The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-02-18
w OR

which mny@overtake the brain OF
the artist Every worker in the
things of the mind knows the fear
Of this paralysis; II IL the unacknowledged
Black Dread OF the writer. and, perhaps
for that very reason, II has been little
utilized In literature Few men care to
talk of their own domesticated terror In
life The shadow that walketh by noon
day Is not an agreeable subject upon
which to dilate and one may be reason
ably sure that A. J. Dawson. the author
Of this tale does not expect to be over
taken by this particular form of failure
or he would have chosen to write of some
other doom.
Ronald Kestrel is the son Of a poet. and
his life has been formed by three nfiu-
ences The recollections of childhood
spent among the Moors of Morocco. with
their savage Orientalism; the impression
he had received OF the South Sea islands
.fhe happy childishness Of the natives, and
the mixture Of gin and crime and Area
dian simplicity in the lives OF the white
men on the beaches:" and the wonderful
Bush-iife OF Australia. The creature OF
these influences. he goes to London to
make his way in the literary world meets
and loves his childish idol and to win
love ana toftune ne psTVetts ms iatuta
talent and for year turns out three short
stories n week, of the most vivid and strik-
ing kind. This work Is coined from his
very blood and brain, and the curious part
OF the book is that he or anyone else
should be surprised that. when the strain
Is over, London II conquered and his wife
won he should he absolutely incapable OF
further production for a long while. How
xh.S. nd
obeyed the simplest laws of life and sanity.
the novel writer's would soon be out OF
material for It takes very great genius
indeed to handle an absolutely calm and
normal life so as to make 1t OF absorbing
interest. The story OF Ronald Kestrel has
elements OF vividness and power. and II
II were written throughout with the con-
cis,on and intensity which the author
shows ut times Il would be more sure 10
command a large audience. But the writer
q ~ not, as yet, so strongly Interested In
the whole OF iife as he is in certain de-
taehed sections of It. OF the artists in
ner lie he writes strongly and WELL but
perhaps not strongly enough to hold the
attention OF a public which would prefer.
and Justly enough. to hear about the out
or lie OF the beach-comber-a kind OF
existence with which Mr.. Dawson also
seems familiar. and which It probably
would be more profitable for him to cx-
ploit. lie IL at his best In such passages
as this;
",style' Is no trick OF the pen. Mr..
Kestrei. no cunning use OF fret-saws, no
rule.of. thumb iuggIery to he taught from
n platform God save the mark. IL Is
the embodiment. the visible emblem
If ana .klftn sol
his heart and not his fingers since an
artists heart must needs he In his brain,
and vice versa Can lend you my own poor
hearth No And would It profit you
p,cayune n could? No. believe mel
only mans self projected into and liv-
ing in his work can make It great. Who
taush, great Shelley What system did
poor Keats lcarnF'
esrhc story OF Ronald Kestrel" ny
A. J. Dawson. y. Appleton a CO. Cloth
81, paper 50 cents For sale by Lowman
4 Hanfordl
Elizabeth Luther Cary calls her recent
ly.puhlished volume "nrowning, Poet
and Man" a survey. ana explains IN a
PREDATORY note that she has used the word
In it's literal sense 90 express her intcn-
tton ~ merely looking over" the ground
covered hy his life aud poetry and thu
place these have occupied Ia their gen
Grafton. She modestly lays more stress
upon criticisms by others than upon her
personal views holding that where 50
much has been said, and that SO well
sail." the hest result wepld be produced
rs an intellgcpt siftias II the mass Of
critical material Tho book is no, In
tended to answer the demand which Is
nn-a hy an exhaustive biography. but
aeubtle~S there are many readers Co
whom Il win BE- naore welcome than such
. hiography. when Il does appear, Miss
Cary's task has becn done with great
aeNcacy aud much insight into the pcpn-
lar mind The book contains the Kind
Of reading about Browning which viii 30
pleasing 20 aN save the inner circle ~
his admirers r. contains no profound
study either 81 poet er man. Vet every
iisa Pat forth is tust discriminating ana
often vxaulsltrly phrASod The writer Is
not one ~ Hrowuins's bllndvSt admirers
Indeed. she reader feels that a. times
she insists "a triae too ntncl anon tn,
fact that the rocts Noik Is not an
equally inspired. thls being after an. one
OF the thlngs that may Dc taken for
granted ~ spy poet Even Shakespeare
Was not always At hts best. and the test
OF sculus Is intensity. rather than even.
pess. Ia conception and execution
As specimen of hook making the vot-
ume Is very delightful both 20 sisht aud
touch /, Is Illustrated hy some thirty
pho,OgravuroS, among them cieht nor-
traits Of the poet Several Of Theses are
unfamiliar and from them all one is ahle