New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20
RECENT FICTION.
THE BELATED ARRIVAL OF A CLEVER
WRITER.

/
pp. Isl. D. Appleton & Co.
THE LITTLE REGMEST AS PVT 3Tt WAR Ely BY
stephen Crane Octave PIP i'o ~
AN ELEPHANTS TRACK AND uu GRATED
s SrtaRo Sp l ES II HARPER r X ( Br ss
SISTER FAM HER S EH1sSns Ssrisa
Events EpisO%c;s WG1n"m rf BY Joel
,i,hhppndlep Harris Octave. PIP 1888 Ho"s"'o"
Mifiiin co.
| SONNY. BY Ruth McEnery Stuart. oc'"'o' ''
lS5 The Century Company
y 10 almost eIectrifying to discover that wr"er
. has ALWAYS commanded respect has also d
ense of humor so that can live WIN Ms
works Mr. Harold Frederic gives tne re"u
| March IIares" a shock Of dellghtiui SUI
Hitherto the movement OF ms hcuo" " ,o
sluggish: even In THE Damnaton OF
Ware" his best novel the elasticity Vi " ~
Win q sense Of humor lacking bu' !"
"March Hares" our author Is IN iaHN Sp
mood and for the first time since ne ''e ~,
write novels he Is captivating. amusinh' !" ''"'
companion II from the title Of the DOOM We ,
IN s,,pnose that all the characters III IL 'e '"
mad Then march Harcs' is n misnomer '"'
irresistible Vesiaia Is 70: mad Nei'he' -
crop her fantastic lover. nor 'he guam" &C.
Dr,imppes They are simply human "'e
into the grotesqu. whir OF such s'P"'" "
situations as only a riotous Imagination cou'" "e
vise b,u which such a keen intelligence as W.
rrcJcri,s finds no difficulty in making tnofouS"E
natural We use the word intelligence "''"" "
this book more than in any OF It's prede'eSS'' W.
,,,odori. scems To be exercising the mere gym
uastical faculties in his mind. whipping "'ons NV
diaIoyu, with so much animation so much 'un' -
much inccuuit, that the effect of the ta' Is ho'
unlike that Of the conversation OF or'Ei'" ".'"
clever people. The curious thlhs l. una W.
Frederic should have taken so long TO r'V"'l MS
cift for airy nonsense Surely his Is b"lated
kp,W hIf
novelist but now At last know that ne i
readable and except that his taste Is not yet I'M
pcccablc failing him early III TINS doom al " Po
where a clearer insight into a rciihe" "o"''"
character would have saved MN iaIs' ho''' ~
i readable on a plane of create distinction IMAM
he has reached in the bulk of his WORK me
strength OF "Tne Damnator of Theron war"
gives hir q place among the pow'rlul "'i''H "
g. day but March Iiarcs' is 4 book 10y virtue
Of which he may stand among those story u''i
who minister to delight II has art OF TN" g"nui''
sort no; mere silly craftsmanship and prc'en'''
but the dignin.d art which means a quiet mas
tory OF the subject in hand There are f""
rovelis,s to-day who could have taken sucn q
rossamer theme as that OF 'March iIarcs' and
left 1t well worked out as 1t mas been IN IN"
present case.
For Mr. stephen Crane there Is also step IN
advance 10 he recorded The trouhl" with Inc
Red Badge OF Courage was that II TOOK great
sprcad IL thin too large surface. Ih"h' on
the strength OF the specous encouragement offered
by some OF the critics OF that book MI. crane
brought his Wanted realism TO bear upon urban
slurns and straightway sank lower than ever III
the estimation Of cool-headed readers. In The
Little Regiment he goes far TO redeem his literary
reputation from reproach. His descriptive taste Is
sin n trne nord and artificial he still has TOO
much confidence in the style OF word painting
which his friends have praised for lis colo. and
yivldncss. The color is forced The vividness IL
doubtful But the broad effect of tn" sketches
gathered together ia this little volume Is unques-
tl,u,blv vcr.rious and original Moreover the
situations exploited are picturesque and dramatic
The gentle fun with which tn" tale OF the Ihree
Miraculous Soldiers Is developed is stroke when
Is emphaticaly creditabc to Mr. cranes I'M
aginative in-,inc. and TO his ski designer.
II he carries a OF design In his present work
II must also bc stated tina: the term MAJ 10
used without any suggest Of hollow artlhce In
the man. The stories are workm"nlik", but they
ar. human and in the particular narrative to
which reference has Just been made there Is
certain ariIcss vcrsimitudc which We had thought
was quite beyond Mr. Crane. He proves In this
hook that with concsior IN his plots and tonlng
down Of his rhetoric he may earn position OF
serious import among American writer's OF hction
When he gets as tired his reader of listening to
tn, nervous" roar Of cannon. which In the SANE
Instant are slightly casual. uncNo"d." he Will
grasp his material with a hrmcr hand and use 1t
To more admirable eject. mingng his realism and
his romance more satisfactorily than In his |
latest book
At this task OF Interviewing elements of fiction |
not always supposed to be- susceptible OF natural |
combinations Mrs. VI. l.. NJ. Davis has a most ac- |
complished hand. and shs shows II with authority
in the collection OF stories entitled An Elephants
Track" The motive in this volume are chosen |
from prosaic Texas from Southern scenes and from
among Southern types but wherever she has sought !
her material she has touched II more or less with |
the warmth OF II powerful Imagination. and henc" |
she H. commonplace. Sh" might easily nav" /
bcen So too II she had seen In the figures Of her !
initial story for example only the raw settlers /
I'm whose life there would to be no obvious |
hints Of romance But there IL an undercurren'
nj pathos In the life OF the Western cabin type
which she discloses without seeming To dwell upon |
f. and when she tells how Newt Pinson and his |
family were cheated OF their circus treat and went
home treasuring just the glimps" OF an elephants |
track which they had had In the road she lends
her people attraction which counterbalanccs tho
ircsomc Influence Of their dialect. II * really |
an influence which cxhales from the average dia-
lect passages in fiction. Mrs. Davis IL not
average writer: she Is Original in her conceptions.
and has something OF a style OF her own: but II |
the reader not Loyalty alert to get what Is
good out OF her book In spite OF whatever is bad.
he would find the mutatcd English in which it
abounds a perfect soporhc We like Mrs Davis
best when in dclicately humorous stories like MIR
benjamin FRANKLIN Gsh's Ball. tragi, little
dramas like THE Song Of the Opal" she mini
mixes her display Of erudition In the PATHS OF dla-
lect.
sister Jane" IL a duh book and 1t Is a pity
that NJ Harris should have published II. The
supposititious author OF the narrative is bashful
good-natured person in whom Mr. Harris would
doubtless like US to type OF manly sweetness
But Mr.. william Wornum Is not sweet: he hovers
OH the brink Of the maudiln through chapters long
drawn out, and II there Is anything strenuous
In the episodes which are imported into the booi.
at long intervals 1t IS certainly not communicated
Ike m I'm In pi, NJ