The San Francisco call., 1905-02-19
FICTION
in Varied Fruitage

nARELY does modern novel ap-
N peal to aught else than the
readers capabilities for being
amused, and rarely. indeed. does the
modern novelist seek to do else than 10
amuse. If, therefore, Robert Hichens'
new novel, THE Garden Of Allah" lays
no claim to distinction other than the
fact that il does more than amuse, we
may accredit il with a worth beyond
the ordinary. This. in fact, is a novel
far from the ordinary. It is too true.
too tragic, too brimful with real and
poignant human emotions to be classed
IN the same category with the average
novel of the hour. The tragedy of it's
motive cannot be SKINNED over at a
sitting, nor can the artistry of its tell
ing suggest aught Of the slap-dash
style of the made-by-the-yard book
stall attraction, which flourisheth for a
brief day and then is known no more.
As a. book that inspires tremendous
symrathfes, that makes the reader seek
70 learn with the creatures Of the print
ed page the answer to the sphinx rid
die. Why and Wherefore. THE Gar
den of Allah" takes rank with the best
that has been written for many years
Mr.. Hichens' book makes large de-
mands. upon the reader. It searches out
the innermost recesses Of his private
conscience and calls for a judgment.
This because it brings before the bar of
every ones fundamental convictions
the old question of duty and pleasure
IN a manner which admits of no tenn
porizing, no evasion. When the plot is
followed to the end and the final trag-
edy is pushed to its uttermost consum-
nation the reader must ask himself:
Was 1t right; was it just? Then, may
hap, he viii discover in himself a
shadow Of opportunism-a taint of the
old Adam that will not die. For the
conscientious reader the moving in
gpiration of Robert Hichens' book Is
inevitable and for that reason also it
may be classed beyond the ordinary.
'aThe Garden of Allah" is built
about the clash between asceticism-
the stern, monastic sense OF duty to
one Being, far removed and invisible
and pantheism, or the intuitive wor-
ship OF an All-present One In nature.
This motive, at first sight one smack
ing over-much Of theological pro-
fundity. is developed through a sym
bolism Of moving force in such man
ner that the reader feels throughout
the broad, flowing current OF the
story's inspiration without having ont
ward and visible sign of the same IN
truded upon his direct sensing. The
great desert of Sahara, with its hot.
passionate breath calling for life of
the fullest and debating the pres
ence of such divinity as the Satur-
nalians used TO worship, works upon
the souls of one man and one woman.
in which resides the spirit of ascot
icism. At one time pantheism con-
quers; these two mortals. held in the
grip Of the worlds waste places. see
about them a god who calls from the
sands. the wavering palms. the wa
ter rills, bidding that they should
be one with the kindred Of nature.
Over against this sounds the higher
call Of all that is unswervingly stead
fast TO the laws Of an orthodoxy; duty
armed with the brand of an establish
ed religion, sets itself as a guardian
against this Garden Of Allah and in
the end duty triumphs.
A girl who goes to an oasis city In
the desert, there to escape suffering
and TO search out her own doubling
heart, meets with a man who is mark
ed among his fellows because Of his
tremendous burden of guilt.guilt
that he keeps locked within his own
heart through fear and shame. They
draw near TO one another through the
compelling influence of the desert
mystery of the primitive, they love
and are married. Then In the vast
ness of the sands, when they. seem
TO have approached closest together In
thought and sympathy and to have
given themselves over to the forget
ting inspired by the weird of the vast
unknown, the revelation of the mans
sin comes. Expiation. bitter, terrible,
IS exacted by the woman. Through
expiation comes love for God, the su-
preme and far removed, and the as
sumption Of His yoke OF duty.
That is the bare outline of the plot:
the splendid scenic envelope given it
and the complete infusion of the desert
atmosphere with the details of the mo-
five make a book Of remarkable vivid
ness and power. Hichens' Sahara pict-