New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-18
MORE REALISM.
MR.. HOMELESS STUDY OF AN AVER
AGE MAN.
THE LANDLORD AT LIONS HEAD: a Novel.
Rv " D Howells Illustrated by w. 7. Smed-
ioy octave ID iv 4sl. Harper e. Brothers.

THE LANpLoRD At hIo iSso5 HEAR E. b S SIsS
By w. D. Howells. Illustrated py w. =, oiHe"
ley octave. PIP. w. AL. Harper nro'hefS.
ONE MAN WHO WAS CONTENT BY Mrs
Schuyler Van Rensselaer,. Octave PIP III Inc
Century Company
Tho reader Of THE Landlord at Lions Head Is
not unlikely to find himself depressing for mo-
ment from the thread Of the story. and rejecting
upon what would seem to be an Irrelevant matter
namely. the difference between Mr. Howells the
rove,,st and Mr. Howells the essayist How does
no do q Il the question that presents ITSELF how
does he contrve TO reuounce so completely, when
writing fiction, all those ingenuitles, all thoSe
touches of humor and charm which belong 10 MS
portra OF old friends his "reminiscences OF traVei
and other experiences? The querist Is the more I'M
patient for n reply inasmuch as these Things are
reallv missed In THE Landlord at Lions Head IL
stands so emphatically for the prose OF the au-
thor's art It is so aggressvely real. But IN mat
last fact lies, perhaps, the Justincatoh Oh HIS re-
nunciaions for whether the tale pleases or not IL
f. Individually vivid and impressive. In fact, the
yeracty of the thing is OF the most searching Kih
and one recalls "A Modern Instance" finding III
,b,s latest book much of the power which made
that early work a serious addition to American fc-
ton Evidently Mr.. Howells Is perfectly aware OK
what he is doing He could have transformed The
Landlord at Lions Head. II he had so wished. into
n hook more like his April Hopes, projecting into
II some of the lightness, some of the buoyant feel
ing which lies so easily within his grasp. But
,,h an artist, discretion that is possibly the more
inpratiating because 1t is so unobtrusive. he has
boen true to the character and environment or his
boro has told the story OF JEFF Durgin In entirely
prosac terms.
As q result the man Is unlovabe but convincing
unsympathetic but undoubtedly man. lie Is. In
fact one of the best types Mr.. Howells has ever
,sorvod standing for n phase of American life
that we may call an average phase without dimin-
ishing its potentalies 1t was long ago an article
of faith with Mr. Howells that the average man
has genuine inspiration for the acute student oil
temperament and JEFF Durgin, who Is quite on a
level with his fellows, is. nevertheless. so deftly
analvzed that he comes to have an individuality
emnhatically worth study. The reader follows with
lively curiosity the development OF the mans char
acter Is interested In his sentimental adventures
and is struck by the logic of his behavior In condi-
,ions that might easily have been expected TO turn
him from his path OF course II is a question as TO
whether the spectacle Is really worth while TO a
rsadar who demands not truth alone but beauty
ord ,narinptIon JEFF Durgin's romarces have not
tho malest tlrge Of romance From cover to cover
this book fails to touch the sympathes with sense
Of discovery with a sense or introducing them %
now figures and emotions But In far a
singularly human career Is deserving Of attention,
the career of jeff Durgin is cheerfully surveyed.
To make his acquaintance Is to suffer some weari-
ness from contact with his people, there being sew
oral characters in the book who are frankly. bores:
but to meet him is to remember him: average
man. as he is. he nevertheless leaves a lasting i'm
preston.
Mrs Van Rensselaers realism Is OF a distinctly
liberal character She is willing to appeal TO the
mogination and I'm her initial story is. TO be sure,
far more concerned with the spiritual and deallstc
elements in life than with Its humdrum facts. She
has bodied forth her contented man with persua-
sive subtety. This Is the source OF my happiness.
she makes him say; "the sense that have lived
the life OF a man." and where she dotaches her
hero the familiar scale of social existence Is
In showing how intimately connected the
forces OF the spirit and the circumstances OF life IN
his development. lie man of principle. a man
OF Ideas and while this may be claimed for almost
every man in realistic fiction. II Is seldom that so
Just balance Is struck between the two natures of
the character in question. In other words. Mrs.
Van Rensselaer, deals with facts. but keeps close
to their inner significance that In the long she
conveys an atmosphere OF ideality. OF imaginative
flights. Even more does this gift OF hers come to
tho surface In the little sketch entitled Mary"
sketch so brief. so uneventfu as hardly to seem
fiction at ALL but just passing picture OF life.
within the narrow limits of this work the author
has shown pathoa humor. and keen feeling for
character and its moulding by the passage OF time
All the stories in her volume good but this
Is a positive triumph.