The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-28
THE UNREAD O
Some Works of Note at Present Not in the Public Eye

albatross's wing. Out Of II men come. and
no man knows who or what or whence they
are; the mystery OF the great deep is upon
them, and they live I'm the glamour OF great
distances OF time and space. Strange and
wonderful tales are born therein. but they
are not so strange nor so wonderful as the
happenings whereby they were conceived.
XXX
It is given to few men 10 write these
things in the spirit Of which they are the
evidence. and when written they scarcely
appeal 10 the multitude. but when one once
has fallen under their spell they hold him
with a fascination OF growing power and
depth. OF such authors and books there is
one which seems 10 me to attain TO the
ideal-"Lord jim" by Joseph Conrad. and
not long ago from the press Of Doubleday.
Page * Co. The author. who sailed those
seas for many years. was well STEPPED in
the lore and legend. as he was in the his
tory and geography, Of the region in which
he laid his scenes and chose his hero. IL is
the story OF a youth who. almost at the be-
ginning of his career. made a disastrous
blunder and spent the rest of his life III
trying, not so much TO live down the past,
but TO redeem himself. The tale is full
of a shadowy pathos; II is the mastery
portrayal OF the phantasmagoria of a
woe. Only in the beginning do we come in
actual contact with him who gives his
name TO the book; through all the rest OF
il we see him through the eyes OF another
person, one AIarlowe. who tells the story
in a desultOry, interpretive way 10 a
group OF acquaintances on the hotel
veranda in one OF those steaming hot East
Indian towns. through the long hours Of a
hot East Indian night Marlowe is the
master-creation of the authors brain-the
epitomized essence of the Sea OF Mystery
with its Isles OF Unrest. The events Of the
boys career are told simply. as becomes
the narrative Of a simple but deep-think-
ing follower of the sea. The narrator pro-
ceeds swiftly with his tale, subtly putting
himself in the BOYS place and drawing his
hearers unconsciously into the same posi-
ton; the story growing, the while, In IN
terest and power and intensity TO the dra-
matte climax of Jim's destiny. his inglo-
rious immolatiOn of himself on the altar
of his sense of duty. Except In the open
ing chapters il does not deal with adven-
lures by sea, but il is nevertheless satur-
ated with the sunlit s~altiness OF the waters
of Further hide, and as such a chronicle
IL must be classed with those OF the I'M
read books that, while not appealing to
the millions. nor yet reaching sale figures
necessitating a FrOhman dramatizaton.
should nOnetheless powerfully fascinate a
great and discriminating clientele Of read
ers.
OF no less interest. though cast in a DIFF
ferent mold, is that first novel Of Morgan
Robertson, Masters OF Men-A Story Of
the New Navy" also published by Double
cay, Page & Co. 1t has to do chiefly with
the adventures of Dick Halpin. a country
boy who became an apprentice in the navy
and afterward a gunner i'm the fleet which
wrought such havoc with Spanish power
in the western hemisphere. interviewer
with his career Is that OF Ensign Breen, a
young officer who is Dicks immediate SUI
perior-their personal interests, their adj
ventures, and even their love affairs being
strangely intermingled. Breen is not an
altogether pleasing character when first
introduced, but on the other hand Halpin
is not faultless, and the growth and de-
velOpment of both personalities is made the
authors opportunity for "A marvellous study
in character sketching. In a large measure
it is a boys book, but the personages are
grown up" in its later chapters, and in
their perfected development set of the
climax of the tale in a manner as unusual
as it is attractive.
A book that should fascinate the boys OF
to-day as those of a quarter of a century
ago were fascinated by Jules Verne's
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
Sea- and Around the World in Eighty
Days is "Sweepers of the Sea-A Story
of a Strange Navy" by Claude Wetmore.
issued from the Bowen-Merrill press. In
dianapolis, about two years ago. The
writer is a St. Louis newspaper man who
lived in Peru during the Chileno-Peruvian
war, and IL is a story Cwholly mythical, OF
course) about two Peruvian boys, descend
ants of the old Incas. who found one OF
the hidden treasures of their great fore
bears, and, after attaining TO manhood and
political power, used their immense wealth
TO build a great navy along altogether new
structural lines. by means OF which the
provinces stolen by Chile were recovered:
England, which championed Chile's cause,
was beaten in a great battle at sea. and a
new Peru. dominating the southern CONT
nent as the northern is dominated by the
United States. took it's place In the galaxy
of nations. While the characters are men.
except in the opening chapters, and the
deeds they perform are mems deeds, IL is
essentially a boys book. and should go
on the boys book shelf alongside that
other book of Wetmore's, Fighting Under
the Southern Cross, which is reviewed
elsewhere in the Journal.
XXX
I have reserved 10 the last a book that is
more truly unread, at least so far as
America is concerned. than any Of those
mentioned before IL. 1t is 10y an author
practically unknown i'm this country. and
Stevenson, In his Letters. alludes 10 him
as being little known and less appreciated
in England, and yet "of a merit surpassed
by few" Of the English writers OF the nine
teenth century. This book H. "Lavcngro."
and / use IL as a type Of the tales by George
Borrow. OF which The Bible I'm Spain"
and THE Gypsies Of Spain" may be men,
toned as other good examples. Published
first in lSI. "Lavengro" was bitterly as
sailed. chiefly by the then recrudesccnt
Catholic party I'm Great Britain. and after
"A short run sank into Obscurity. In ISL
some enterprising publisher revived the
book and II led 10 a very general vogue OF
the Borrow works. Again there was some
decline In its popularity. but lshs saw "A new
edition from the press Of John Murray.
Albemari street. London, and the publica-
ton OF the Stevenson letter. a few years
later. containing their very high enconium
o. the books. gave the initial impulse 10
what bids fair 90 be- an enduring popularity.
Like all Of BOrrow's books. "LavcngrO"
h.s much 20 say OF the gypsies. from whose
tongue it's name 20 taken. The material for
IN was gained largely in BOrrow's own
wanderings through England, and many u
the Incidents are from his own checkered
career. Even more than Dickens and
Thackeray at their best. ] think Though
his tales are too different from the books
OF those authors 20 admit OF actual COM
parisonD he possesses the power 90 paint n
whole landscape or 20 portray an the de-
tails OF an intricate situation with "a few