NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 544, 26 June 1909, Page 9

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

"Poetry' ■■' Bernard O'Dowd.' ' /-■''' Melbourne:' TV C:.:Lothioti.- Is. ; '/;j- v : Australia must bo a happy country. Whether .it is .that 'sunlight is plentiful there, or \ that the. .smell of/gum-leaves is peculiarly , invigorating,, .the .Australian' is-a person, full of daring', enthusiasms.; :Like the baby, who , 'feels that;'n6tbjng.'in, tho world can stand ; against; him'when: ho "discovers that ho can walk'and push.a chair, the Australian male, until- ; . years ■ teach him -otherwise,. , believes . that it :is'only "necessary to make,a spurt to bring about,the.'regeneration of the world. He always' sees,the millennium on the shelf, waiting to -be.taken, down, a'ndrjio rushes forth with, noiso and to get him the; necessary, step-ladder. "■ .People who' know his', ..earnest,- condensed, .tight-, 'packed ; little., stanzas—-would hardly' suspect Mr." Bernard O'Dowd of being one of these mental' inebriates.... Yot he- is,' and 'the ste[H ladder'for 'which he is looking is a special sort of.;poetry. .-Even'though he is all the time' trumpeting wildly ".through- the densest < possible" jungle'of polysyllabic ; 'pomposityj it', is -to' iinderstahd that tho : burof .his '.twaddle' is' the' I ,need for'-'-a .poetic'ar.ste'p-laddef/to'rcacli down the-glit-tering-millennium. 'The poet, .he says, - is , '.'tho -.true .Permeator"—it; is the' capital. that -.makes." oH/thc difference—"the projector of . 'cell-forrriirig ideals' intoj the.protoplasmic futuro".j "a ferment,"..'even "a living catalyst". ;. and the greatest : need of the day: is the.perspn who Permeates.'. Mr. O'Dowd's. , stilted rhetoric and meaningless jargon about Poetry: Absolute and Classiques ■ and 'Per- . lneators, however, have a sort of meaning. Wo • yery much doubt, however, - whether the ,• regeneration, of .Australia-is.to'come' through the. disappearance of Beauty ■• in•',favour -of ■Practical: Poems/. It: would bo: much better if Australia paid;, off its loans and got rid of the; thice-partyTsystem. 'In. any event Mr. O'Dowd has .too high .an opinion of-the current/Australian'.singers. . Ho gives a, portentous'list of them, and classifies them :.ac'cprdirig to .their : "arch j tectonic symbolism,." ■or "cirb diamond brilliance and tonal- quality," or "lyric, splendour and organ roll," or ."ilowering" dreaminess" (because, she called nor little, book' "Drcaniß: in; Flower"!),' or! "rebellious, singing lightning," or "royal colouring,", or, anything else that ::i.B • great and glorious. Really, if thetinkling versewriters of Australia were what Mr. O'Dowd supposes, the millennium would havo been hero "..already/ Catching 'sight of all' these raignty dries, it would haye long' ago imitated thej 'possum, and cried out; "Don't shootl■',■; I .will ,'como down."., There is one. thing/for endorsement and applause>in this supremely .foolish book—the advocacy (page '21) of,the short ballad-metre.'■'. We are here with Mr. , O'Dowd: heart and .'soul-—but' lio only/throws • out thohint: betweentrumpotings.-. Mr. O'Dowd had better get back to his excellent ver6e without delay. ■; "Gorvase.".'•'.' By Mabel .Dearmcr. Mac- : : millan's Colonial Library.: 2s. Gd. ; ■'■" ..'■. In: her earlier novels: Mrs. Dearmcr 'has showed us; as Mary Chplihondoley has also Bhowed us,: that .the' unpleasantness of an "unpleasant', l themo in fiction arises entirely from the/spirit ■ in which , tho author 'goes : to work. / She illustrates this truth,, of • course-, in. a negative way. One shudders to • think of what" some current writers l Would harb; done with -the/theme of. "Tho Alien - Sisters."./Eveh the story of Gorvase Alleyno could have been mado drearily uupleasant by some writers'wo could name.•■'-. Mrs...'Dear-'-ni'OTjihowever, thinks .high; She is.sedulously : careful.of-hor art,!but shoJs no less-careful, of tho.necessity :f or.">justifying art by, a high ■ purpose. ; In-her.latest book sho attempts a task that israther greater.than her strength,, but it is impossible not to admiro her zealous workmanship 'and her desperately eager absorption in her aim. Gervaso Alleyno is a ■. dreamor and an-idcalist, who has grown out of aii unhappy childhood '"into/a/ sincore'nnd ardent:manhood.,: He drifts into a friendship—which'on his sido.is almost impersonally pure—with" a coarse beauty, .whom,- for ; a reason that is by. no means..clear,.', ho, is I- foolish enough to'marry. - His wife, oh their ,- wedding night; makes a confession .which

makes it impossible for him to livo with her. In tho black.months that follow ho realises that he loves' his wife's' artist sistor. His wife's death leaves him'free to marry again, but ho , cannot violate his conscience by marrying tho'one - woman : lib loves.'. Tho struggle between lovo and religion is exceedingly severe,- and love triumphs for a little, but ,tho idealist temperament of tho man surrenders in tho end to the powerful pleading; of his old tutor. The subtlo study of Gervaso tho boy rather comes to wreck when the authoress sots tho machinery in motion for her final theme—the conflict between the norma] instincts of a good man and woman and the : rather abnormal devotion of the man to what is now generally believed to be an' ecclesiastical dogma rather than an essentially Christian law. But thattheme. iff so brilliantly handled that the improbabilities in Gorvaso's character and behaviour aro of little account. Those who know .W.. J. Locke's delightful "Septimus"—in which the central incident is not very unlike tho central incident in "Gervaso"—may find some pleasure in reflecting upon the course that Septimus would havo adopted in. Gervase s case. Wo believe that that charming hero would have married Kate without a pang. But Mrs. Dearmer makes us feel that if Gervase so ho would have been hopelessly ■ tarnished. . "Jimbo: A Fantasy." By Algernon Blackwood. Macmillan's Colonial Library.-2s. ■' 6d.. .:■.' . . . -...- "Jimbo" is a gorgeous burst of imagination in. tho interests' of a doctrino that seems oddly out of place in the moiith of a novelist. The lesson which Mr. Blackwood'Wants'to teach'is the cruel folly of frightening nervous children,- and ho has chosen a wonderful and fascinating way of doing it. Poor little Jimbo .has been terrified by a thoughtless' governess, and in rushing madly away from ! the House of Fright ho is tossed by a bull. The" book is tho. tale of his adventures in his three hours' unconsiousnoss; and it is a breathlessly thrilling compound of nightmare, poetry, and wonder. Such gloomy terrors as assail the littlo prisoner, in Fright's stronghold were never before heard of, and it must be a dull person, who is not as excited and happy as Jimbo when he'gets.his wings," and practises", in,the. darkness. ..And- sheer intoxication comes when the long flights begin at a height of a thousand feet—not the nervous dashes of our Wrights 'and' Farmans, but long, luxurious journeys on real feather wings at enormous velocities. In a last flight he is pursued by Frighthiraselfon his heavy wings, and h'e' soars desperately high, so high that be hoars at last tho roar of. the world as it thunders through space, ano> sweeps on to the moon.- The climax of this terrific adventure is the return to consciousness. A doctor, Wo should say, would find much interest; in examining the points at which the progress of the little wounded body affects the experiences of the little spirit in its, nightmare experiences. The book, is a thoroughly fascinating one, but not one for the impressionable children .whoso delicate sensibilities.prompted its writing; .'• ■■ /

"The .Broad Road."' By Annie S. Swan, ■..'■■;'• London: George Bell and Sons. 2s. 6d.. and 3s. 6d. \'l(Whitc'6mbc and Tombs.) Annie Swan has chosen.a title descriptive rather than distinctive for her very readable new book. . There are few, if any, novels published" nowadays where one may, not meet some -young man walking down tho. broad road, though, indeed;, the average author would-be inclined to call -that thoroughfare '.'tho primrose path." Primroses do hot grow, along the path of Annie Swan's weak-natured, villain, which-.is probably the reason why he is reclaimed in the end, after having allied himself with a gang of WhitechapclJows, at whose command ho steals a diamond necklace of fabulous value from a:mansion where he has introduced himself as guestl Tho Jew element is strong in the book, as Aimid Swan believes it to be nowadays in.English society v She seems to ■have, a fear that ultimately England will pass into the hands. of .'.the Hebrew race, and in this book: she, attempts to give a comprehensive l view.of the race, good and bad. The superlative hero and his uncle; are Jews_' of "tho finest 'typo, . and ! the story'concerns itself with, the hero's infatua- • tion for an English girl of good family—the .sister of the villain—and hip ill-considered device for winning her. affection j.' The.story is; brightly told, nnd.is, in plot, quite unliko most, of thei writer's other novels. ~ :.

"Reminiscences of An; Pld Sportsman.". Bv •'■'■■ .-:Wj B. Woodgate. 'London; George Bell V" and Sons. (Wkitcombc and/Tombs.) ,12s.' ■'. An interesting,autobiography, by a talkative English lawyer;.: Mr. .woodgatb iß.an egotist, but. he', has known many interesting/ people, and ho, tells, some- good stories, and exudes entertaining gossip and-indiscretions.' But it is an '-unpleasant .'spirit, behind the chatter'] only a bad taste can remain after a description,of-Mr. :Winston Churchill as a "party pimp and parasite; Parliamentary prostitute; political vermin,' 1 ..t0 quote a: sample 'from''-'-.a .disgustingv.chapter.. "A' sportsman,'.'.apparently; 1 , need' no longer" be a gontlemiia.-'V-'- ; . : - , -".'---'.-V-. ''-■ ■''>. ; /'-'-././ ■■'• "Nancy and Her Small .Holding.". By E. -Boyd Bayly, . London: Jarrold. and Sons. I .-"-1a*,.. : .. t .:■;.;}. ''■:-:;' / //'/'//. /'/'■'.-- A simple story of agricultural life, which Miss Bayly "tells with real, feeling and kriowr ledge 'of her subject. ' It is marred in oho place by;'a. long digression'; in the shape of a .homily on'school, hours ahd.child labour. The book has a distinctly religious atmosphere. The characters' are well drawn, but are, with perhaps-one or.'twb exceptions, too (impossibly .perfect. The book is excellent reading for "the young, and is by no means barren of profit for. their elders, especially those of them who take, an evangelical out-look.-,',lt has' fi few good illustrations'. ,:'■ "The Widow—To Say Nothing of the Man." •By Helen Rowland/ London: Stanley Paul '.' and'.Co'..,'ls.':- '■'-.' '•'■' '■'.., :. '■'-~,'. Miss Rowland, in selecting dialogue as the medium of her story, makes inevitable a 'comparison between her book and the "Dolly Dialogues.',' Anthony Hopo practically exhausted the possibilities of this method, and anything less. brilliant is not likely to" prove acceptable,to the.public; The "Dolly Dialogues" are always spontaneous, and, however brilliant the. wit, • it .is always natural conversation.: The' dialogue in the widow frequently lapses into laboured ' aionolgu'e, characterised-, rather by'smartness than wit. Nevertheless, Miss Rowland invests her' story with sufficient, interest .to make the reader hope that the happiness" 1 of their .dual existence will relieve them of'tho obligation of being original. .The book has eight charming illustrations by Esther P. Hill.

■ It used -to be found, that; writers' to. the press who were remunerated at the rate of a penny per line became in time great masters in tho art of 'circumlocution, and it might be thought (says an English .contemporary) that-if writers were paid by the word alike eonsequenco would follow. It docs not,do so in the case,:.say, of Jack London'. Everyoho who has; read Fang" knows 'that every word is indispensable. Yetjhis literary, agents, pay. him by the word, and- that at the handsomo rate of 7jd. As his output is 1000 words;a day, no doubt the mere task of keeping tho wolf from, tho; door vanishes and ho can attend-to .stylo. Paymont by word has.its" amusing side, however, and Charles Heath, "in :"Alico for Short," saw it. He "jotted down'''short stories;at a'pennj per. word. But. he was, whimsical about it, and sometimes wrote' in -'.monosyllables that his employers t might have nothing .too good a bargain, and'sometimes in' polysyllables'that the balance, flight .bo the'other.'way; 1 : Moreover,.,ho' saw.; huge ..possibilities for' this method.-'.'He' foresaw a time when literature • would/bo. paid.by letters, and -spaces, tho latter: counting .-double, so as to- ensuro the maximum ;,of ideas, per .lino. Or, perhaps, he,said,-..words' will be paid for by tho gross, at a special tariff for each wore)—for.instan'ce! 'him' at ''threepencea: gross, 'her' at a shilling, -'lovo' at tonpence; and regular, good, plummy words, such as 'forever,' 'evermore,' i'sin,' and so forth, at five shillings to half .a sovereign.",, . ■' .-