New-York tribune., 1895-12-22
THE NOVEL OF THE DAY.
DIR. DOYLE'S MYSTERIOUS BOOK

DIR. DOYLE's MYSTERIOUS BOOK.
THE STARK MUNRoE LETTERS. BY Conan
Doyle. l2mo. PIP 5Sj ID. Appleton Co.
LONDON IDYLLs. BY w j. Dawson. Svo. PIP.
3i5. T. y Croweil e. Co.
THE MEN OF THE Moss-HAGs. BY s. r. Crock
et; l2no PIP. 80. Macmillan Co.
THE YEARS THAT THE LOCUST HATH
EATEN. BY Annie +. Holdsworth l2mo. Pp.
3CT. Macmillan Co.
WHEN CHARLES THE FIRST WAS KING; BY
J. s Fletcher. l2mo Pp AS A. c. Mcciurs
For q reviewer TO confess that he has read book
twice through. have Or. Conan Doyle's Stark
Mrnroe Letters" is equivalent to saying that the
book Is extraordinary production; and such a
work this last volume Of the author of sherlock
Homes certainly is-only the adjective must not
be used in a complimentary sense. The book is ex
traordilary only because the author has managed
to keep his purpose profound secret. And for
all our readings not yet certain that we
are on the right c.ew. The Stark Munroe Letters"
may be read from either of two points of view. and
both equally unsatisfactory. In the first place
it may be regarded a production after the man
ner OF Robert Elsmere' In which Fundamental.
religious and philosophical questions are deaf with
radically. and in a spirit OF the most enlightened
modern philosophy. There are. believe, persons
who have read the Letters seriously in the light
Of this conviction and have gone far as to mark
passages deserving of special approval both for
their profundity OF thought and their epigramatic
force. IS for the ep.grams we nave nothing to
say; DR.. Doyle written enough to know his
business and he would be poor writer indeed II
he could not dress up a thorght in attractive
manner But the profundity OF his thought Is an
other matter and with every disposition TO give
him full credit have failed to discover anything
particularly luminous in the way OF philosophy in
'rhe Stark Munroe Letters" On the contrary we
discovered a good deal that was hopelessly bana.,
which might have been written by any one who had
ol tiirp hy InRprSOn
a dozen pages OF Renan.
The Letters" on the other hand may be read as
a characteristic work by the author of Sherlock
Holmes" This Is the natural way In which to sit
down to read them. But to the innocent reader
who tries it, There Is not a trace OF the o.d-time
Conan Doyle in the whoe 400 pages. There is
air OF mystifcation lot Of accurate detail like
the number of inches man sets his bed from the
window. and the precise quantity OF food. measured
in ounces. that he takes at meal in short. there
is every Indication that the author is prepared TO
work his pot the Old familiar formula. and
lo there is not a particle OF mystery about it
nothing but page after page Of philosophical drive.
gaudy captrap, at fire-sa.e bargain. There Is no
mystery positively not even a conundrum. nothing
but an arid OF words. OF course does
not know this until he has read the book. for such
is the ingenuity OF the narrative. and the authors
WEI. known reputation. that the first perusal of
The Stark Munroe Letters is attended by con-
siderable nervous strain. ones curiosity is keyed
up. as it Is when somebody asks you offhand to
tell him the OF HotteItot who has eaten
hs father and his mother. There have been per-
sons who have spent hours trying decipher the
riddle just there have been. and perhaps will
be- persons who try to do the same thing for The
Stark Murroe Letters" The answers to both
foolish enough cI.y the fact that the Hottentot
is an orphan Is perhaps little better than the
swer to the noveis,'s ponderous query
II Mr.. ". j. Dawson Is not already a contributor
to THE yellow Book the editor OF that periodical
should lose no time in engaging his services Mr.
Dawson Is n born Yeowbookist. He has vocabu-
larry ready made Witness for proof this description
Of a laundry: \ number of girls supposed to be
washing at their tubs, and Lavinia Jones. who is
out OF job thinks she might like to be a aundress
Their arms (the laundresses' arms) moved rhythni-
cay As to the beat of unseen baton; their shoul-
dcrs heavcd and stopped. and the veins in their
throats stood out. =, Now and then a puff of
s.ckly steam covered them with soft, grayish
VEIL and through 1t the thud thud of their irons
sounded Ike the beat of sluggish waves hidden
When II Uhe reference. is of course. TO the
sica.y steam. not the thud. thud) traed away
out OF the open window tho firm. strong were
seen moving In the unb-oken rhythm" La
vinia Jones was fascinated. but undecided until
finally she reflects that There was something har-
monous. noble, in this clean finely balanced labor
this rise and fail OF moulded flesh and muscle
powerful and yet dc.icatcly adjusted to lis task az
more than she could stand. and she entered the
laundry. Quite equal to Lavina Jones's mcdi,a-
tions about the finely balanced labor OF washer
women Mr. DaWsons fancles on hearing an
accordion. He heard II the platform OF the
Waterloo Station in London. number OF sailors
are saying goodby to their sweethearts. who are
kissing them "shameessly" and at this very mo-
ment Mr. Dawson's attention Is drawn to the
Gordon and he cxclaIms Like n mocking voice
high In air. vibrant and abomlnable. publishing the
lusts and cruolties OF the great city an accordion
screamed the music OF Her Golden Hair Was
Hanging Down Her Back There is no end OF
this sort OF fine writing scattered through the ten
stories which Mr Dawson has published under
the title London Idyls.' and the tales themselves
conceived in the same vein OF hystera. They
purport TO depict life In the London slums. but
what they DO really depict Is the deranged. hectic
Imagination of literary incompetent. who is about
able TO represent life truly he Is to describe
the tones OF an accordion.
Even n rensibe man ls sometimes Influenced by
trines and thus II has about that since II was
officially announced that the Rey. s. Il. Crockett
had engaged all his work ahead well into the next
century, and is consequently the busiest author OF
these days. we have suspected a tendency to sklmp
OF perfect work. rather than the perfect work
itself THE Men Of the Moss-Hags" he calls
his iatest venture In historical fiction Is an ad-
mirable Illustration OF this theory The story bears
uDmistaka abic marks of having been hastily com
piled. II ~ Indeed. scarcely worth the name of a
novel hsin9 r-th"r saries o; sketches he'd to-