Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-07-07
BOOKS.

"The Honorable Peter Stirling" by
Paul Leicester Ford, Is a story chiefly
dealing with American politics and
from point of view Charmingly new 10
literary productions OF similar intent
The character OF the hero Is probably
one of the best In American fiction and
holds the reader from the beginning
In warm personal sort OF way that
results from the intense natuialness
that breathes In the authors creation
throughout The traits OF tacituruity
ana phlegmatlsm that characterize the
man. covering depths OF feeling hidden
from the guess Of the reader even, I'LL
untolded by the slow eventual process
Of events and then shown In acts that
one recognizes as perfectly natural to
the character, IS a piece Of dellneatiOn
that may well mark the author as a
new light IN literature. while the events
and incidents themselves are OF kind
tO Keep the interest Of the entire narra-
tive up 10 the standard OF It's chief
character throughout the book Only In
one place does the plot threaten 10 fan
90 the level Of sensatiOnalism-that
scene In which the French woman and
child appears and Peter takes the
stigma OF disgrace on his own shoulders
TO save his friends wife and child from
sorrow. The story here rings dis
cordantly from its former pure tone OF
naturalness. and the incidents Ringing
upon It are too apparently forced TO
excite either anxiety or relief az their
advent and ending Aside from this
and the extreme phases OF glrllshness
exhibited boy Peters last love 'Leonore'
AN oyerweening fault with both Gan
fee Meredith and the authors latest
hero.ne-the book is reffeshingly new,
natural and interesting throughout
George Q. Cannon and Sons.
There f. art enough in "The Touch
stone the new novel by Edith Whar-
ton. indeed. the effort Is only too APP
parent Mrs Wharton is unquestiou-
ably clever, but why does she endeayor
with such painful lnslstenoe TO initiate
Mr. James2 IL is idle 10 say that the
imitation Is casual. The whole story
motive. characters. conversation, de-
yelOpment. Is he TO the NE. Just what
significance the title has we have been
unable 90 discover The gist OF the
situation is the publication bv a man
OF the letters written 20 him by a WOO
man. now dead, who won an immense
reputation as a novelist The tempta-
ton 20 sell these letters comes with
the knowledge that the public would
devour them eagerly and with the fact
that he needs money badly 90 marry the
girl he loves After the deed Is done
he begins TO suffer for IT, His wife tor
lures him unc0nsciOusly before she
knows the TRUTH as well as after and
De feels 90 the fun the humiliation az
his position. The analysis OF the situa-
ti0n is admirable But the wish 90
deal in epigram intcrfercs with the
readers comfort There Is hardly
sentence IN the whole book that does
not have an artificial ring in c0usa-
Quence, for "a metaphor turks in every
corner The worst thing about imit8-
ton is that the imtator copies the
faults rather than the virtues Of the
model m Mrs Wharton could only for
get her master she might do good work.
AS 90 Is. THE rouchstone' Is rather
melancholy example OF cleverness mis-
applied.
Miss Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler IS q
good representative OF the newest
n