New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-16
NEW NOTELS.
CLEVER AND READABLE. THOUGH UN-
IMPORTANT.

UNKIsT. UNKIND, BY Violet Hunt; i2mo. PIP
* Harper * Brothers.
AN AFRlcAN MILLIONAIRE. BY Grant Allen
lemO PIP. 81. Edward Arnold
BYE-WAYS Ey Robert S IIichens. Emo. PIP
SIS Dodd. Mead Co.
THE VOYAGE or THE RATTI>ETHAF by
Iia,tIcn Caffuth. Illustrated by II. NJ. Wilder
limo. PIP. VII. va Harper Bros.
HIS NATIVE WIFE. Ry Louis HefkG, nus
;ral,d. SXtCcumo. PIP ~ Ihl'du''pn''. d
u l.ippincOtt Company.
There is a good deal Of easy clevcrncss in Miss
HINTS novel; She knows how to construct
plot how to interpret not too complex char
acter how to carry along a narrative with
rand and agreeable smoothness. But when she
tries to rise to tragedy she is merely inelo-
dramatic In a minor novel we are willing 10
conccdc that melodrama may have place
without protest. il 1t be well done-and IN IN
kist IJnkind," ii is not so bad. The best charac-
ter In the book far as workmanship goes Is
the spoiled woman Of fashion. who ~ mead
strong unreasonable and inpusive as only such
a woman knows how TO be. In real life she may
bc the mos; troublesome and irritating of Great
ures but in a novel she is interesting, II not
amusing.
Mr. Grant Allen I'm his story OF a South
African millionaire with rather dubious busl-
ness Methods and a brilliantly ingenious chev-
alier d'industrie who preys upon him. Is AT his
best 1t is not by any means remarkable best
His idea is not particularly new. and 1t Is not
worked out in any specially original manner.
But the theme Of the story and It's treatment
are well within The authors powers which IS
thing that cannot he said of his dealings with
social problems OF the Hilltoppery order. The
sneaking fellow VINO Is supposed to tell the
story-lhe brother-n-law and secretary Of the
millionaire is neatly drawn in his own appar-
emily unconscious confessions The swindier
is really the most attractive parsonage in the
book He is a little cheap. perhaps-in fact. the
story is rather cheap. but though not "a wide
az a church door nor az deep as Wei. us
enough. twill serve as sufficient entertainment
for an idle hour or two.
There is something pathetic about the work of
Mr. Robert S. Kitchens. He is so anxious to be
picturesque fantastical, dramatic. magma
tive He is passionaely devoted to his style.
But ne has little imaginative force. so little that
his effects at their best seem pumped up with
painful effort. In his rev collection Of short
stories "Byc-Ways' he has the faults Of all his
preceding books; he strains so hard to do some
thing brilliant that ne seems merely artificial
and morbid Bizarre IDEAS are not enough to
carry n work Of fiction. especially when the
blZar!" element mas a SUSPICIOUS ar OF having
come into being after terrible labor. And Mr..
Hchons Will never make himself master Of
English style by tOrturing his sentences. Far
fetched epiihets do not convey impression
of originality or beauty. but Of uncouth amateur
ishncss.
In Mr. HAYDEN Carruths Voyage OF the
RatlIctrap." adventures are but pegs to hang
wiiticlsms on. The Rattlctrap is prairie
schooner. its crew two town-brcd Fasteners ana
a small boy and its means Of iocomotion n horse
that cannot die Mr.. Carruth writes in the vein
Of cxaggcration. but adapts his work TO chill
drcn.
Those who think fiction an adequate vehic!"
FOR conveying religious and ethical iencts should
turn to Mr. Louis Bccke's latest story. Ills
Native Wife" They would discover there how
easy and how futile it is to distor life for didac
tic purposes Without intending or. indeed. at
tanning humor. the author cariclturrs the mis-
sionary into d,fOrmity. and eNalts the unTe5cner-
ate sailor into d secular saint