The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-02
Books Of the Season

less said about the progress of civili-
cation the better.
Too Much Dog Literature.
Some one has spoken out in meet
ing about Danny" the last dog story
tle," was masterpiece, the great faith
full, loving Bob, with almost a human
intelligence and a devotion seldom
equaled by men, but in Danny" a
critic says Mr.. Ollivant has stopped
over" (the expression is quoted), and
gone from the most exquisite pathos
to the most sickening pathos. Danny
is lady'S dog who sleeps either on
sllken cushions or his mistress lap,
and lives on cream and sweetbreads
When she dies he stretches himself on
her grave and gives up his life with a
sigh. We have. had almost a surfeit of
dog stories and it is doubtful whether
there will ever be written any that are
better than those that have already
appeared, of which Bob" is the best
When man handles the pen as well
as does Mr.. Olliyant he ought to
change the subject and go on.
CoreIIi Jaws the Critics.
Marie Corelli has recently been de-
livering lectures in the English prov
inces, and last week is reported to have
sophical society, at which time she
scored the critics severely, a practice
that has grown into a habit with the
fair Marie. 1t is her only way to get
even with the scathfng denunciation
OF her books, by these same critics,
winch have so enraged her, and, in
deed, one can sympathize sufficiently
with her to understand what a joy it
must be to tolerate ones critics in pub
Tic: For undoubtedly Marie suffers the
delus1on which affects the majority of
mankind-and especially literary man
klnd-that the critic who does not like
her stories is lacking in judgment and
taste. Above all does the woman in
question resent the fact that to her
efforts the aforesaid critics denv the
title of literature. But so long as her
DOCKS sell-and sell they do-in large
NUMBERS TO the great -unWashed, and
SO long as she was heraIded as the
faVorite author" of Queen Victoria
there is some balm in Gilead and things
are not as bad as they might be. Marie
is a sort of English Mother Eddy. that
is, the feminine manifestations of di-
Vinity, -
Among the latest items of literary
information of the week is the news
OF forthcoming novel by James Lane
Allen, after a silence of several wears
much remarked upon by critics. But
MI. Allen is not one of the rapid. hur-
RED writers. He writes SLOWLY. nains-
takingly, like the old-time men. and
ms d1ct1on is weilnigh perfect. "The
Reign of Law was, to be sure, a dis
appointment, after that exquisite
story, The Choir Invisible" in which
some very good people found things to
shock them. The book, which he is
putting out now, and which will be
published by the Macmillans, is said
70 De MS most important work. but not
mint is given as to it's character.
Winston Churchill. also, is at work
upon a novel which is promised for
the coming summer, and Charles Ma
Ior S new story will appear this spring.
Two other books which will soon be
pubnshed are "'The Birthright," by
GWendolen Overton, who wrote ''The
defltage of Unrest" and a novel by
Nancy Huston Banks, concerning one
section of Kentucky. Bacteria in
Daily Life" is the cheerful title of a
DOCK soon to appear and written bv
MRS. Percy FARMLAND, F. R. M. s. One
cannot but be impressed by the letters
that follow her name, which have un-
doubtedly something to do with the
case, JUST what it is hard to say. But
an +. X. NJ. S. must know what she IS
talking about and if she asserts that
daily life is full of germs we are will
ing TO take her word for it and let it
go at that, firmly refusing to pursue
the subject further. We are told in
one breath that we cannot avoid the
festive germ, and in the next that ma
tufe has provided us with microbes of
our own-hOme microbes, we may call
them-that fight, and, more often than
not, defeat interIopers. When it comes
to- the germ theory, ignorance is not
such a bad thing, after all.
: The Book Lover.
st. Paul, Feb. 2. 1909