New-York tribune., 1892-12-04
MINOR FICTION.
A SOCIALISTIC ROMANCE.


THE GOLDEN Bottle. rs; hy lGnnany ignnnnS D'""'"''
1amo pp. 3I3. u. r. Merrill CompanN'
-,,, .-rcry or FRANCi- CLrDDF. ~ s,anlry y
Wcyman 1amo. pp. 2ss. cass''l Puons"hS 'o"''
PAM. , 49,, ,r,,r, or-rcV Cp
THF DEAD Kv Amcre Rives. lemo. pr @7o'
J. r. IAppncoit Company.
Az EXQUISITE FOOL. Anonymous Harper
DID, $50. Lowell. Coryel & Co.
TuoRyY PATH. Bv Gecrcc Fbrrs. TRANSLATED ,e,nH
from tho German by Clnra Beli. N"''" '
d. Appleton & Co.
WELL oI-r or IT. BY John Habberton. i2mo. pp'
ia. John \. Taylor Co.
srIJoI-FTTEs OF AMERICAN LIFE; by kr'scCh
Harding Davis Iomo. Pr. ESQ. 'hsri'H oo'''"''
rrAyTIuxGs AND PARoDTFs. by Barry Pain
limo D. 40. CasSell Publishing ComI@ny'
vr Donnolly Is never satisfied unless he Is making
sonsation and in his novels It usually tak's tn'
form Of blood curdlinc vaticnaiion. That CORY BOOK
cocsar,s Column" Is nov followed up 10y ~Ihe
Golden Bottle" the initial Idea ot which IS surprisingly
crude \ Kansas dreams that spirit appear I"
him I'm the night and besiows upon him golden h"'-
e ono drop of the contents of which turns IRON ~
gold Armed with this acquisition he pro'''hN ~
rcyonti,nHc fir the United states. and tl'n ~"
world Nothing could be moro prcposi"rons IN me
Socalisc line than the doctrines which ar" cNpouhnr
In tho course ~ the story and the r"form"r himself Is
moreover a small figure hy the side o' bis wife. young
girl who leads baallons in tho field. always coming "
Mt the nick 81 tlm". ~ eonrs" th" owner "' "'
precious bottle becomes president o' the now and world
wide repGbc and naturally hr proceeds To- maze Nu'n
moss Of thing that there is way ont % the mudde
I'm, to wake hr, and let HIN discover ila' + MI
dream But the whole story t. inariI,iio clumsy and
too often wcarsome. II j. stuh'h Win sF'chH ana
letters which are FOR The mot part ilrsom" ana bonn
ha,tic and altogether it rad. kc the oallo~ expert
mcnt ~ nm imaginative hut inexperienced school boy
II Mr Donncly produce better Action i'an this
he might wrll conhne his attention 10 the discovery
OF bogus Shakespeare crypiograms
Nj We, man, stor, ~ rrand. Cluddc- II an hi
orcal novel and q good one the scenes o' which nrr
set I'm England of no sixteenth century II introduces
among the actor, no loss personnge than Bishop Gar
diner and d-,crb., The procrc-, ~ th" war. WIN
France I'm lvely mapncr TIE author has succeeded
IN steering ndrl, {, avoid cNc"s, ~ antiquarian
Ism and improlnhllliy at tho same time. lie has
studied me epoch he dc>crb conscI"nlou-iy ard pre-
-cnts many Of II, striking aspects IN brisk ana
nnforc,d way Needles 10 say that such story l.
nll Of adventure. hui the various eI,dcs always
within reason. and The narrative flows brightly ana
steadily. Altogether the romance j. extremely clever.
and should bc refreshing chang" from The stories Of
the present day which drag he reader through one
drcary mill round Of yapldlfy after another.
II Is tho fashion Just now 70 condemn and rldclie
inflated rhetoric. her ofcn absurd description, ~
nature. her flaming and gughiug treatment oi love
scene, give the much occasion for his iavorc
exercise Let Il he said however. that there i much
truth 10 human nature beneath her wild and whrlng
words ard that sh" show. unmistnlablc II unron,d
talent II Is grlcvous Ia thus wasted rich
dowmcnt Of intuition. sympathy and expression; 1t
docs not move the ud.ciou- to rdlcu-. but to regret
Has Mr. Henry james wished to test his popu.
ariiy ty Publishing novel without his nnme' II
50, TINT novel IS the one Just issued under the title
Of An Exquisite Fool For tho book has all Mr..
Jamcs's Characteristic manncriSm,. his pot ccganccs.
his selected para and The characters the
puppets of the three FGtcs 10 whom he long ago
toned us II 1t be- not Mr. Iames's work II IS that
Of 4 writer who has studied James, books. word by
word. sentence by sentence. until ne has become
possessed by the STYLE Of his ma 'ter; or-all tho
Prupricilcs Forbid IS meant for "a satire on that
careful style.
20 much for the manner a. ior the matter II must
be- admitted that the characters excclently we'll
conceived and that The story marches 10 H. natural
ana unpleasant end with good deal Of dramatic force.
"Thc Ides OF March, is tale Of English country
home Hfe and Of " the classrs7 distinctly and not
the masscs.7 1t IS much easier 10 write of wealthy
people, other things being equal, though the need Of
sensation Is not easy 10 supply. Mr. Robins how
ever knows his carriage folk" pretty WE'LL and
sur.s the sympathy OF his readers 10y introducing II
number OF bright and pretty girls. The title Of the
story Is rather far fetched. An old gentleman who has
one son, hns hud his mind upset by finding ancient
prophecy about his family predicting It's extinction
less his son marIics before a certain date. OF course
everything turns out rg;l In the enc aud the
r well, and the prophecy receives new construction.
II Is light reading, indeed. but Skully com
posed, and sufficiently amusing.
The Egyptoogst George Ebers has turned hs
attention to Roman history Of late. and In " Per
Aspern,' which. In lis English tmnslnon bears
the title. "A Thorny PATH" he has produced a
very vivid and striking story of the time OF
Caracaa. one f1ncles that he might have chosen
n less Infamous example Of the Caesars. and n less
degraded period OF the Empire; but what he has
done he certainly has done with spirit and vraisem-
blance." OF course the Christians figure largely In
the story, but they presented ar quite natural
people, and not metamorphosed into deml- gods. as
Is the custom OF too many c1permcnters In this
line OF historical romance very Interesting study
has made OF the fierce Emperor's character and
the whole the learned author 10 think
that he was not quite so black as he has been
painted though bad enough TO outrank almost any
modern murderer and seoundrel. The tale is we'll
end. As 10 the archaeology that. OF course. may
be thoroughly depended upon.
Mr. Iiabbefton's story. "wcll out OF It," Is love
episode which ingenlOusly covers a study Of par.
teulary smart little girl. whose queer thoughts and
observations furnish the staple OF the text. At
times this nite heroine l. In some danger OF develop
Ing prgsh traits. but she gets well out Of II herself
and a general situation which begins by being quite
unpromising. changes altogether for the better II is
n slight anair, bur pleasing.
Rebecca Harding Davis has collected a number Of
magazine stories In the volume. which appears as
"siihouettes Of American Life.' All Of them are