Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-03-18
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|. LITERATURE AND LIFE
a. j. N.

Since the beginning of the year four
,eading periodicals have added book
review department, They are the Lit
erary Digest, the Worlds Work. the
Review of Reviews and the Ladies'
Home Journal. The latter. calling on
It's subscribers for suggestions of need
i ed Improvements, found one of the
greatest demands to be book depart
ment That the readers OF the journal
should demand such a department is
significant. 1t shows the great demand
among all classes for some sort of
guide amid the ever increasing perplex-
tiles of the book problem. And no rep
utable paper or magazine can afford to
do without such department..
| Not every periodical. however, is so
fortunate as the Ladies Home Journal
| in securing the services of so scholarly
land discriminating q reviewer as Ham
ilton Wright NIabie. Better still, the
Journal gives notice to all publishers
| and authors to send no books to its ia
4 bic. as Mr. Mabie Is to have absolute
control of his department, making his
own selections and expressing his own
honest views, and the Journal Will be
bound by no obligations whatever.
We wish we could say as much for
the Literary Digest. which has always
stood to us as the ideal family journal
But as the name of its reviewer is I'M
known. and as its publishers are inter
ested in the publication and sale of
books, it's reviews will not always be
above suspicion.
In the Worlds Work for March the
book dealers and librarians reports
show but few changes in the most
popular book list. For the months of
| December and January the dealers re-
ports keep The Right of Way at the
head. The librarians reports place
The Crisis" at the top. The Book
mans list of the six most popular books
gives the following: The Right of
Way" Parker; Lives of the Hunted
Seton; "The Cavalier" Gable; The
Ruling Passion" Van Dyke; The
Crisis" Churchill; "The Man from
Glengarry," Conner.
In England the book with the largest
sale for the year 1901 was The Eternal
CITY, The two most notable books of
Richard Calmady.'
Lives of the Hunted (Scribner &
Sons) is one of Thompson Seton's best
books. Bound in green and gold, with
it's heavy paper, large type, wide mar
gins, fully illustrated and decorated by
the author, 1T makes a handsome gift
book. With Its 275 pages containing
six sketches. "The Mountain RAM
"The Coyotito" The Young Grizzly"
The Overland Teal" The Cock Spar
row." and The Chickadee." In his in
imitable style, not lacking in humor,
the author invests all these creatures
with personality and intelligence so
nearly human as to enlist the full SYM
patty of the reader. Whether he has
endowed them with greater intelligence
than animals really possess will be
doubted by those lovers of animals
most familiar with their ways.
The stories are all fascinating. The
one entitled Johnny Bear" which, says
the author, is almost without deviation
from the facts, will appeal to most
readers more than "rhe Coyote as the
bear has more friends, but for one read
er at least the story of Tito; or the
Coyote That Learned How" is the most
wonderful in the book. We forgot all
our prejudices against the little villain
and followed his fortunes with the same
interest we would take in personal
friend even forgetting to grieve over
the $500 worth of noble greyhounds
that the cunning Tito tricked to their
death.
It's astonishing how little the aver
age critic or book reviewer in the pop
ular Journals knows about theology and
theological literature. Take for ex-
ample the critic in Munsey's Magazine.
He is bright witty and original and as
a rule up-to- date and well-informed
except when he tackles theology. In
recent issue of Munsey's he comments
on the Rev McConnells work on "The
Evolution of Immortality" and makes |
this startling announcement: ut has
remained for DR.. Mcconnell to sound
the keynote of new creed which is in |
with the tenets of the most |
advanced scientific thought
Briefly stated DR.. McConnell's theory
is that Immortality is not a gratuitous
gift thrust upon man, but an attain
ment, condition which the soul reach
es thru struggle and growth. There is |