The times., 1899-07-23
Minor Fiction

Minor Fiction.
Omar, the Tentmaker," by Nathan
Haskell Dole, is, as the name indicates, an
attempt to weave the life and adventures
of the Persian poet into work of fiction.
The life and adventures are there, but
candor compels one to admit that the ro-
nance is missing. The work shows great
familiarity with the life of old Persia as
recorded in ancient manuscripts and iradi-
tions, and to anyone who is anxious TO
know what the environment of Omar khay-
yam was, the book may be interesting. 1t
Will be something of a boon 10 the dis
tracted mortals in various parts of our
land who, having Joined an Omar Nhay-
yam Club because 1t is fashionable. find
themselves in state of dense ignorance as
to the natural history of the poet whom
they are supposed TO admire. Boston: L.
c. Page d Co. Washington: Ballantyne.
s1.5O.l
Agatha Webb" by Anna Katharine
Green, is one of the best of the author S
detective stories. The advance notices of
the book are somewhat misleading in that
they say that the scene is laid in several
parts of the world" AS q matter of fact,
nearly all of the action takes place in one
small town. and the only other locality at
all concerned in the plot is city not very
far from the town Agatha Webb. a
woman of wealth, is found dead, having
evidently been murdered and robbed. Sus-
picion falls upon one Frederick Sutherland,
young man living not far from the house.
An important agent in the development OF
the plot is young woman named Amabel
Page, who possesses an inexplicable but
rather fascinating character and an un-
common power of self-control. The plot
is one of the most skillfully constructed
of those found in the authors numerous
tales of crime and adventure, and as it is
unraveled, bit by bit, the reader finds it
impossible to guess, not only the ultimate
outcome, but the next episode in the story.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. S1.25.)
THE Game and the Candle is an Eng
lish story by that well-known' writer of
love tales, Rhoda Broughton. 1t impresses
the reader from the first with the idea that
the end will not be a happy one, though
there seems to be no particular reason for
such an impression. The heroine is a young
widow, whose husband has attempted to
exact from her promise that she will not,
after his death, marry a certain person.
Failing to secure this promise he wills his
property away from her. There Is a gro
tesque effect in the description of the sue
ceeding days, which is probably not7intend-
ed by the author. In plain words, the
widow goes TO the small house which her
share Of the estate enables her to take,
and awaits the coming Of the man whom
she has loved without hope for some six
years, and for whose sake she has been
disinherited. During this time OF waiting
she is possessed by serenity which is not
exactly in keeping with her situation, and
is several times reminded by thoughtful
friends that she is looking altogether too
radiant for widow who has been reduced
to poverty through the cruelty of her hus-
band. This is gpimly humorous, but the
author certainly did not see the humor
when she wrote the book, and that is what
spoils it from a strictly literary point of
view. AS the title hints, the game proves
not to be worth the candle; in other words.
the young widow has sacrificed her for
tune in vain. New York: D. Appleton &
Co.. $1,000
'The satyr," by Nina Holt, provokes
the query, Why should people who write
of Washington life insist on making the
tale unfit to read by putting in improper
things? This book is poor imitation of
several others of like character. 1t is not
admirable from literary point of view,
or any other, and is certainly not worth
the paper it Is printed on. (New York:
f. Tennyson Neely.)