New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-07
SOME NEW NOVELS.
Stories Of Life tn India, England
and america.

12rno. PIP. S79. The Century Company
THE RELENTLESS CITY. BY r. F. Benson.
l2no PIP 300 Harper & Bros.
PoRLASE son. Novel By T Baron Rus
sell l2mo. pp. X 30. John Lane
LOVE THRINES IN WAR. Romance Of the
Frontier Of lSl2 By Mary catherine me-, Sr S IL
20. Boston: Little. Brown & Co
THE STRIFE OF THE SEA BY T Jenkins IN,
Hains. Illustrated and Decorated. limo. pP. VII
22S The Baker & Taylor Company
MADAME CHR1sANTHEME. BY Pierre LOTT IL
Translated BY Laura 3nsor With Designs Is n5 5y
Ton & Co
THE LIGHT THAT FAILED BY Ra sf TeI kP
Rendered 10y Mr. FORBES Rob as,5Ia a T5i,io
Emo pp. sS9. DOUBLEDAY Page & co.
lGstratee in Color by Virginia Keep. l2mo' PIP
TIsE BAR SINISTER BY. Richard ,I Harding ms
Davis Illustrated by = NJ go, Asie' i-'io' 70
-FTsHIN' JIMMY. BY Annie Trumoul : SloSsos
With Tllue-ra riorls tT Alice Barber stephens
Pro pp. IS. Charles sorihner's sons.
one merit possessed by the author who makes
his first appearance in fiction with The Mark
brings TO the hardened reader Of novels dis
finct sense Of refreshrnent. 1t is the capacity 10
write a story Of life in India without adopting
any Of Mr. Kipling's tricks Of style. This is the
more noticeable in the. case of Mr.. Kempster for
the reason that his central motive is drawn from
The very source in the Orient which II has so
often been Mr. Kiplings instinct to exploit the
deep abyss Of mystery in which the natives OF
India live and move. following purposes which
the Western mind can only vaguely surmise IN
al everything is explained in some more or less
tragic crisis. The hero Of The Mark is an
English doctor in Bombay. His experiences
carry him far beyond the line which 1t is Gus
tonarv for most men Of his race 70 leave un-
crossed in their relations with the natives. He
hears q curious birthmark on his breast, and as
the tale proceeds il is implied that he has
strange links binding him TO the land in which
he thinks he is only alien sojourner. Before
he begins TO suspect what these links are, a GER
tain venerabl and powerful MOslem has mace
up his mind to use them for his own profit, ana
this sinister individual is assisted in his secret
plotting by a beautiful woman, with whom OF
course. it is inevitable that Allan Meredith the
doctor aforesaid should fall in love. All manner
Of fsntastical events presently occur. They are
10 lead UP TO an issue that is tangible enough
and. indeed. Mr.. Kempster deserves great credit
for the skill with which he has kept plausible
drama from being enveloped too heavily in the
l1urk Of incredible things Nevertheless, II is TO
those selfsame incredible things that The
Mark" owes its indubitable charm. The book is
flied with the glamour Of weird situations flung
against a bizarre background. Here are chap
tiers from Mr. Kipling's India. written without
err. Of his genius but with considerable imag-
inative force and with originality.
Mr.. whiteing has written in The Yellow
Van" novel with a purpose, but he has done
this with a tact that preserves his work from
tie dulness OF most productions Of the sort
He wants il is plain, TO show that there is some
thing wrong about the British social fabric;
that from the present position Of the great land
ed proprietors and the power3essness Of those
who still live in almost feudal subsection upon
tneir estates, serious troubles are bound 10
fow. But unlike the average novelist with a
case TO argue, avoids the temptation 10
exhort the reader, and TO wind up his tale with
the flourish OF a moralist only Kept from making
The world over by the stupidity of its inhabit-
ants. on The contrary, he is satisfied TO tell a
story leaving the moral practically to take care
of itself When he rnaTTies his heroine, a West
ern. .scboolriaam. 10 a duke of vast possessions,
he gives us few hints of the searchings of heart
from which the clever Augusta is to suffer, and,
I'm fact he never goes too far in exhibiting her
as the freedom rowing woman. distraught by
the contemplation Of British customs, which she
loathes but can hardly hope to change. He
simply asks Us to watch the duchess and the
other figures in the story, noble and humble, as
we might watch the actors in a comedy for
which the dramatist has forgotten to provide
climax We see the conditions she disapproves
we sympathize with her disapproval. and we are
left to draw our own conclusions. In the mean
time we are well entertained. The ducal house
hold and its intimates are amusing, and
the rustics and soci2istc types that drift across
the scene. Nj. Whiteing is not a profound
writer. His way OF describing the state Of the
Duke OF Allonby. for example, is the way Of the
novelist who makes his efforts as obvious as
,ossfble 50 that the least experienced reader
could not miss them. His sentiment, like his
humor, is commonplace. But Tine Yellow Van
IS 2 worznanlike novel. and, though it lacks
distinction. il is TO be classed among the more
serious efforts II the season.
THE Relentless City calls for no commenda-
tion whatever The truth is that we are aston
isbed at Mr. Benson's Ia ing written SO trivial
and tasteless book. He has in the PAST shown
clever1less in the composition Of stories mod
ern life. His dialogue has been vivacious with
out passing the bounds Of such conversation as
may be heard in almost any drawing room on
either side Of the Atlantic. His men and
women have been human enough and often
interesting At least he has given the i'm
roression that they were men and women
he had studied at first hand. and had
understood. But the people in The Relentless
CITY, especially the Americans are the
,,,eres, puppets, to whom the author attributes
,-aits and savings in which we fail 10 feel the
smallest confidence. The tone Of the book X the
,one OF a foreigner IN Nev-York who has seen
nothing that lies beneath the surface, and, for
shat matter has seen those things which Jump
10 the eyes only with ignorance and prejudice.
All people who earth DO dwell, an English
man I'm the book is represented as saying TO one
Of his countryvonnen. go 20 America If they
,..sr+ 20 dwell on earth. II you want to have
an material things at yoar command, you will,
II YOU are going 20 get them at all, get them
hero els Pm