New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-10-15
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
PATCU OF NOVELS.

ANDROMEDA. BY GEORGE FLEMING Doo'on'
Roberts Brothers.
THE LAST MEETING; ss Story s BY BhASDh"
THE WILL By Ernst EcKsIKM pom the German
by CLARA BELL. W :. 6ottsDeiger'
TIE luck OF THE DARRELLs. by JAMES fAiN'
Harper Brothers
THE DARK HOUSE. D., GEoRGE n ~ FEM
Chicago: A. N Marquis 20.
COLOR STUDIES. By THOMAS A JANsIER' ChaFIeS
Scrbners sons.
THE HAUNTED ADJUTAET and Other Ss s5or ESuuSD
QUINCY Boston: Tlcknor Co.
Miss Murfree possesses high order ol
TALENT and il is manifested in directions promising
the most valuable results. The exploitation OF
those by-ways of American life which lie so lar OH
the high road Of civilization as TO need searching
out is an enterprise full of novelty, yet apt 10
prove ntractable if undertaken by unskilful hands
Much has been written in criticism of the details OF
this authors Tennesseean dialect, and probably
there is room for correction But these defects are
of the least possible consequence IheTeal .eSV VI
success in such a task is the degree oil Verisntu"o
achieved in reproducing not merely the dlalec. ""'
the general social atmosphere, the dosy "a
the mouutaneer population, the mental plane npon
which they live. All dialect writers WHO nave
succeeded have merely employed dialect as an
accessory. There is no rarity in the imitation q
local phrases and lingual cOrruptons. lt IS only
when an author first thinks the thoughts oil the
peoplc. and then clothes them in the appropriate
dialect that the result is striking. NOW MISS
Murfree has reached this degree OF graphic repre-
sentation She strikes the keynote OF the mountain
life in the first page of her first chapter INC
reader is made to feel all the hai-drowsy lahs"or'
tho tendency to mysticism which the environment
PRODUCES the strange coexlstencc OF stto"s
religious feeling with lawless barbarlsnl' whicn
characterizcs these interesting and unsophsVcate"
folks The spirit of the Great Smoky preAthes
through the story from beginning to end' ana lnc
fierce spiritual wrestlings of the Prophet hesey'
arc seen to be in complete accord with his surround
;rcs There "a also power of description which
cannot he foo highly appreciated. The l:fe OF the
manufacturers the scenes at the settlement, tho still
in the cave the gandcr-puiling and the account Oh
tho Prophets selfdenunciation before his congre-
cation afford the writer opportunities for the most
lifelike. clear and brilliant word pictures. Inc
characters are thoroughly alive. Darlnda. inc
Cayces. Kelsey, Rick Tyler Amos James, MicaJah
Green ana Gid Fletcher are not mere names Dnt
real people, who talk and think act naturally ana
after their kind. The descriptions OF nature are
svmpathetic and vivid The clcarslghtcdness oil inc
antbor extends to all her subjects and she mas
comprehended the inner life of her characters as
completely as their externals Much moro thah
,bis can be said of no work of fiction, but we may
add tnat Ino Huo VI GA plVi1siVhi NANSN-- - 49,
Murfree is one which cannot be exhausted 10y
single experiment.. and that it offers such oppor-
turities for tho employment of her exceptional
mowers az almost to impose upon her as an obliga-
tion the further development of tho material she
handles so admirably.
The author of Kisnot " has produced Androm-
odo.D which is a story of life in avery different
sphere of existence from that chosen for illustration
10 the history of girl who
Wishes to sacrifice herself to the love of very high
minded deformed Italian nobleman, but who has
not sufficient self-respect or frmness to avoid the
disclosure of her love for another man to that other
man. on the eve of her marriage to the Marchese
There is something coarse about tins part OF the
story and tho character of the heroine IS so uncer
tain that one doubts whether in surrendcrng her
at the last moment Richard did not attain happy
delivcrance, even from purely selfish point
of view Indeed, the whole story has little
fidelity to- real life in it, the principal characters
going abOut in q thin and bloodess way by no
means calculated to arouse hearty interest in their
proceedings and the plot being so simple that the
commonplace standard of the conversation and
description renders the absence of incident the
more conspicuous. As to such stories the impress
sion is apt to arise that it would be possible to spin
them out 10 the length of Sir Charles Grandson"
and that whereas there is no apparent justification
for their inception there is no particular reason
why, having been begun they should ever leave off.
IL cannot DO said of Mr. Brander Matthew's novel
that it is dull or lstless On the contrary it is very
lively and full of ambitious and often clever
writinS Yet il possesses some grave defects One
Of these is tho motive. Mr.. Matthews wanted a
mystery and he adopted lazy method Of getting
one The introduction Of the Levantlne Greek
Volonidcs. and the explanation of his deadly
enmity to Frederick Olyphant arc altogether too
mcodramatic The truth is that hOmO geneous
mixture of the style of Mrs. Radcliffe with that Of
the modern novel is impracticable, and The Last
Meeting" demonstrates this very clearly. Nor is a
sufficient reason for the Greeks hatred given. the
statement made not being at all credible on the
basis of such vendetta. Then, again, the manner
of ELEPHANTS disappearance as finally explained
is absolutely uuthinkable. Nobody ever was or
ever could be hocussed and kidnapped in such a
way There is no drug extalt which could be so
APPLIED and produce the instantaneous effects de
scribed. All this is clumsy and involves an nm
warrantable draft on the creduity of the reader
But the worst fault of the book is tho presenta-
ton OF real people under less thin DISCUSSES
That this has been done every one familiar with
certain New-York circles must perceive OF once, and
the identification is in no instance difficult. Now
this kind of portrature is both bad taStc and bad
art. Tho novelist who docs not draw from his
friends is doubt rare; but he who merely strives
to reproduce the people he knows is content with a
very inferior kind of art work. In effect, he tries
TO palm of a poor photograph for an original cIea-
tion and that is practice to be deprecated in the
public interest, even if there were nothing to be
said against it from the point of Wow Of those who
are thus traliicked with. Beyond too obvious
effort at brliahcy in dialogue-wliich sometimes
is so overdone to be sPicuously artfcial-the
story is otherwise pleasant enough though uu-
necessarily expanded in some parts by bits OF
didactcism which could very well be spared. mas
much as the ideas are neither original nor profound
For first attempt at long story, however. it is
good enough to justify the hope of better things
in the future if the author does not make the too
fntal ,isf nln of r1uiscnn.