New-York tribune., 1903-03-08


Initiating ne; possibly. on the other hand. only
altering everything striking At the root of all
my world, and leaving to the consequences
however they shape themselves We have been
at pains to quote these passages 50 as to show
what a fascinating idea Mr. James here attacks,
but to anticipate the conclusion # his story
would be to anticiTate TIL readers pleasure IN
what is one Of the rI"-vr"st ana moreover
soundest flights in psy, h,GocirsrI analysis which
even Mr.. James has ever put G" his F"1iIt. me
Beast in the jungle i .hs"rhin2ly interesting
in substance human All through. and It's theme
Is one in the cxpoitati II of which TIN authors
peculiar method positively shines
1t shines effectively enough th"d@E far less
brilliantly in several oc the other stories, espe-
cis,IIy The Birthplace in whirh the possible
sensations o. a possible custodian "f a great
literary shrine are exhibited with d"HGhIlu1
freshness. in The Tone of Time and in Ihe
BcIdnnaId HoIbein." But even in the last two
Of these. and certainly in all the rest OF the
stories there s a sickening oppression as OF
what We may call spiritual squalor, the tone
and movement of people troubling their very
small souls with matters Of iniinitesImaI mo-
rnent. The people in this book are very IaF
from being OF The Better Sort; We are IN
cIined to say that they are Of the worst Tor all
that they are constantly introduced as illustra-
tions of the artistic temperament Among
and we decline to believe that figures at all like
them could actually be found in darkest Grub
Street or in the dingiest corners Of the Latin
Quarter. 1t is just because they are so unreal
that their Iittlenesses are so nauseatIhS. NO one
in the book seems modelled n the round, as II
were with the breath Of a human beng am
mating a solid body, and with the sheer force OL
humanity redeeming unlovely traits IheSe
people are drawn as in sharp outline against
background of fog, and they all talk IN the same
style which is to say. the style Of MI James
himself.
II is odd to find novelist whom we expect 10
hunt much more assiduousIy than any one else
for the right word perpetually falling back upon
the cliche as he would call it himself II ne
found it in any other writer. He uses the "oFu
.shaautiflII" for example, as though he loYec
it. end could not let it go out OF his sIght' ana
he is equally devoted to words like "preclseIy
and exactly" 1T was exactly the silence en-
suing on the retreat of the servant and the
closed door that marked between MN anu lis
hostess the degree of this ease" Why e4-
actlv"? ut was at this point and on these
words that the eyes of Lord Gwyther's two AUDI
tors inevitably and wonderfully met why
inevitably and wonderfully? Quite as MAD
dening as these mannerisms is the descriptive
style of which the following is falr lHusH@
ton: She was perhaps of an erect sIl4 'OO
immediate to be called interesting, OuI SAS w.
candid gentle and sUrprised-not fatlgulngH
surprised, only just in a nice degree and heF
white FACET was too white-with the n1eo
ewes the somewhat tOusled hair and the AouS
Seize hat might at the end Of the very long
neck have suggested the head Of princess car
ried. in a revolution, on pike" Even WIN
the aid OF the context is doubtful if the reader
after this torturing OF prose, has any idea OF
what Mrs Medwin ~eally looked like. one val
uabIe quality remains in all these stories. Each
pioues the readers curiosity; there is some
thing about their very perversity that lures nina
on. But in the long run the sense OF wasted
effort conveyed by all the stories save Ihs
Beast in the Jungle" and THE Birthplace
terribly depressing We hope that some day
Mr. Jarnes's successes and failures may be care
fully. separated the former being printed in tive
or three volumes, to rejoice his readers ana
establish his fame.
Mr Conrad has temperament as clearly
marked as that Of NJ. Zola or that OF Mr.. James
and like those two writer's his temperament, aS
axpressed in his work constitutes great deal
of its merit He seems to have a special 1eellns
for the charm Of loneliness in the strange, far
DIaces of earth, an intuitive grasp Of the
secrets of really individual character. Thus his
stories link character and environment with eX-
traordinary subtIety, and he throws his rare
tvDes of human nature into the more arresting
raIiaF through exhibiting them on a stage which