New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-21


ward Age" book so duh, so ugly 80 e'aOo-
rately perverse that it has KIND OF iaScihA''oi'
Tho f,ecination OF colossal bore. one Is alb
eorbed in spite Of ones self, In the spectacle
90 a literary method trampling lfe-and the
suthor-underfoot. and Haunting itself with
trazen pride as proof of the lamentable end to
which human ingenuity may bring itself If it
only throws overheard the sense OF humor ana
devotes itself to the fixed idea"
II is the fixed idea" that keeps the art OF
Mr. lanes from being artistic. lie may pro-
pose that his gift shall serve the purpose OF IN
depreciation for which one would suppose II
had been intended. but he ends by using IL TOT
its own sake, and putting touches INTO por-
t,oit saw. which spoil the readers impression
through teasing him with their insistent little
ness. Lord Petherton." he remarks, "a man OF
f,ye-and thirty, whose robust but symmetrical
proportions gave to his dark blue double
breasted coat an air of tightness that just faheo
of compromising his tailor, had for his main
facial sign a certain pleasant brutality, the Ell
feet partly of bold. handsome parade Of car
nivorous teeth partly of an expression OF nose
suggesting that this feature had paid little. In
the heat Of youth, for some aggression at the
time admired and even publicly commemorated'
granted, had he not been happy; he would have
been dangerous had he not been Warranteu'
Many things, doubtless, performed for him thls
last service hut none so much as the delightful
sound of his voice. the voice as 1t were ol
another man a nature reclaimed supercivilized,
adjusted to the perpetual 'chaff' that kept him
smiling In a way that would have been mis-
take and indeed an mpossibility II he mad
wit bright
that of a young prince whose confidence had
never had to falter and the only thing that at
all qualified the resemblance was the equal ia
miliarity excited in his subjects" Not all the
esoteric culture in the world. pausinS with rapt-
ure over a passage like this, can really succeed
In demonstrating that It is good portraiture or
good literary art 1t is neither Of these things
II Is tortuoug and il Is trivial. Beneath the
coat that Just failed of compromising his tai
Ior" there may be a veritabe Lord Petherton,
but he is shadowy ambiguous. an individual
whom we cannot see for the amazing prose be-
hind which Mr.. James has concealed him. ana
which itself has Just the restcssness. just the
forced and would be literary quality. that is
calculated to keep It in the readers mind at the
expense Of everything else. OF another one or
his men the author says that The had indeed
no presence. but he had somehow an effect"
That Is characteristic OF all the people In The
Awkward Age" Each has his or her effect,
but one longs TO get at the real soul behind II
II there is one and to have done with descriptive
nicetles and monstrosities Of dialogue.
II the talk is monstrous in its unreaty. In
its weird invoutions. in its constant suggestion
that everybody Is doing his best to get to the
point by the longest way round. what shall we
say of the tone which pervades the whole book?
The little circle in which the story revolves Is
presumably one of birth and breeding, but the
worldliness in which it is stepped is aciduous,
so profoundly and ignob!y cynical, that not
even Mr.. Longdon. whom the other figures in
the book regard as beautiful" can escape its
furnishing influence Manila, in whom he rev.
erences the spirit of the departed Lady julia,
he discusses with one mutual friend after an
other until 1t seems incredible that he should
retain any Of the ideasm with which he starts.
He is it is true, little stupid. but that does
not account for the manner in which he allows
himself to be drawn into the eddes OF teacup
gossip which swirl through Mrs BroOkenham's
drawlng-room. There is very little human
nature in The Awkward Age" there is no
fresh air. and least OF all is there any Of the
literary distinction which is commonly supposed
to carry off a subject Of dubious value. The
truth is that the tour dc force" Of which we
hear so much from the school Of Mr.. James is
not necessarily a distinguished and beautiful
thing. 1t may have required great deal Of
craftsmanship, Of sort to produce The Awk-
ward Age" but how has the author been re-
warded for his pains? He merely repels and
wearies his reader. similar fate awaits all
those who think that without imagination, in
venton, knowledge, feeling. experience, one may
still weave novels out of words. There must be
life behind the words, and sympathy for life