LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 42, 13 November 1920, Page 13

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Mark Twainls "Letters,! 1 Mark Twain's "letters," edited hv Albert Bigelov Paine, are bains widelyquoted ill American papers. Many of the lettors-aro full of delightful humour, but occasionally a llots is struck which jars, upon "Liber" 'ntj'lcast, not'a little. One of Mark's' pet. aversions, in literature, seems to havo k'Cii Sir Walter Scott. Scol.tVhoToes and heroines were, for Samuel -Langhorno Clemens, no bettw than'"mere cads' and <ca'desses." And'then ffillow's this remarkable comparison:— •

-.'Scott: was Ereat Jn his day. and to iiis nroner audience, and so was God in .Jeiyish :times for that matter, but why should either of them rank liich now? And "do" Vhcy? < D — ; d if I believe it. . ■Well, jvcJl, there is no accounting for personal tusfes-and beliefs, but "Liber" •is 'old-fashioned, enough to "believe that both Scott and the Almighty— the 'irreverence of the -juxtaposition is Mark Twain's, not iniiio—still "rank high." A rich delight in Scott—the best of Scott,' such as. ."The Antiquary," ,r ßoh Boy,"' "GuyMannerinx," and "The Brido of. lammermoor"—is still one of my happiest possessions, and as-for tide belief 111. God, well, despite the Great War and its, sore trial of men's -faith, that faith still exists and, so "Libor" believes, is deeper and firmer-rooted than ever. As an old admifer of Mark Twain, I am sorry tho particular lotbiv from which I have quoted' has teen published.

THe "Pisappointed Man." ";' When'that very remarkable,-, if morbid and, in spine respects, rather. i-ep"ollent-book, "The Journal of a Disappointed Man," was first published it was thoughtby s'oini; to, :be "camouflaged AVells." But "\V. N.- P. Barbellion,- k - as the author, . the lato Bruce Cumniings, styl«d himself on the title page, actually ivxisted, aiul'tlie only fa-lto about his now' famous book was the statement 011 the final pago.tliat the author was, dead wlaentile hook was published. As'a matter of. fact, ; "Barbellion," who for a' time was an assistant in tho entomological d?partment at' the 1 , British Museum, lived long, enough .to appreciate tha success of his' first book, which was followed, after his deathv- % a volume of ossnys from his pen, pntitied "Enjoying . Life." Chattes now announoe ■ "A- Last Diai-y" by the same author. • The unfortunate author died, quite a young man, from-a peculiarly distressing form of paralysis'. 'Striy.'lleaves. ' Messrs Angus; and Robertson, of' Sydney, auijdunbo.'tho forthcoming publica; tiou of Another of.'.the fine series of graphs'-qf Australian.^rtists,' which in- 1 eludes the Hilder, Stretton, nnd -Mortens' volumes. The new volume will. be devoted to the "Life, and Work of 'Hans' Hcyswi." ; Heysen, a South -Australian By birth,' -is .easily first amongst the. artists of the Commonwealth as the pain-', ter of ."the. bush; and his pictures mnv . coinnuind' -.high prices. . JVisc' collectors will secure copies of-'all tlmse monographs as -they appear, for iu years to come they are bound to become both iscarce and [very' Valuable.'. The same remark applies 'io tho volumes of that interesting series,-. "Art in - Australia," the earliei; series, which ,ai;(! .now ont of print,' beiiig at a. considevabhv premium.-,-' ' ■ ..

, Np. niibdei'U Englisli'poet has sung:mo>-e 'delightfully of children, of child fancies, and eliildljko ways than Mr. Walter do- ia Mare, whose poems are almost as highly appreciated in America, where goodness only knows they hnve : plenty of" ■ poets.'of :their own, aa'in England.. A "collected edition',, in two vd'umes, of do la -1 • Miire's 'charming verse, is, I notice,'.announced. by, iConstable's for early publi- • cation..-..

The publislierw of .h new novel, "Cold' ;Blood" !: by Mr. Robin Richards, advertise the'book,', so I notice, as "a striking >new ■novel ( by the-son-in-law of Maurice Hewlett." This is surely a. curious and rather silly, innovation-' in -literary advertisement. What connection is there between 'the ' taerife or otherwise of a story ■by a ".iyeTl-known novelist's "son-in-law" and tli?' undoubted and widely-recognised genius of the • father-in-law,' whoso name ,is thus-dragged in"as' 'a sort of side"flhoW advertisement? After this we -play, expect such announcements as. -."The Hokey Pokey 'Man," by Silas Snooks, 'second--.cousin• to-Mr. Tett Ridge's aunt; on "Bonia Divorced," by Mrs. Elis«\ TSffiwii-.Tones,' whose mother once made a blouse Mrs. Stephen M'JCenna.; • "Miss Katherine Mansfield (a nom-de-,plnine • which conceals the identity of a Wellington-born'' writer!, whose .'. essays land .re'v.ipws;are lj;y no menus, tli.o least .distinguished featuro of the reconstructed '"Athenaeum," now, under Mr. /j\(iddle-.ton-Murray's editorship, one of the best of literary . journals, is represented;'iu ..Constable's autumn list by a .volume entitled "Bliss anit Other Stdriofc" ■

;.\;Sir Arthur Qiiiller Couch has compiled r.. little anthology of sea sours, "Ships and the Sea," for Dent's beautifully •'pfwlucec} i-'/iiiiiß's Treasuries of .'Literature" Booklovcrs owe a debt..of gratiludfrto- Dents, for'it was from this <-firin that we.had tho famous Temple edition of Shakespeare, that excellent pocket sories, "The Temple . Classics," and. : the fniiious "Everyman's Library." The title tit-Dent's new.series was suggested; stif..•course, -by. Buskin's famous' essay, '"Kings'. Treasuries," ■. - Not only -/American,' but English. reviewers are.warm, in praise of a .new story. "The;' Amateur." bv '• .Charles • • Nor,ris;-whose remarkable novel. "Salt" was reviewed-'in these columns recently. The story, which is published by -Constable, deals very largely with an artist's life in New York. Compton M'lvenzie's Jew novel, to bo published in London Hiis month, lis to bo entitled "Rich Eolations." Apparently a sequel to that diverting comedy, "Poor Relations," which followed tho tovor-iennthy '.'Sylvia Scarlett" series and immediately preceded the.disappointing "Vanity, Girl.',' . . « Hu"h'. Walpolo's new..novel, to bo published by - Mncmiltau (and presumably jsnticd in their Colonial Library) is en-titled-"The Captives: A Story in lour rails." Macmillans.also promise a new Winston Churchill novel, "The Gieca Hay Tree." -The author ol Richard Carvei" and "The Crisis . has a host of "constant readers" in Now Zealand, but his two last novels, llio Inside of tho Cup" and "The Dwelling Place of • Light," -were scarcely so popular as somo ' o£"his '.earlier glories. • . "In-Chancery" is the title of Mr. John GnlWortliv's forthcoming new novel. It, belongs, I read, to the series written round the.. Foryste family, with winch we first made acuimintance in tlmt line novel." bv far Galsworthy s best Tho .Han.or Properly." Mr. Galsworthy will also give 'us. as a Christmas hook, a IBtudrpt childhood entitled Awakening. SOME RECENT FtCTION "The Heart of Unaga." Mr. Ridgwell Culhim, of whoso fine 'hovels "The Watchers of the ( Pinms "'Hie Sheriff of Dyke Holo, Riders." "The Hound from the Noith, and other stirring and drnmaticiillv joninritic stories, of - life ?"!nrl 'regions of tho American Wild ttest and of Canada so many hardened novel readers have -pleasant .memories, gives us, in bis "Heart of Unaga" (Chapman and ,Hall) what is by far and away tho best .thin(f..he has done in this genre. Quito apart from the dramatic, even tragic <n-. torest involved in the vengeance sought bv Ihe Mounted sergeant. Stnve Alleiiwood, upon the betrayer of Ins wife, -the ' subsidiary motif of Allenv.'oiid's"" search for a marvellous plant ..whvoh'/a far-northern tribe of • afi' a. narcotio, i)ut vrjlich, oflofir

scientific-treatment, 14 oapablo of eplen-,: (lid service in tho oauae of suffering humanity. imbues tho story with a distinctly original interest, Allenwood's Wife' And' child are stolen from liini by an unscrupulous superior, whom tho polico sergeant, havlnz rotired from tho service, tracks down to tho far North. The wife dies, but a faithful Indian woman 'assists Allemvoixl to trace his daughter, who lives to marry a fino young fellow whom her father had bofriended and adonted. Tho search for tho lost child takes tho hero into a. volcanlo region, where. ho discovers tho source whence tho Indians derive. their mysterious herb, which, when dried and distilled, provides a di-usr which enables them to sleep through the lone A rctic winter taonths without any diminution of energy. The story, is rich in dramatic interest, and is remarkable amongst fiction of this olass for its careful and effective character drawing. The strange fascination .which .the icv. wastes and denso woods of' t.ho'far Canadian north possesses for the trappers and others-wlio dwell in what td most people would seem a peculiarly dreary region, is skilfully suggested, and, : th'e love-story of Allenwoftds long-lost daughter and tho fine young explorer and. trapper, Mnrcel Brand,. wlioin her' father had adopted, provides a pleasant sentimental interest, which is in agreeable contrast to the dramatic and tragio incidents involved .in tho tracking down of Allenirood's enemy and tho search for and discovery..of-the mysterious Adresol. "The. Heart of-Unaga" ' B an exceptionally original i and . powerful story ■ which can he unreservedly commended to tho lovers of romantic fiction. "Tho Top of the . World."

.. Miss Ethel, Doll's novels enjoy, I believe,,' a great popularity wirtl a big public;. of feminine readers, and so long as tho author's work gives pTe-asuro to her patrons it seems churlish to be captiously critical over her literary methods. "The Top of the World" (Gnssoll' nnd Co., per Whitcombe and Tombs) is noithor better npr. worse than its now numerous predecessors from i%o same creative fount. There is tho. usual strong,, personally .unprepossessing but niaStSrful hero, chiyair'ous to a degree, but doomed -to.bo.misunderstood, oven, contemnqd, until the proper time arrives for" tho heroine to recognise his innate fliie qualitSefl arid to "give herself to him with a little quivering laugh" (see. last chapter), and there is, of course, tlio secdnu' and, for a tlmo, foscihating lover whp in tho long run is proved worthless. In' this latest example of the Dcllian "mixture as before." the 'author .displays' no smalt, ingenuity in the deyisihg of dramatic situations." ana •herstory, which' has, in part, an attractive; South African setting•, should fully satisfy and vastly please her own special public.

"Mary Marie." . : The author of "Just David" can scarcely''bo congratulated tjpon the motif of. ■her latest novel, "Mary -Marie" (Houghton; Mifflin,'- and 00.,--por .Australasian Publishing Company anu-Whitcombo and Tombs); .'Mrs. Porter is a very clever 'writer/but it:is difficult to malcc sloppy, scn'timont and a'dnbious moral situation. .acceptable;' and tho idea of making a girl, of thirteen discuss the rolations existing between h'er divorced - parents scarcely seems in- the best of. taste. It is true that in vile long run "Mary Marie, thnt "cute little thing," ns no doubt she would )i'o : called by 'American' lady renders of the story, plays the, good angel to -liei separated parents, for through hor affection and -wit'and'sh'rowdnoss, with all three of which qualities she is most: genorflusly -endowed ■by tho author, her father and-mother are: brought -together' again-and remarry, with' fair promi?o of solid and permanent happiness. - Such a happy-solution of the divorce problem not, I beliovo, uncommon in America,•' but gayand lively and lovable as is tho fascinating young, lady whom her fnther, calls Marv, and her mother. Marie, I coni'ess:.l have'failed, tn understand the great 'popularity--.lvhicli- has attended. Mrs.' ■l J otWs story with American readers., "The Alinonds of Life;"

■ Mrs. F. B. Mills .Youiig's latest novel, "The Alinonds-of Life" (Hodder and Stoughtoii; per Whitcombe and Tombs) records, story of a ■married'man

and another man's wifo. 'The lover w tainly oi([ onough to know bettor. W hen a man fe Close on forty, and has an affectionate wifo and two line chihlrt-n, oven mere philandering with a young married woman is a foolish adventure.. But «ifh Georgo Allerton and Gerda A\ootten, the girl wife of a wealthy man whoso youth , lay behind bim„ flirtation develops into sheer passion.. The guilty lovers elope, but tho deeply-wronged Mrs. AEerton refuses to divorce her husband, and tho .fires of guilty passion biirn gradually lower ami lower, until linught but cold ashes remain. Mrs. Young always writes well, but she t-nnnot make such an unpleasant, iliotif acceptable. ' Tho background is South Africa, but there is aono of that, picturesque local colour which ■ added such interest to the author s earlier stories. ' ' "Wanted a Husband." "Wanted a Husband," by Samuel Hopkins Adams (Houghton, Mifflin Co.; per Whitcombe and Tombs), is. a pay and sprightly story, dealing with the gradual transformation of a disappoint- ' ed, much-depressed young lady, whose I. lack of personal ■ attractions is . a jest among her fcmalo associates, ]"t° . a briKht-temperod lit tie : bonuty. lhe miracle'of which poor, plain, unsocial Darcy Cole , is th® heroine, , is achieved through •the agency of a jolly actress, Gloria Greene, who enlists as her magician a certain physical instructor. This gentleman, Mr. Andy Dunne, takes tho dull and drab little W™ n in hand, and his treatment 19 so that-well, it lead's up tn that marr ago with, a duly gallant, amiable, and amply dollnred" ,Mv: Tvight. with whicii most American novels must closo it tnej are to have the slightest of beingranked amongst the host . 1-WSS to snv, there is a plentiful supply of sentimont, but ilr. Adams has somo dw nnd whimsical humour at. his command which is decidedly nttrachvo and one oldster at least must confess to having found the §tory agreeably insMr, .Hocking Once Again. The industrious and . versatile Mr. Hocking, Mr.' Joseph, not Mr. Silas ot. that ilk, is to the fore onoe a sensational but well-told story 1-He Kniser's Investments" (Ward, Lock, and Co., per Whitcombe and Tombs), m storv opens .with a pre-war conierence between Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey (as he was then), and Mr. Lloyd George, and two German statesmen; Lichnowsk.v and -Kublmann. Soon tho plot develops, the dominant interest centring round the discovery of the fact that: the Emperor was' bent upon, realising his investments in view of a war upini which he had evidently decided; German spies make ingenious attempts to recover certain com■proinising documents, and clortr Lnglisli officials tfiwart and bnlflo the Huns. Mi. Hocking is a born storyteller, and has no difficulty in interesting his rcadeis once n-'hin on a subject, the Gormanl espionago svstan, which by this time might seem to have become hopelessly overworked.