora,” has it in satis- fying plenitude. Though telling a gale which prima facie is nothing more than the wildest romance, this writer brings to his task such directness and force of conviction that the reader begins to belleve that his conceits are not only probable, but reasonably within the beunds of possibility. To say that the plot centers about the North Pole and that a strange race of Pole dwellers plays an important part in the story is tu give the reader hint enough to arouse his interest and insure his pe- rusal of the tale. (Little, Brown & Co., Boston; illus- trated; price §150.) A very artistic Christmas book is “Qur Christmas Tides,” arranged and written in large part by Dr. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler. Seven Christmas es- says and little sermons appropriate to the season and seven Christmas songs and poems, known to every speaker of the English' tongue, constitute the volume. Among the first are: “A Mer- ry Christmas to You,” an interesting sketch of Christmas customs in Eng- land, America and elsewhere, includ- ing some delightful personal reminis- cence; “A Day at Bethlehem,” which is a description of the modern City of David; “A Motto for Christmas Giv- ing,” a plea for Christian generosity; “Jesus the Joy-Bringer,”” “Home Thoughts for Christmas Tide.” ‘““The Star of Bethlehem That Never Sets” and “Back to Christ,” the last four semi-sermons with a bearing on Christ- mas, each full of inspiration for right living, written in Dr. Cuyler's simple, effective way. The book is illustrated with photogravures and decorated with broad designs in red along the wide margins. It is a holiday book which has more meat in it than the average of the ciass. (The Baker & Taylor Company, New York.) “Careers for the Coming Men" is the title of a volume of essays and speeches upon the professions and industries of the day by men who have the author- ity of knowledge to back their words. Whitelaw Reid, the veteran editor and statesman, tells of journalism as a pro- fession of opportunity; the two branches of the military service, army and navy, are treated by Colonel Albert Mills and Rear Admiral George W. Melville; F. N. Doubleday reveals the advantages and disadvantages of pub- lishing as a business; James K. Hackett tells stage secrets and—signi- ficant fact—Cyrus Townsend Brady. the prolific, holds the ear with whispered advice upon the very doubtful career of the author. The book is a good one fory a young man to read when he besins to mingle some individual speculation with his high school algebra. b (The Saalfield Publishing Comvadly, Akron, Ohio; illustrated; price $1 50.) The enttrely new “Cynic’s Calendar” A z CAZ I oe B is piled up in Paul Elder’s window: It is as good as the last and that is as good as the combined wit of Ethel Watts Mumford, Oliver Herford and Addison Mizner can make it. Price cents—better get it. THE MONTH in Magazine World. HE Ckristmas number of Serib- ner’s Magazine is unusually beau- tiful in its pictures, both in color and black and white, and is filled with sketches and short stories that are not only amusing and entertaining, but are good literature and full of charac- ter, as well as adapted to the Christ- mas season. Specially noteworthy art features are the colored frontispiece, by Maxfield Parris the illustrations in color for some ““Scenes From the Old Ballads,” by Beatrice Stevens; the drawings by Walter Appleton Clark, showing Christmas scenes in an old French village: a drawing of a mother and child in colors by Sarah Stilwell, accompanying a poem by E. S. Martin, and the beautiful colored cover by Da- vid Ericson. Short fiction is abundant and of great variety— “McAllister’s Christmas” is the story of how a comfortable clubman got into the Tombs and saw how Christmas was spent in the underworld. The author, Arthur Train, i{s an Assistant District Attorney. Edith Wharton has a story of artistic life in New York, “The Pot Boiler.” Octave Thanet’s story “The Angel of His Youth” is a tale of dis- illusionment. The late Guy Wetmore Carryl is represented by a most amus- ing story entitled “William, Alfy and Henry John.” Another humorous story, “The Corner Cupboard Man,” is by Sydney Preston, the author of “The Green Pigs.” The position of distinction held by McClure” imwell s s in story as well as article stained by the fiction of the December number. James Hopper leads with “A Jumble in Divinities,” which for charm of style and quality of sentiment can hardly be excelled as a Christmas story. There are more stories that appeal to our primal sense of what is beautiful and tender to our better instincts and tastes, with a moving force. George Madden Mar- tin's “God Rest You, Merry Chris- tians,” Marion Hill's “His Journey to the Gates,” Janet Remington’s “The Way Wonderful,” Herman Knicker- bocker Viele’'s “The Money Meter,” are about the people and things we all know, real and homely and familiar, feeling what we have felt and draw- ing our warmest sympathy. Mrs. Martin’s is a Christmas story which reflects the season and its meaning. Then there are more of the masterly studies of men and things in the rough, of that great Americh which lies far west of Hoboken, ds artis- tically perfect expressions of the un- familiar as are these other stories of the ordinary. Rex. E. Beach de- scribes a terrible contest of two miners with cold and hunger and distance in the Arctic circle, “The Test,” in which mind defeats matter. Stewart Ed- ward White continues his serial, “The Rawhide,” and carries us Avith un- broken interest into the mysteries of “the round-up” gand ‘“‘the trail” in the Arizona desert. O. Henry has a de- lightfully. humorous sketch of the matrimonial adventures of two retired miners in “The Ransom of Mack.” A collection of thrilling stories, con- densed under one title, is found in “Notes from a Trainer's Book,” by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The spirit of Christmas invades the editorial sanctum long before December comes, and the Christmas magazines celebrate the holiday season with a specially liberal literary and artistic menu. Among the Christmas maga- zines The Booklavers will take a foremost place. It contains a varied and attractive array of literary con- tributions, and an unusually quantity of brilliant and artistic illustrations, many of them in color and tint. Pastor Charles Wagner, the apostle of the simple life, opens the December number with a brief “Christmas Mes- sage,” written in French ‘and trans- lated by Mary Bacon. It is a singularly fresh and unconventional treatment of an almost threadbare subject, a paean of praise on the beauty of the “mother- spirit” that at Christmastide, at least, is universal and powerful"in its appeal to the best in human nature. One of the most interestipg papers in the December number is that by Bur- riss Gahan on “The Real Australian,” being the first of a series of three pa- pers on the island continent. In this article Mr. Gahan introduces the reader to “the land and the people” in that country of onposites, and describes and corrects those first impressions of the traveler which are S0 apt to be false and misleading. for December numerous coj- magazine unusu Pearson's presents the lection of six s sparkling pieces of American H use of Lords,” by leading article,” and sine- ators; as n the first Mon- s paper is pecul- 1 of the philan- thropic career of the late Louis Fleisci- mann relates the history and the de- amous Bread Line, sights of New York. ly article is H. P. Burchell’s “International Athletics,™ copiously illustrated with photographs. In his story Mr. Burchell briefly re- counts the results of this year’s Ameri. can sporting achievements In compe- tition with E and,, Canada, Ger- many and France The article emb: £] from the de- feat of Emperor am's Meteor to the victories of Americans over English track teams 1 cricket teams, and German bow teams. ng The number of clippings from Sun- es in Eastern publi- ence of the pro- local magazine is number contains would easily be es of a few ork contem- readers Mrs. i For 1 Craft De Mab ributes “The Stockin at glori- fied ad, t ter festival tells a strange pathetic tale of its peregrina- ticns. A s Marketing on the Yuk by Sam Hubbard reveals some of the joys of preparing for the Yule! r the auroya with eggs Ella ) Sexton is the author of a tale of the Latin arter, “The Romance of Concha.” two »d pleces of verse sggol and Jeanette Sunset contains E. ersity of California, in California” by Wil arrison, president of the O King’s High Wallace and mugh else that is go The Thanksgiving number of The Youth's Companion (November 24) is so satisfying as to make turkey seem almost superfluous. It contains six complete short stories, two of which are Thanksgiving stories, one by Bliss Perry, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, the other by Harriet Prescott Spofford. There is a capital illustrated article, “Our Boys in Gray”—scenes in the life of a letter c ier, written by one of them. here another illustrated article telling how to build a “Scooter™ or combined ice and water boat. There are nearly a dozen short chare acter sketches, mostly humorous, anecdotes of Nathaniel Hawthomne, George Frederick Watts and the Chi- nese Emperor and Dowager Empress, nearly a score of interesting selections of miscellany, besides the stories and poems and the children’s page, a phy- sician’s contribution on “Schools and Nerves” and the notes on Nature and Science and C ent Events, Sty st & NewBooks Received THE SEA WOLF—Jack London; the Macmillan Company, New York; illus- trated; price $150. THE MARATHON M ton E. Stevenson; Henry Holt & Co., New York; illustrated; price $1 50. THE GIRL AND THE KAISER— Pauline Bradford Mackie; Bobbs, Mer- rill Company, Indianapolis; illustrated. THE BINDWEFD—Nellie K. Blis- sett; the Smart Set Publisfing Com- pany, New York; price $1 50. MY LADY LAUGHTER—Dwight Tilton; C. N. Clark Publishing Com- pany, Boston; illustrated; price $1 50. HOPE HATHAWAY—Frances Parke er; C. N. Clark Publishing Company, Boston; illustrated; price $1 50. THE TOUCH OF NATURE-Augus- tus M. Lord; American Unitarian As- sociation, Boston: illustrated; price $l. JOHN GILLEY—Charles W. Elliof American Unitarian Association, Bos- ton; price 60 cents. LAMECH—Mrs. N. B. Williamson; Whitaker & Ray Company, San Fran- ecisco; price $l. REMINISCENCES—Luella Dicken- son; Whitaker & Ray Company, San Francisco; price $2. THE CURSE OF THREE GENERA- TIONS—Jeanette Wheeler; M. A, Dono- hue & Co., Chicago., WEST AMERICAN SHELLS—Josiah Keep; Whitaker & Ray Company, San Francisco; illustrated; price $2. THE WANDERING HOST—David Starr Jordan: American Unitarian As- sociation, Boston; orice 90 cents. A MANUAL OF PERSONAL HY- GIENE—Edited by Walter L. Pyle; W. B. Saunders & Co., Philadelphia; {llus- trated: price $1 50. TRUTH AND FREEDOM-—Thomas Hebblewhite; Whitaker & Ray Com- pany, San Francisco; price $2 50. HEALTH, STRENGTH AND POW- ER—Dr. Dudley A. Sargeni: H. M. Caldwell Company, Boston; price $1 75. WOMAN AND HER WITS—Edited by G. F. Monkshood; H. M. Caldwell Company; price 75 cents. STERY—Bur~