Rapid Reviews.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 11, 19 May 1911, Page 12

Rapid Reviews.

"The Wheels of Chas\c9,"

By R.S.R. An idle hour or two can bo pleasantly whiled away in company witn "The Wheels of Chanoe," by H. U. Wells. It is a cycling story of a Holiday adventure, in the reading oi all the ,vay a~J *»;- is ™- are these tasteful touches. * * * This holiday adventure describe* in Mr Wells' inimitable style. and of c.i ye 'tin/ daintiness, deals, with a girl* escaoaSe and a man's chivalry, and m SUi with the other man's rascal?tv an"d that fell purpose winch triumphant had proved but a>. everyday tragedy. Fortunately, the be-t-l«.ici schemes of women-wreckers soin-etun-p.-, Kn°a*lee, as is tho cheering case 111 & little paen of wheels. I<£ xhe . wheels go round on every page, and 1.-----stu-h irprry fashion as to glorify the the heart of every cycling vagabond^ * * * Tho principal character m the story is a coTumonplaoe draper's assistant, with tho commonplace name of Hoopdriver. When introduced to the reader Mr Hoopdriver isn't by any means prepossessing but "our first examination of the draper reveals beneath lus draperies the—Man!" '"He is, naturillv " fflvs the author, '"'of a sanguine disposition. All drapers have to be, or else they oould- never have the faith they show in the beauty, washabi-ity, and unfailing excellence of the goods Shey sell yon." Of how Mr Hoopdriver learnt to ride, the bike, rode forth to enjoy himself .ar n0,.----the madding shops, and of. aU that I>fell him on his eventful journey, tho reader may easily satisfy himseli. li l,e be wise, he, maybe, shall realise through this transformation of Draper into Knight what undiscovered possibilities are buried within every mother's son of us, and so gam a start.ins glimpse into the crystal of that environment whoso puppets we all be. * * * Mr Wells's asides are not to be lightly skipped, whatever your interest m the plot. They are witty as they are genial, with the arrows or satire pricking ever so dehciously as it mere idle- banter. Tho opening cnapter is a type of the whole. Isn t tins neatly put: "Bat real literature, as distinguished from anecdote, does not concern itself with superficial appearances alone. Literature is revelation. Modern literature is indecorous revelation. It is the duty of the earnest author to tell you what you would not Slave seen —even at tho cost of some blushes. And the thing that you would not have seen about this young man, and the thing of the greatest moment to this story, is the thing that must be told if the book is t>o be written, was let us face it "bravely—the Remarkable Condition of this Young Man's Legs." * * * sr Xt is curious how situations run away with us" is one of the author's sayings good enough to be termed aphoristic. And of this human feature we are constantly reminded in " The Wheels of Chance,' , a title, by the way. fitting for the Book of Life. Ah ! those- ,- wheels are ever turning, turning. But the story is intensely laughter-making with all its. quaintlyexpressed philosophy, and there are chapters that win guffaws. The burlesque, too, is inimitable, as for instance in respect to the authoress of "A Soul Untrammelled" and her satellites. But I finish by calling attention to the chapter headed "Of the Artificial in Man, and of the Zeitgeist," which concerns itself with those curious little council chambers inside our skulls. It is the psychological measuring of "the girl" and the man who lusts after her. Here is a portion of the picture : — "The girl is resolute to Live Her Own Life, a phrase you may have heard before, and the man has a pretty perverted ambition to l>3 a cynical artistic person of the very calmest description. He is hoping for the awakening of Passion in her among other things. He knows Passion ought to awaken, from the teict-

books he has studied . - • • and here you have them well embaikod upon the Adventure. Both are in the first stage of repentance, wmch consists, as you have probably found for yourself, in setting your teeth hard and saying <I WIL.L go on. He feels his honour is involved, and so, with much of the gilt off his romantic villany, ho meditates the development of a new attack. And the girl ? She is ened. She is still in the schoolgirl phase when a talkative old .man is more interesting than a tongue-tied young one A S he stall scarcely realises, you see, the scrape she has got into."