The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-06-20
OUR BOOK TABLE

SIGMA. BY OuloA fNlAOelpuIH. .. u AA'F
pincott & Co. New Orleans: r. G. Eyricn.
S.
While lacking much Of the exciting and dra-
matte interest which has characterized the
previous works of this gifted authoress, sig
ma must nevertheless be pronounced her mas
terpiece. It can scarcely be called story.
1t is merely the record of short life ana lib
surroundings, passed in the dreamy clime o'
Italy, among the olive groves and vineyards
yet told in such simple, touching mannei
that the very words of the recital seem 70 70
imprepnated with the balmy breezes wnlcn
rustic through the valleys, and to glow with
the softened glories which mellow the ltaiian
skies.
Sigma is the name of q little village far up
the mountain side, within few miles OF
Florence, peopled by peasants, slaves OF the
soil. vet descendants of that grand old race
which once held the world captive. To this
village comes babe, taken by q peasant from
the breast of its dead mother and christened
the "Signa Of the story. His life is one Of
the ordinary hardship which appertains to
peasant life in Italy-beaten, starved, op.
pressed in every way-yet the little out
cast +" sings like an angel"
Endowed with musical genius to marvel
lous degree, he wins his way upwards in face
of all obstacles until at adolescence he dawns
upon the musical world another Mozart. His
triumph is short, however, a few brief days Ct
fame and fortune, petted BY princes and
courted by the populace. While every hill
ton is vet ringing with his music and his fame,
he dies-another of Loves sacri6ces-a victim
of his Gree. The charm Of the story does
not centre here, however, but in the char
acter of Bruno, the lads uncle-one OF the
most exquisite creations which has yet come
to people the world of fiction. simple
peasant, uncouth, untutored, lonely and
morose, yet possessed with heart 50 dell
cstely tender and SO trimming Ger with
manhood love that his whole life becomes one
of vicarious atonement
For score of dreary years OF toll, privs-
ton and bitter Disappointment he has no
thought but the boy, and when the emu
comes he goes to it bravely and contentedly,
With the single, but to him, ample consola.
ton that it, too, was all for the boy. Ana YET
how true their natures and diverse their lots.
II IL almost painful to read how, with the
growth of Bruno's overwhelming and sacrl-
fcial love, he realizes the dawn OF genius IN
the boy, gradually widening their sympathies
and lives and lifting one into world the
other cannot hope to enter. We actually feel
the agony of his hopeless struggles to win the
child from his heavenly mistress back to coz
tentment and the narrow peasant LIE IN
which alone he can hold the pinioned heart
captive, and a touch Of the same bitter DESC
lation invades our bosom, which freezes
Brunos. when, with the success Of "Actea,
he realizes how vain the struggle, how fruit
less all his hopes and longings
There are touches of nature in this God
like character heretofore unsoupded BY the
pen of any writer, dead or living: The story
itself is simply one of genius, and its destiny
overriding all other considerations, false to
everything but itself, sundering all ties, even
the tenderest; deaf to all claims, even the
hottest: driven blindIy on by unrelentipg fate
OF the heads inevitable triumph over the
heart. and the utter hopelessness OF any
struggle in the contest; Of the sternest, most
pitiless and exactipg of all masters-nevel
satiated until the last drop OF blood, the last
faint breath, is yielded in its service. =.
Ouida evidently writes con amour upon THIS
theme. She has felt it all. 1t is leaf from
her own sterile life she turns to the world
Gaze. We know this by the enthusiasm which
warns her language and leads it. in some OF
tie more touching passages, to break through
the barriers of stolid prose and soar into the
realms of poesy. Whole pages Of "Signa
thus becomes poems-poems with souls e
them and wings that beat against our hear
strings. :,
Ofcourse. q book thus written necessarily
abounds in charming specimens OF wore
painting, magnificent pictures OF Italian
scenes and incidents. The writer seems K
have caught this old Boccacian languor, t
have absorbed the Sibariic tastes which
nestles on the hills of sunny Italy. Her des
criptions glow with dreamy luxury. With hel
vetread ourselves the dusty mountain road ant
squeeze the PUPPY grapes that hang on clus
ters by the way. We smell the perfume lader
breezes stealing to US across the tiny hay
fields we hear the shepherds droning pipe
echoinE family far up among the mountain
tops, and with her we battle our spirits II
that voluptuous laziness which seems to bt
the soul Of land which, tired out with Gen.
turtles of toll and strife, has now laid down
to rest upon life's barren wayside, giving the
busy and fretful world over to the care o
Younger and more barbaric nations
We are not disposed to mar the readers
pleasure by telling how Bruno, this Man
Christ" toiled, loved and sinned. How b
drained the cup Of unavailing bitterness t
the bitterest dregs-and all for naught
Virtue don't always win and wear the laurel
illustrates. All this we leave them to dis
cover, satisfied, however, that with US the.
will feel when the executioner's axe falls OF
Bruno's, the murderer's neck, that somewher
beyond the confines of this helpless, sinful
sorrowing world, there must be anothe
world that sets this right.
BREAKFAST, LUNCHEON AND TEA. BY Marion
Harland. New York: Scribner, Armstrong
4 Co. From r. g. Eyrich.
Like its predecessor, Common Sense Il
the Household, this new volume OF receipt
is marked by simplicity and c!earness Of ex
economy, and certainty of good results
Those who love to live elegantly, but who ar
forced to live frugally, will find this volum
aperfect treasure. Unexpected company fo
lunch and nothing in the house" vii
henceforth lose its terrors, for by its aid tn
most delicious impromptu lunch can be got
ten up Gin no time" with the few eggs ant
the stale bread that are always to be found il
the pantry of the poorest housekeeper. w