New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-06

NARROWED. Dy W. Clark Russell. 1omo. PIP |
34s. Rand. McNally & Co.
THE PENNYcoMEo. ICSs by ro S, Ba arr Could
THROUGH LOVE TO LIFE By Gillian Vase. Emo |
PIP. 343. Harper u Brothers
UP TERRAPIN RIVER. By opie P. Read! l2mo'
PIP 226. Rand. McNaly co.
Mr.. Clark Russell is always entertaining. Though
he is certainly prone TO overdo his sea pictures
perhaps they have been praised so much as to
make him think they cannot be overdone-yet
there is in his stories OF adventure and disaster
on the ocean a fascination which attaches to all
forcihle description Of mans struggles win the
ereat forces Of Nature. II is. moreover the fact
that no one has painted marine phenomena OF the
movements of the ship at sea with anything APP
proachlng Mr. Russelrs fidelity, power and pct
uresoueness. His art is simple. lie can draw
Forecastle Jack clearly and naturally. lie knows
the tvne thoroughly But he has no talent for
combination, and his women are, TO speak canhoV'
something inspid. though sweet and wholesome
creatures. "Marooned' is the story Of young
man who rashy undertook to escort his friends
sweetheart from London to RIO de Janero; who,
NJ course fell in love with her on the way, and
who beinc marooned with her by mutinous
CROW is brou ght so close to her in so many ways
that both of them give their obligations the 60
by. and abandon the too-trusung friend at N0'
Mr. Russell writes with breezy simplicity when
quite takes out of the atmosphere oi Sophistl-
cation which surrounds the majority OF modern
novels We are carried back TO the days of
narryatt, but greater than Marryatt Is mere
tat least in some respects. There is no comparlson
on tie score of humor Mr.. Russell could not
have written Snarleyow. or the Dog l1end' Tor
example But his descriptions of storms are III
imitable, and he is a much better sailorman than
was Cooper All who read Marooned' Will ENJOY
il, and even on the desert island there Will be
found many novelties not at all suggestive OF
Robinson Crusoe.'
MIR. Barring Gould has flavor of his own. though
IL is not always equally conspicuous In Inc
Pennyconequcils' he seems to have expended a
coed deal of his native eccentIicty upon the
names of his characters, and the story proceeds
in flor HIM tolerably straight and orthodox lines
Il is really good and interesting and sufficiently
complicated story too, and it offers at least one
original creation. in Earle Schofeld. the utterly
shameless scamp and swlndler. who under no cir
suplstances can he made TO lose his GOODNESS; VINO
rises like giant refreshed from each exposure; ;
who turns even disaster to account; ana
who; though at the end he appears to be showed
under, may be guaranteed to have turned up
smiling within twenty-four hours, ready to breach
al new project fantastic and plausible as any OF
the Old exploded schemes. Perhaps the least
Pennycomeauicl, who gets girl wife a
great deal too good for him, and who is not pun
ished half severely enough for the abominabe
way in which be treats her. Salome herself is
charming. and Mrs Sidebotham is full of char
aoter,though it happens to be bad character. Al
tesether the novel is above the average IN ability
aud interest
The story of. Through Love TO Life" is in some
al nP Hafin 4 :
tale, of. unconventional love, the hsrOne being
Swiss maiden whose father is an eX-Britsh foot
nan, and the hero the heir of vulgar, purse
proud millionaire who of course strikes the young
man cut of his will and turns him out OF his
house when he learns what mesalliance" the
rash youth contemplates. There is also beauu-
full but diabolically wicked Hungarian prince, and
chivalrous old Frenchman-one OF NapoeOns
soldiers-who VOWS eternal emnity to the wicked
prince because the latter has murdered pet dog.
Therese, the sprightly little heroine is a bright
and pretty conception but the hero is decidedly
spoony, sentim entail and somewhat incapable per-
son. and the author is given 10 eXasperaung
disreSsions and reflections which mar the progress
of the, story and diminish its interest. The novel
is not without merit but it is uneven and often
wude.
Nj. Opie P Read, of " The Arkansas Traveller"
hos written modest little tale of frontier life
called "Up Terrapin River and has tackled sew
eral Sketches to it to fill out volume. The story
which furnishes the title to this collection contains
some clever descriptions Of hunting, fishing, and
the rude life of new settlement, but it has little
eFt and belongs to an old-fashioned school of
fiction. The short sketches exhibit some liz
senuity, but they are in no way striking.
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