Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1904-12-03
Books, Bookish
People and Things

Koradine." BY Alice d. stockham and

), "Koradine." BY Alice d. stockhsm an,
r Ida Hood Talbot Cloth. s,ax7%
inches; 42i PIP; Stoekham Pub
Co.. Chicago; 81, postpaid.
II requires a great deal OF patienc,
and some Of the philosophy advocated
: In this book to read its i2i pages with
out getting angry. There are thirty
five tedious letters purporting to be
from a young girl to her friends
: Though quite proper letters for most
, part, there Is no good reason why those
not acquainted with the parties should
be asked to read their correspondence.
The girl talks of her life and pleas.
ures, of her friends and companions. Of
her expectations, and. unfortunately,
spends too much Of her time and paper
10 quoting the sayings Of her teachers
at "Girsenbois Hall" Doctor Goodrich
and Mrs. Grantley who deal with sub.
consciousness" and Embodiment" and
exhaie soulful ecstacies much as sweat
glands pour out their contents on a
hot day. The following Is some Of
tne talk quoted:
ITO me there are forever and ever
two AZ me, finite and an infinite. A
terrestrial and celestial. a body and
a mind. We forever seek aud fnd ex.
preston for that which Is.
Il am bound by no law but that of
spirit. Repeat IL again and again and
sooner or later you will come to realize
the power Of the spirit the spirit that
Is whole and in harmony awith univer.
sal law. In which there Is no disease or
discord.'
This is the yeriest bosh, and II IT, Is
not Christian Science" under a cloak
am much deceived In fact. the girl
rather excuses herself for catching
cold, and regrets not that she got her
feet wet and her body chilled. but that
she allowed her mind" to fear a cold,
creating a cold by very ordinary
process simply by thought"
What the book waS published Tor I
am at odds to discover. Ii Is too long
and not proper enough to be a "Modet
Letter Writer" though its common
places would suit such a book: Il Is'
not story or history or biography.
Had the author simply wanted to have
a large book to her credit she would
have seen that It was well bound and
printed, at least.
However. there is nothing radically
bad about the book, and any one that
has the time to put to 1t and doesn't
much care what he is reading. may
spend several hours following the "un.
foldment" of the work.
=
MY Japanese Prince" BY Archibald
Clayering Gunter, author of "Mr.
Barnes OF New York" and Mrs.
Potter Of Texas" Cloth. SANS in:
256 pp, $3.50; paper covers. 81
cents. Popular cloth edition, so
cents. The Home Pub Co. New
York.
Being some startling excerpts IRON
the diary OF Hilda Patience Armstrong
OF Meriden, Connecticut, at present
travelling In the Far East" IL the sub,
title OF this somewhat diffuse tale Of
a girls peculiar experiences In Japan
and Manchuria.
There Is some description of places.
more about social manners and Gus.
tome in the East, and very little about
the war which Is getting serious when
Hilda closes her memoranda.
Told In the first person, the reader
Is more or less prejudiCed at the out.
set by the narrator's self.Consciousness
aud self'approbation. Then her un.
blushing regard for Japanese noble
who certainly gives her no occasion to
love him, and the un.Amsrican way she
gives herself away to him without his
asking, Is neither American nor fem
mime. II Is not in keeping at all with
the manners OF the best Americans.
notably, the girls excursion with her
friend, dressed as a geishaD into
place of doubtful antecedeats.
For the real American woman while
not In the least prudish or inclined to
fancied ideas of the regard of men for
her. and despite the sneering obscrva.
tons of superficial persons, is one OF
the most genuinely womanly and mod
est OF her sex. She Is gentle refined.
tactful, and naturally and inherently
possesses those subtle qualities OF taste
and breeding which are supposed to
come through generations of cduca.
ton and wealth, and which do often
come that way. The time when the
loud.voiced, slangy, bold type OF the
American man or woman has gone by:
been relegated to the sub.consciousness
OF the literary moss.back or the pages
CT yellO wnOvel
tlilda's father is Yankee bridge
builder quite like some American bust.
ness men who 90 abroad-and stay at
home. He talks money, and has his
eye upon everything that increases his
profits.
Finally, after telling of the admira.
ton of hall a dozen men for her and
OF her disregard for them, she relates
how she married the Prince and be.
pripsi.-g