The times., 1898-10-30

these WORKS. their author has been watt
| successful business ventures, and, recent
ly. for some reason or other was seized
| with yearning for his old self, and has
written what he calls Second Thoughts
of an Idle Fellow" The cynical might say
| that the great trouble with this book was
| that Mr.. jerome, being an idle fellow
| did not remain altogether idle and re-
| frain from writing any book at all; and
| they would be partly right. 1t should be
| borne in mind that no sequel to success
| ful book should ever be written unless
there is a reason for 1t; and no reason for
1t can exist unless by some chance OF
other the work is not complete in the
first book Now and then this does hap
pen, but In such case the books are
really one, not two.
The essence of the idle Fellow pa
pers was u certain joyous. irresponsible
youthfulness that beamed from the r
pages. the gayety of the Immature young
man. with his clothes, his outings, his
loves and his worries; the young man
who has just learned that there is such
a thing as philosophy in life and is Try
ing 1t on to see how II feels. In the ma
ture of things this phase of humanity
has q limited existence. To rake il up
again out of the grave where il has lain
decently buried. under a mound of real
worries, for several years. is cruel 1t is
like raising ghost that has been once
done to death with bell, book and candle.
The poor spirit comes trailing out in dis
gust and disarray inquiring Grossly,
well, what do you want me now for?'
The charm of the former book was
that It seemed ephemeral. The Idle
Fellow and the other. two Men In a
Boat" Ito say nothing of the dog.
whether they dwelt in London lodgings
or went on a pilgrimage TO Oberammer-
Sau, or took a houseboat up the Thames
appeared to us as If they said, I'VE are
not here for all time. We have been done
once and once only, and by one only,
and you will never see our like again.
So make the most of US while We stay"
That was the beauty of them. 1t was
almost the only beauty, strictly speIk-
ing, which they could be said to have.
Now we are reintroduced to the sole re-
manning idle Fellow" who is trying to
remember how he felt in those days. II
is as pltiful as an aged chorus girl.
To sum 1t all up, the essential truth
of this requiem is that Mr.. Jerome has
attempted to do over again something
which could not be done more than
once. and he has not done 1t very well.
Here and there are chapters which have
Il reminiscent flavor about them, but
most of the book is as stale as old soda
water When we read a reflection on
fairy tales to the effect that children
must have had hard time in the DAYS
when there was some fairy waiting to
trip them up If they even made wish.
and that ne. Mr.. Jerome, wonders that
some of those angels didn't get tarred
and feathered, one brightens up a bit,
and hopes that the old humor is actually
coming back. And when a chapter be-
gins with a dissertation on the wonderful
things that (the household papers say
can be made out of egg-boxes, II really
looks promising. But as that chapter
goes OH egg-boxes are hammered-lit-
orally and acknowledgement one wishes
he had never heard of an egg-box. The
Idle Fellow never used to deafen us with
egg-boSes in this way. He would talk
for half a page about them, perhaps,
then go off TO rolling-pins or sausages
or giraffes, or something of that sort.
before we were at all tired OF the egg
boxes. No the glamour has gone out of
1t all, and the Idle Fellow will only serve
to put us 20 sleep 1t is too bad that Mr.
Jerome should spoil his reputation in this
way, but If he has nothing more to say.
perhaps he cannot help saying it. At
any rate, one hopes that he will not be
tempted 10 do so again. CNew York:
Dodd, Mead & Coz