The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-03
Some New Fiction.

A welcome relief to the prevailing fashion
in romance for adventure, intrigue and
the exposure OF the corruption of society
will be found in "a Lame Dogs Diary
by S. Macnaughtan Dodd, Mead 4 Com
pany). Though styled a novel, it is rather
a series Of sketches of British rural and SUI
burban life, after the manner OF Miss Nit
ford and Crawford, connected by a slender
thread Of love story. The author is more
amused at her middle class people than
sympathetic toward them, which is a draw
back, for the best parts of the book are
10 the episodes of tender sentiment, which
are very we'll done indeed. It may tax
the readers imagination to fancy that a
man who has beer a soldier can be as pas-
sively contemplative as the narrator Is,
but that is necessary for the authors pur-
pose. The heroine is attractive and in
teresting, though the reasons for her actions
are beyond the comprehension Of man.
In no way a great book, but a very pleasant
one all the m
In THE Truth About Tolna' by Bertha
Runkle (The Century Company we have
a matinee girl romance presented as a
picture Of life in modern New York. We
are not ready to believe that the total lack
OF good manners that is the noticeable
trait In all the characters is general. The
author exhibits a wide knowledge of slang,
and displays her erudition in that line in a
condensed Ollendorf exercise put in word
for word French. The hero, who is in the
tenor business, speaks the language OF the
East Side; his press agent, who is nearly
as important, seems deficient in the nerve
that belongs to that profession, and as for
the women, married and single, the less
said the better. Perhaps New York So
ciety is made up Of such, but we hope not.
We fear that one precocious success does
not necessarily make a novelist.
There is an undying attractioni in deserted
islands, whether in the South Seas or else
where, and the Crusoe incidents are followed
eagerly, regardless Of originality. Since
Defoe and the Swiss Family" Charles
Rea de and Mr.. W. H. Mallock, and more
recently Mr.. Louis Tracy, to mention onlya
few, have tried their hands at 1t, and now
we meet the old theme again In The Sea
Maid" by Ronald Macdonald Henry Holt
d Coz. Apart from the island complica-
tons, there are piracy and plenty Of fighting,
and lovemaking, and, unfortunately, much
humorous business. In this we fear the
author Is not oversuccessful, but it does
not interfere with a readable story of adj
venture.
Bohemianism is rampant in st anley
Olmsted's "The Nonchalante' Henry Holt
and Company. The author has thorough
command of the German langua ge, with
which he is liberal, and Of German life,
which he describes from the American
point Of view. Although he shrinks up
his university town, it is still recognizable
-. l,.ol -. t. No toa Inc
the doings Of his heroine do not go beyond
what many a conservatory student ls
capable of, confirming the foreign i'm
preston that all Americans, particularly
the women, are crazy. 1t is not an agree
able tale, but derives its main interest
from the local color
An effort to do for Harrow what Thomas
Hughes did for Rugby in "Tom Brown
Is made by MIR. Horace L. Nachell in The
Hill" ODodd, Mead and Company. The
athletic games, the school customs, the
forms of discipline, the methods of mould
ing character are all interviewer in a good
boys story, and "a touch OF modernity Is
added by bringing in the South African
war. 1t will interest others besides Har-
rovians for it gives a fair picture OF English
public school life nowadays.
The ANIMATION OF ndTu"dle anu oIheF
%incongruous material is the fashion now in
tales for youth. To this is due The Lanky
Furnace" by Hildegard Brooks, illustrated
by Peter Newell Henry Holt d Coz.
There are six stories in the volume, all
Of the nightmare sort, such as to make
the reader curious about the diet Of
Sue Betty, the heroine.
An excellent opportunity to compare
the new school Of historical fiction with
the old is afforded by the reprint Of q. P. r.
ames's romance "Richelieu" "a, L. Burt
Company, New York;. James was no
Dumas and was ridiculed and parodied in
his lifetime: but readers Of this story of his
will probably find that in the quality of his
work and of his English and in the con-
struction Of plot he can still compare
favorably with the indian school and the
successful girl graduates.