New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NEW NOVELS.

~.
o ,A,v pron, tho French Of Aiphonsc Daudct. By
MARY NEu SHERWOOD 16mo' PIP 3si. Estes
Lauriat
MIS- MARY STUART SINH. Tribune Novel Extras
Noe
.. G. T. T. or. THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF A
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Nor the Russian title Of Ture6nicfFs last novel,
mons. literally. ground which has been cleared for
the plow. but not vet cultivated. The author eyi-
IDENTIFY intends thereby to indicate the material M
the ponulor life of Russia which has not vet been
employed as the staple of Fiction. In this sense
the word is correctly used. His work opens 10 our
knowledge an entirely new phase in the develop
ment Of The pcople-the phenomenal produced by
the operation Of socialistlc and 70 some extent,
coiomuuistic ideas. Apart from the picturesque
realism with which he presents Russian scenes and
characters, and which gives such an attractive IN
diyiduality 10 all Of his novels, Virgin Soil deals
with p nroblem of universal interest, and many OF
its incidents would be no less true II they were
transferred TO Germany OF England or eVen-Wlth
few unimportant variations-to some parts of the
United states The contrast between social theorists
on the enc side, and the mass Of hard-headed
Ignorance which they assume TO enlighten and di-
rect ON the other is drawn with mastery skill. In
this contrast illustrated by hundred slight but
keenly effective touches-in the fantastic cgotlsm
of the selconsccratcd apostles, their singular mix
ture Of vanity and enthusiasm, and their apparently
unconscious selfsmcss-and equally in the dull,
immovabe contracted common-sense OF the labor
inc class we find the chief power of the novel The
story is slight and rather weak: there is Int one
character. the girl Marianne, whose fort ~c fol-
e. n III
from human nature elsewhere, that we have no diff
cultv in recognizing the Sipiacins; SOlOmne be-
LONGS TO a type which is getting 10 be very common
in modern fiction. and the hero, Ncshdanot, is so
inevitably foredoomed to failure when We first make
his acquaintance. that VIC can feel no interest
where we see no hope. The peasant char
acters. on the other hand, are wonderfully dis
tinct and true. TurS6nicf7s style founded partly
OIL Balzac's is admirably adapted TO ms themes; his
nhrascs are often like the lines of an etching which
suggest a complete, individual form, by few SIM
ME strokes He is opicrammatc, but without appdr-
ent effort or intention, and sometimes he lets fall
striking truth as if il were mere chance Sugges-
tion. like this: "Thcre is one thing certain al
though difficult 20 explain the Russians are of all
people In the world. the most stepped III fasehood'
md vet they esteem and love nothing so much as
honesty in Neshdauof's letter to his friends, we
find the following. wherein the phrase we itaiicise Is
an exact portrait of moIe than one self-Styed Aner-
can reformer7: q am not one of those who get
strength from the people never use them for myO rR
ailmcnis as II they Were soothing poitice; no, want
rather to act on them; but howW In these days OF
strikes and trades unions, Of blatant demagocues
and ayarcious phlanthropists, the reading Of Pir-
Gin Soil" is to be commended No novel of the class
could be less doctrinal vet 1t abounds IN suggeS-
lions which point directly to the fatal defect IN all
current socialstic theories The pessmistic atmos-
g. g., sc mot
chilly or repcllant in this work he has allowed 1t
TO be transfu-cd with CLEANS of sympathy for some
few of his characters with belief IN certain of their
virtues and with pathos where lower talent would
have substituted cynicsm
The author Of Mercy Philbuck's Choice makes
her second anonymous venture. We are confirmed
il the belief that she is already known, under an
other name, author; certain technical quail
ties Of STYLE description arrangement Of scene flow
from her pen too readily for an unknown beginner.
"Hetty's Strange History is wOrmanlIke in eXecu-
ton, clever, without regard to plot or idea with
the details i'm their proper places the pictures of
nature reduced TO fiji the small canvas and the con-
versatious held at the requisite pitch Of smartness.
Interest enough Also the story will possess for the
ordinary uncritical reader. who viii find Hcty al
together a more lively and agreeable acquaintance
than Mercy Phbrick, up to certain point; then
the cXigcncies OF the story require her to do some
thing "strangc" and the healthy. frank clear-head
cd woman suddenly becomes almost insanely NOR
bid and does bystcrIcal deed. Her own life and
her husbands runed and in a manner so alb
surdly needless that'it could only in real life
and is simply eXasDerating in novel. 1t is true
that the novelist often finds il convenient to substi
tute a haucinaton for carefully studied develop
ment Of character OF an intricate plot Among the
Ingredients proper amount of distress is indspens-
able; aud, many of the usual forms being now
haustcd, authors are sometimes forced TO neglect
both the probabilities of nature and the harmonies
of literary art in order to keep up the supply. Het
tvs woong, alone given with greater minuteness Of
detail and abundance of incident might have been
wrought into a delightful story and we should then
have been spared the spinal disease, cairvoyance,
jealousy, and ten years of flight and cOncealment.
1t IS discouraging to follow the fortunes Of many
novels of our day; but when such phenomenal health
and frankness as Hctty's lead to the distortion
of life what are we think Of our racei What will
future readers, of different taste think of usf
M Daudet plays very much the same tune,
with French variations. But he places his morbid
misery in the circumstances which surround his
hero and which, in spite of all the latter may do,
determine the characters of his life. Jack is a son
without a fathers name. He is represented
true-hearted honest boy of ten or twelve, when
frst meet. yet the author has managed that nearly
every one with whom he comes in contact instantly
manifests toward him all the hidden evil Of his her
nature He is abused, insulted trodden upon, false
~ accused of crime, made drunkard in spite of
himself shpwrecked and crippled afflicted with
pulmonary disease; and then, when he has conquered
the spite of fate is happy in his love- Tegainng his
health and has a fair prospect of success in life, a