New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SOME FRENCH STORIES.

LIS FEMMRs DARWsTEs Par Aiphonse Dandee
Compositions ae Bieler, Mysbsoh q Resa, Graves
NewYcrk: ". r. Jenkins.
LA MAIg okucuE Par Guy DO msnpssssat. Pasis'
Paul oIendori. Eew-York, W. r. Jenkins.
sAsIxl !dss portraits as Tsnss gss I. Bow
n Jenkins.
In y Les Femmes d. Artistes,s ~, pandet has
set forth the doctrine that artists ought not TO
marry, enforcing this text By collection Of
sketches OF disastrous experiments Ia nfstfimony
As, however, the fault In most Of che csses ap-
pearl 70 have been on the wife's side, they do
not support the argument very fNscibly. The
experiences recorded might be regarded ss IL
iustrating the incapacity Of artists 70 make sem
sibe selections In marrying. The wives here de.
scrsbea are In nearly every instance intellectually
and By education and social position inferior TO
their husbands, and from such unions misery 10
apt b spring, whether or no the husbands be
artlstsJ The present edition sis Of the "col-
Iscsscs GuiIaums," and Is dainnly illustrated by
Bieler Myrbach and Rossi, though 10 must be
said that tho processes now 50 widely employed
are too often responsible for O patehy or blotchy
eject. which distracts from tho dslicacy and
clearness of the compositions, and produces sn
impression Of carelessness occasionally. The best
OF these Illustrations are, however, very good
The most striking Of the stories is that entitled,
La Msntenso,n curiously grim tale Of woman
who he'd so Systematically to her lover that after
no had lived with her five years he found, when
she was dying, that he did not even know her
real name and absolutely nothing Of her real past
Accused Of having deceiN ed him 10 everything,
she remains SILENT turns her face painfully TO
the walL-and dies, an insoluble mystery
1lsxa
the woman among French writer's at the present
moment NJ. Guy de Msupassant's La Main
Gauche' is another collection of short stories all
OF them devoted to the illustration of feminine
weakness or vice. The burden of the doctrine
Is that al women are fciSle. inconstant, and gov.
erned By impulse and caprice They
are. in short, according TO NJ de
Maupassant. an irresponsible kind of creatures,
not TO be taken seriously in any case, and never
10 be depended upon. The first tale in tife series
is of an Arab girl at Algiers, who has the bad
taste to desert a blond French COLONEL for o
ragged and dirty shepherd Of her own race. The
last, which is o fantasy in which q lover who
has lost his mistress by death passes night in
the cemetery where she is buried, and witnesses
general resurrection, in which all the dead
rectafy their own epitaphs, candidly telling the
truth about themselves however uncomplimentary
it may be- The spectator Of this scene has the
happiness Of seeing his dead love inscribe upon
her own tombstone the confession that the cold
Of which she died was taken while deceiving her
Lover Bot NJ de Maupassants women are all
like that As one Of bis characters says, Halt
the time they don't know why they act more
than weathercock. Just as the faintest breeze
stfrs the latter, the most intangible impression
moves women, whether In city or country, the
fanbourg or the desert" Il is cheerful and
elevatng creed, TO be sure, and it results in
stories which leave bad taste in the mouth.
It is not TO be expected that M Paul Bourget
viii be far behind NJ Guy de Maupassant in expos
posing the seamy side OF woman's character. and
in his "Psstels" he has fully lived mp 20 his
reputation. The ten portraits Of women gathered
IN this volume indeed characterized by serious
and careful analysis. They are not fippant,
light. and airily cynical, but in truth almost
heavy IN their elaboration, and in the
detail Of their psychological dissection. But with
one or two exceptions, they are anything hat
pleasant portraits. Perhaps there is more of
real life in them than In the sketches Of I" La
Main Gsuche," but IL is not kind of life which
repays microscopic analysis. The best and the
most artistic is Madame Bressuire," which deals
with the workings Of q shy and INDECENT mascu-
line mind. The story Is thrown In the form Of
extracts from journal The writer loves o
young girl but cannot marry her for want Of
position sufficient TO setisfy her family. She is
married TO . man Of wealth. but in few years
becomes q widow. Her old lover sees that his
opportunity has come, and renewing the acquaint-
snee Is not long in discovering that Bve-Rose
may be had for the asking. At this point his
congenital inhrmity steps in and plunges him into
such q sen Of doubts and hesitations that after
his old syyeetheart has exhausted her patience IN
trying 70 understand his moods, she ends by mar
rying another mas. This is clever piece Of
mental analysis, developed with subtle art and
delicacy. As for the rest of the stories, with
the exception Of Trois Petites Files which
- pretty, they are not calculated to raise the
readers opinion of the school of fiction TO which
III. Bourget belongs.