New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-25
fICYION.
STUDY Of LIFE AMONG ENGLISH
RCSTICS.
beauty as well


12mo. pp w. so. g. T. Putnams Sons.
THE HOOLIGAN NIGHTS. Being the Life and
Opinions Of Young and tnrepentant criminal
Recounted by Himself as Set Forth by Clarence
Rock. Emo. PIP. vii. He. Henry Holt co.
There is mist on Dartmoor. the scene
chosen b. Mr. Phlpotts for his novel but
no one IN the book is in any way yelled or
obscured. On the contrary, the characters are
clearly bodied forth. they move naturally
through a drama which is itself lifelke in near
ly all its relations. and the book as a whole
has the vitality Of a work written out OF close
acquaintance with nature. The plot is partly
conventional. The lover who wins his bride at
the expense Of another man and has to reckon
Tor years with tn" enmty Of his defeated rial
is not a new figure. VIII Blanchard and his
Phphe seem old friends. John Grimbal, the
man to whom failure comes just as success
seems assured and is consequently thrice en-
Uttered is also familiar type The subsidiary
rustcs IN the book recall Blackmore and
Hardy. and there are incidents in the plot which
seem ancient enough The hero's well-guarded
cret that threatens to eat away his happi-
ness. is convention itself. Yet the novel IS
fr,sh and interesting though it is uniuly long.
one reads it 10 the end without fatigue. The
author knows his landscape Well. and fills his
book with admirable pictures Of the English
countryside Better still h. has studied the
English rustic at first hand; ne may recall
Thomas Hardy. but he does 50 without sacri-
fcing his claim to have produced an individual
book His persOnages are drawn from life. The
quaint ways and quainter speech the hard and
yet very human characteristics Of the village
miller. farm laborer and housewife. are all set
down with authority. The hero is none too
lovable: in fact. he is singularly exasperating
in his self-conceit for the hero Of a love story.
but we would not venture to say that the por-
trait is imperfectly drawn. Blanchard is
dour young man. and his gusts Of passion
make one a little impatient. they are so often
subimely unreasonable; yet at least there is a
kind Of rough power in him, at least his fiery
character develops logically from beginning 10
end The author shows considerable deftneSS
in lighting his hero's face with sunny smile
now and then. 1t is testimony 10 the ability
with which the novel is written that these
flashes of sweetness in Blanchard's nature
come enforced and seem really part of the
mans tempcstuOus nature That is a pretty
t,uch too whereby the Queens Jubilee is
brought in To close the tale happily. though
here we are constrained to say that the plot
takes "A purely artificial twist. 1t is pretty. bu.
il is too arbitrary Mr.. Phillpotts might retort
that the point TO his book lies in its study "
developing character rather than in any acr.
dent of drama The plot. indeed. may be re-
duced To very simple terms 1t is most inter-
estng when it is acting upon B!anchards tenn
per. trying him by fire. teaching him little
by little how To reach a perfect manhood. The
struggle is hard. painfully hard. but the book
is saved from being painful by the atmosphere
of Dartmoor which breathes from every page.
children of the Mist is. in brief one of the
most creditable novels of the year a thorough.
mature piece Of work.
Mr.. Rock protests in the Introduction to The
HoCligan Nights that the book is not a novel.
ton. Nevertheless. touch upon il in this
place ii is a good specimen Of the kind II
character sketchng that is So much In vogue
among latter day writer's Of fiction. Young Ar
is Lambeth scamp youth clever at annex
ing property that does not belong To him AMI
capable Of describing his exploits in piquant
language. Mr. Rock takes his various brief
narratives and makes them briefer. puts in
little background. and adds now and then an
owlish reflection in the manner OF the wise
young cynic. 1t all makes rather sordii.
vulgar reading. To Mr.. Rocks clcvcrncss we
are bound to testify; he has done his work re-
markedly we'll but it is difficult " see why 1t
should have been done at all.