The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-10

occupied oy tnem. Captain dewitt wallace, OF
Lafayette contributes to the fund of fiction in
s'Love' Ladder" notice of which Is subjoined.
"Love's Ladder"
"Love's Ladder" is the taking title of novel
by W. Dewitt Wallace, of Lafayette. He is not
unknown in literary circles. but this is his first
venture in the field of fiction. That it will not
be his last is assured by the merits of this pro-
ducton. 1t has many points which will com
mend it to the reading public. For one, it fills
the full measure of the legitimate novel, The
great mass of stuff, Frenchy and otherwise, now
flooding the country is made up of improbable
ties so utterly improbable as to amount to mere
meretricious travesties and Unconditional carl
catures. This may be sensational and palata-
BILE to certain distorted tastes but it is not good
literature. On the other hand, a simple recital
of ordinary events, without the illumi
mating presence of the imagination,
is no more work of fiction
than a market or police court report. Be-
tween these two is the birthplace of the novel,
and the author has certainly struck the golden
mean. The occurrences detailed are those of
every day life. but the relations they are made
to sustain to each other develop plots OF ntensest
interest The character are not merely photo
graphs of individuals who have fallen under the
authors observation. They the creations of
his genius. He has pursued the synthetic
method. taking certain traits passions, preju-
dce@ and impulses. With wonderful knowl-
edge of and insight into the complexities of
human nature, he has endowed their various
combinations with an individuality so we'll
defined and clearly pronounced that the reader
is impressed as if he were in the presence of
living realities. The identity of each is thor
oughly sustained throughout, and their
conduct, as portrayed by the authors
pen, arouses in the reader all the emotions
which such conduct in actual life would
call forth. Each one, as page after
page is conned, will find his likes and dislikes.
Admiration, sympathy, indignation, pity,
tempt. mirth. hope. fear will all be excited. and
ginning to the end
1t is story with double plot, admirably
conceived, skillfully executed and alive with mo-
tion From remote and distant starting points
the two lines approach a common denouement,
and so artistically arranged and woven together
are the events that they present as perfect and
complete a whole the fabric Of warp and wool
thrown from the weavers' loom.
1t is wholesome book, not of the goody -goody
kind but hearty and vigorous in rebuke of cant
and bigotry and condemnation of malicious
gossip, social caste and the too-common spirit Of
fashionable church exclusiveness. There is no
dppancy in dealing with the things which men
hold sacred yet there is fearless independence
n.
Swallowed in the motto from Plato the title
page COS But man is not to be reverenced
before the truth, and therefore I will
speak out" 1t is book which
furnishes digestible and nutritious food for the
mind the consumption of which will be followed
by no mental nausea or dyspepsia. There are
men and women who will not like it. because
they will recognize In some Of the creations
which live and move in its pages. resemblances
to Objectionable parts of themselves. Let them
read, and read the more carefully; 1t will do
them good.
1t is charming in style, in diction chaste, and
pure in thought with its grave reflections relieved
by coursing veins of appreciable humor The story
is told with the attractive directness Of simpli
city. There is not stilted or ford sentence in
it. There is no straining after effect, which so
often blurs otherwise meritorious works with
arti6ciality. The situations strong, interest
ing and exciting; many of them almost painfully
pathetic. 1t has evidently been a labor of love.
The authors heart was in his work. and the re-
suit is a book worthy the time of the busiest the
attention of the most intellectual and the approx
al of every one who conceives an ideal higher and
better than the real of to-day. 1t is not ueces-
sary to quote passages recall scenes or analyze
characters to give an appetzing foretaste of its
flavor. One who begins it will go through every
sentence. b. K. H.
Books Received.
EVOLUTION OF TO-DAY. A Summary of the
Theory Of Evolution as Held by Scientists at
the Present Time. BY Fl. w. Conn, Phi. D.
g. p Putnam's Sons New York; The Bowen
Merrill Company, Indianapolis. Price, $l.75.
A.