The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-07-25

The American Book Company New
York, Cincinnati and Chicago) has added
to Its very useful ana attractive series of
German standard short sketches, two
stories from W. H. Riehl's collection
ode Vierzehn Nothelfer and frost um
FROSTY and Oskar Klaussmann's Kram-
bambuli and Memoirs Of an Orderly.
These little stories are edited for school
use, with vocabulary and foot notes and
make very helpful and attractive little
volumes for the learner.
Love is Spirit A Novel by Julian
Hawthorne, is an attempt to give a
striking and glowing study of the beauty
of spirituality as 1t may associate itself
with the ardent love of a good man for
a gooo woman. The author has too sem
suous a method of description and uses
too grossly material words at times to
convey successfully to the general mind
the delloaoy and sensitiveness which he
means to incorporate into this soul
study. Nor, on the other hand has he
made the book, as a romance, definite or
varied enough to be exciting or to
strongly hold the attention. The problem
seems to be how far one may be led by
the spirit and whether intense loveI will
cause spiritual appearances even to those
still in the flesh. To demonstrate this q
love affair is lived in this world and into
another. This is difficult analysis and
MT. Hawthorne has not it seems to us.
made his denouement fficiently occult
to detach the mind and Imagination
from q contemplation of the earth life
and absorb ir in an esoteric atmosphere.
In short in Love Is Spirit there is a
great deal that Mr.. Hawthorne HASN'T
accomplished. (New York: Harper &
Brothers; Portland: Loring. Short &
Harmon
Mrs. Gerald. A Novel by Maria Louise
Poole. Illustrated by W. A. Rogers tells
of New England folk as only o writer
can tell who knows them to the core. Mr..
Grover with his liver complaint and
hopeless greedsand shiftlessness,
the Macombers and the Guilds are living
and breathing creatures. But while in
this authors other works we are accus-
toned to strong types. to drollery and to
pithy sayings we have in the present case
far more elaborate study in psychology
than we have before encountered from
this pen. If Mrs. Gerald'' be not alto
gether probable, or if it sometimes lacks
on the artistic side touch or two. this
much should certainly be snid for the
story that it is exciting, alive, and inter
esting FIR ON first to last. Speaking of the
measles. Judith says them, or it
somehow the measles always seem null
titIde." Thoroughly in character Mr..
Grover proolaims-'sI'm your father,
amt you BEN taught in Sabba' school to
honor thy father -eto, etc g If I've
got child that won't honor thy father,
I'll see about it.'' ~ told her THAT she
want honorin' thy father - and So on.
After the introductory village life and
adventures We plunge into complications
almost unbear ably tense and wearing
save that the fascination of Luoian's an
Judith 8 personalities and even that of
Mr. Gerald himself pursues and keeps
our attention fixed to the end. Mrs. Jen-
nings somehow always seems extraneous
OF the book as q whole it may DO said
thnt it is of a sort to be "out' ut the
Public Library whenever one especially
wishes to procure q copy of it, New
York: Harper & Brothers; Portland:
Loring, Short & Harmon.