Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-07-13

As / came to my study this morning |
and saw the big pile of summer read
ing and thought of the remark made
by the little boy of six years, when he
said, 1.-THE only trouble about books is
that you must read them.o But do
not think our book friends are OBJ
trusive; they simply sit aside in their
little private inches on the shelf and
wait for our moods. Today in looking
over some of the volumes, which after
all were nothing at all but ink and
paper, | wondered about question
Kipl1ng had put to him last winter by
an linguistic reviewer: ''How long did
it take you to write your last novel;"
| do not know Kipling's answer, but
it is an interesting proposition and 1T
frequently receives an evasive answer,
for some writer's like to be secretiye
about their works. For example,
young novelist not long ago wrote a
novel in 10 days, but he begged his
intimate friends not to betray him. as
a knowledge of the speed with which
the work was done might prejudice the
reader and the critic. Most writers
who live by their books work two or
three hours in the morning, when their
minds are freshest. Writers of such
regular habits can easily finish novel
of ordinary length in three months,
though most of the novelists with whom
/ have had the honor to talk Oh the
subject have told me it took them six
months or year to complete q work.
"What an easy life 1t must be, the
careless reader is apt to say, but |
doubt if one possibly can imagine the
labor and work involved in what looks
to them so simple task. Beside the
great stress on the mind there is the
manual labor of going over work
several times and correcting 1T and the
| thousand and one points one must at
| tend to personally.
| when | begin new book" sue
cessful writer said to me short time
ago, Il feel as if | were putting on a
yoke of slavery. The story haunts me
by day and by night and l have no
real peace until it is completed. Then
too am constantly in dread of giving
out before it is finished. +" Another fire.
quent cause of worry among successful
authors Is the fear that they may lose
their hold on the public. This disaster
has befallen many an author, particu
larly where success was founded on
first book. Oliver Wendell Holmes
ODSB TeliltThBu buhb bN6Ey utuu ant
woman had the power to write one good
novel founded on experience, and hi.
statement finds justification in the fac
that many literary reputation rest
on one book only.
The topmost book on the table toda.
recommended for summer reading j
Kate Chopin's "The Awakening. !"
would hardly prescribe it for summe
reading. The warmth Of one of thos
Creole kisses would send any thermome
ter to its highest point. All, how magi
cal they must have been! Ii one kis
upon the hand could send the heroin
to sleep, what must another kiss hay
done? One shoulders, thinking of il
and has uncanny visions of beautifr
young woman all ablaze with passion a
with robe of fire. 1t is story of a VIC
, man of 30--the age that BaIzac holds s
| dangerous, and she was doomed to wal
] until she met a young man that was nc
/ her husband before she was awakened
The cynic may observe to himself bt
5 cause young woman exhibits intere'
in a man who is not her husband, at
. fashionable watering place when tn
blood is hottest, one may not argt
| tlAU tlb NiUTbSdiu ibindlb HAS boe
4 asleep all her life. There are women
{ the world quite as versatile as the bu
s terhy and spouting of the physic
today does not mean that ali Of yeste
day was asleep. However, this heroir
Edna seems to have been asleep unit
she met Robert Lebrum, who was n
g her husband. The meeting leaves Ed
g with no scruples at all. Her husbsr
was merely an incident; he happent
% to hold the torch while the fame W
} lighted for another. But Robert, u
:. lover, walked away and said he cou
st not remain to partake of the flame
y and Edna completely awakened, fin
" the man she loves gone, and-well
70 you must read it il you want to fiji
10 out what she did. 1t is the same O
IS story. The only thing that surpris
es me in looking it over was that it cou
.. be written by Kate Chopin, who on
is contented herself with giving us mi
OF yarns and pages clean enough to r
!. into Sunday school library. And n,
I'll she writes things we women used OF
Or whisper in our boudoirs. But we WON
as are getting on, aren't we?
of In writing, as in living, there
en- nothing so hard TO forgive rs dulne
o. A touch of wickedness may serve. /
be dulness is objectionable. Given
dc pitiless sky, a hammock and a desire
1t. be amused bookwise, let tho book hi
IT. pen to drag and what happensg
drop the book, and right here i
lis under my table the book dropped h
OF night, in Just such mood, II. q. We
when the Sleeper Wakes. /" Avoic
unless used as a,sleeping potion. Il
good narcotic. On the other hand
l.. you want to sit up with wide star
ny eyes, bated breath, and brain atire
oai recommend #. Il. Bullen's books.
the typic there would seem to be sor
rs thing reminiscent of Tantalus in re
TIC ing the stories of the cool and mig
ocean, while sitting in the Turk
sea bath our summer provides as an urb
climate. But books of the sea attr
Ioa and none more so than +. Il. Butler
oi, OF his "Idylls of the Sea" one
gratefully say that the promise of be
brought into intimate touch with Sc
of the mysteries and manners of
of majestic ocean was more than fulfil
mi 1t is redolent with profound intim
ing with the sea. 1t is written by l
who has seen almost every sort of
md travel, and it voices an almost religi
cd, sombre regard for the forces that {
is troll the waters Of the world.
lng Women always like to read al
ter, themselves, and / can recommend
ped them "Studies in the Physcho
'on. of Woman by Laura Marholm.
re- study of woman and her funct
for from the standpoint of social co
Iba, tions. Miss Marholm's aim has
feet to trace the progress of woman to