The times., 1897-07-11


az d SAD anti-clinlax After the mystical
CHAIN of Peter lbbetson,'' ana Tile gay
ana sender Hohendanislm OF '.1uluy," TINS
raIabEng, inoonsequential, impossible, in
ooaersnt suuo0tasn of French aaa hnglsh
is a sunrise, and not 4 very pleasant one.
There is no originality in the characters;
no art in tie construction; tie illustrations
are echoes OF frrIner work. What is Ulie
reason OF Iris fan?
In the filst place, Du MauIieT is rot and
never was a professional novelist. lie is
n story-teller WHO las lived among novel
lists, ana not a professional story-t teller
at that-lather like those Travelled, tai
cnted, delightful old gentlemen whom one
meets some times at ClGls, WHO, II tightly
handled, Yield stores Of interesting ezpe-
riences, hut very seldom make anything
out Of those experiences Tor themselves.
Life to the.l isuoie interesting than books,
and. oftcner than Eoi the man whose Wit
is SO charming in conversation becomes
prosy old cuffer when he touches zen TO
uaper. Du Maurier had the habit of writing
so that ;his was not tue Of bin; bLt he Cid
not have the habit of fiotion-making, and
gieatIy distrustcd his own ability in that
diIcCticn
He was not in any way an introspcctive
man, and he was no Judge OF himself.
Tie success OF .'Trilby'' was an aStonish-
ment 10 hinl He probably never estimated
his two books in exactly the way in
which tie world did. He could not have
scrutinized himself in a mental mirror,
10 see whether Ie was in a mood which
would prove popular with his readers any
more than this same delightful old ciubman
can ten, when he begins a story Of his
own life, whether it VIII charm by its
novelty OF bore 10y its commonplace quality
He knows that people like to hear him
talk. Tut nine tines out OF ten he does
not know why, and the experience which
seems 10 him most absorbing may strike
hi saUdience as commonplace. Du Maurier
could not have been conscious that he was
falling below the standard that the pullic
set for him, because, in all probability, he
never knew what thatstandard was.
The lack Of originality in The Martian''
is the first Impression which the reader re-
ceivcs Du MauHer was impulsive and
spontaneous, and did not hesitate TO pour
overmuch material into one book, in sheer
ignorance CT the art OF pruning. There H.
material in "TnIby' for half a dozen
stories Of the carefully polished cameo
type This being 50, tits almost inevitable
tIat third story should be a repetition
of former works. without the charm OF nov
city Tnlby'' aud Peter IfiietSuu'
Were the two halves uf Du Maurier's
brain, the social and the individual halves.
The first was al ouUgrowth Of his bru;,ieSt
social sympathies, the second OF his deeper
personal feeling. What was there left for
q third novel?
No.hirg on earth Consequently On
Maurier vrntured off the earth-and took
Il flying trip to Mars In other words,
be undertook to deal with that strange,
shadowy, deiatable land called the occult
universe. He drew upon what he calls
the little specE Of perishable matter at the
hack Of the brain. 10 bigger than a needles
point-the sixth sense, as some of the
occult philosophers have it-whicb is such
mysterious and unacoountable faculty
that SO per cent OF the human beings ON
this planet declare there IS no such thing
And he appears to have written Tins hook
manly with that faculty, while bis live,
human, wiae-awake, brightly alert brain
was in aheyance. That is one reason why
It is not edifying to the average reader.
There is a peculiar incoherence about the
very small part Of the book which deals
with 'the Martian,' which reminds one
OF various works put forth by students
OF occult literature who have gotten hold
OF the tail end of a mystery too big Tor
then. TO fathom or to handle. This style
is uniEistakable You will find il in
eosorhical novels. andin communications
from tie spirit world, aud in some writings
which have been considered inspirational.
And every now and then, in the midst
OF meanGerings about all sorts of subjects,
in language which is considerably misty
Ia the ordinary human brain, some thought
VIII flash out, if you are patient and
hunt long enough, which is far, far above
the rest Of it. and even above the usual
quality Of thought in literature Such a
thought is evidently struggling for tx-
preston in the mind of du Maurier, and it
is struggling 50 hard that il makes him
obIivious to al which is ordinarily con-
sidered good style, and even, in some
chapters good taste and refinement an
expression
This sixth sense is briefly spea king.
a faculty OF what our forefatheTs called
the soul, as some Of US still use the term.
q something above and beyond the hodv,
which wililive when the body and the brain
arc dust, and which knows more than The
brain ever can hold 1t is d little seed of
Immortality. II is tie principle Du Mau-
nefs view is That this soul, with all il :
marvellous powers, is half asleep when if
t. IN mortal body, but when the little snot
OF matter at the Iase Of the btain gets
larger man VIII become nio1e and more
conscious Gf these onierful faculties.
he viii possess an extIaordina a ~ acuteness #
tAe senses, and ensitfVeness TO magnetic
currents, so THAI lie VIII always know for
one thing where tie North Pole is with
with his eyes shut
The proper understanding of the nature of
this little immortal spark and its growth
and the law Of its being is tie bigthoupht
which Struggled for life in ,'Tbe Mar
uans; but whatever it was, it was not
clear enough In his mind to be very clear
TO other people And now he has gone
where, let us hone, it viii all be made quite
PLAIN TO him. In the old, diGnified, time |
honoreo phrase, GOD rest his souli''
But as far as 'The Martian'' as a lit
eiary work IS concerned, it is about as bad |
az IT can lie. The hero, in the first place,
is called Barry Josselin-a name to make |
one squirn, it is So suggestive OF every
thing under the sun except an ideal hero,
and he novelist. Add TO that the fact |
that his mysterious daughter is named
Marty, and YOU have combination war
ianted TO bring tears-but not the tears OF
aesthetic enjoyment. This Barty's story
IL told by friend Of his, retired business
man. who says that he can only write
biographies; but if he wrote his kilograms
IN any s,Ich fa sI,nn n he -rrntn fhi.. i,r.ll-