The Washington herald., 1906-12-02

another experiments He believes that IN
spite OF the advertised popularity Of the
/ six best sellers among the current
novels, it will be found that some Of the
Old favori.es IN spite Of the lapse OF
/ time. still retain their hold. nd In reality
/ beat the popularity Of the book Of the
day He recalls that when Du MaurieF's
Iriioy' was all the rage, and when the
DOCK was popular il was hard 10 supply
/ the demand. the Librarian OF the 81 Louis
Public Library kept tabs on it in cOmpari-
son with Roveis that had come 10 be re-
garded as classic. For the one month
+ that he kept the record he found that, in
I spite OF the large demand for "Trilby"
three other novels We're more called for,
/ ana they were David COpperdeld." Les
/ Miserables,' and Monte Crlsto" Now
! dT. BoWernan proposes 10 take a set Of
f1fteen classic nOVels-American and Eng
/ lish-aEd record the demand for each OF
them in comparison with the popular new
novel Of the time. The result Of the test
will be int
A book that is TO be published next
week, and 20 which men Of letters are
/ looking forward with some interest Is
/ ''Tolstoi on Shakespeare" Interest In the
4 book has not lessened by reason Of the
I fact that the irrepressible Bernard Shaw
has seen fit 10 butt in" as II, since his
own Antony and Cleopatra" which he
! himself declared is better than anything
/ Shakespeare ever wrote, he had a mo-
nopoly Of Shakespeare criticism. Shaw
says.
Unfortunately the English worship Their great ART
lists quite indiscEiminat5ly aud abecty that II IS
quite impossible 10 make them understand that
5lakesDearo's extraordinary Literary poTe. bis fE.
his mnnicy. and the enduring qualities that earned
the title Of the gentle Shaksspesre' al o. which
whatever Tolstoi may say are quite uuluss15n1dIs
fscts-O not stand OF fall with his absurd reputation
thinker. Tolst0i viii certainly tIegt that SIDE
Of his reputation W-h the severity It deserved and
sou vii find that the English VIII instantly an
D0uncs that Tosto considers his own works greater
than Shakespeare's (which. IN some respects. they
certainly are. by the wayJ. and that he has lt-
tempted TO stigmatizs cur greatest poet as a lar
6 thief. and & forger. murderer. an inceldiarT.
drlnkard Hbertine fool. nadnau. coward.
vagabond, ard even man OF questionable gznrility
You must not be surprised indignau, at this Il
Is What is called dramatic criticism In England
/ and America Only few Of our basJ journalists
critics VIII say anything worth reading On the sub
Jet
/ So, now we know what TO expect-
| Once n q while you run across z bit OF
/ vagrant verse, IN some outlying news
paper or magazine, that haunts you be-
cause OF the sheer music Of Il and the
! dainJiness OF its message. Il such a verse
/ or two haunts you with its appeal. and If.
/ putting sentiment aside, il satisfies the
/ critical faculty Of what verse ought 10 be
/ then Il IS worth passing on, so that others
/ may get the Joy OF II also. With these
/ few apoiogetic lines, by way Of preface,
I take the liberty Of reproducing Olive
/ Douglas opal Song" from q recent
number Of the Academy:
shy and vld-shy and Wild
To my lovers I have been.
Frank and Eayward as a child
Strange and secret as q queen;
Fain Of love. and love beguiIed.
Yet afraid Of love. I Woel.
False and tr1e-faise and true
Is the woman's heart IN ne
Far lost faces that I rue.
Golden friends I laugh 70 see.
Changing, come back 70 yoa,
Never dJubt ny loyalty!
The latest-featured novel, issued by tba
BObbs-M Merrill Company. Of Indianapolis.
is Harold McGTath's Half a Rogue" =
pleasant enough yarn, built on the old
I
old tricks that have done such valiant
service in days gone by. The hero, who
is the half a rogue" IS Warrington,
the playwright, who, having turned down
the request Of an actress for a hearing,
IS tTicked by her into a conviction Of
her abilities and she becomes the star
Of some Of his best plays. They get 70 be
very good friends, nothing more. It turns
out soon that the actress is 70 wed
WarringtOn's chum, a manufacturer in
the little town upstate from which War
rlngtOn comes, and 10 which. tired Of
the adulauon Of the world he returns.
Warrington is induced 10 run for mayor
in his old town in order 10 beat out the
corrupt gang who had possession OF the
municipality. and IN the fight that follows
his enemies drag in his old friendly reIa-
tiOns with his Chums wife and seek TO
place an evil construction on them. There
is a pretty plot with the Countess Zika's
old trick Of the scented letter from sDi-
piomacy" used rather adrOitly, and a new
trick. that Of cOnvieting a briber by
means of the carbon paper used in draw
ing UP an agreement. There Is a pretty
and dainty love story running through
the novel. and one exciting scene between.
the manufacturer and his striking work,
men which gives the author an oppor-
tuuity for pretty good preachment on
Unionism and the rights Of labor. AT
least It may be said for this novel that its
characters are very human and its hero.
so far from being the usual sort Of fnac-
ulate persons that modern heroes are
wont 10 be, Is a fulI-blooded man Of the
world, with the ordinary weaknesses Of
humanity. But III spite Of his faults few
readers will help liking him. The wo-
men in the book, too, are skilIfully
drawn Altogether Half a Rogue" is a
pleasant novel enough.
Romance Island" by Zona Gale, also
published by the Bobbs- Merrill Company.
is one of a class of stories of which. since
H. G. Wells took uD the modern end Of
the thread woven by Jules Verne. We
have had rather a surfeit. It is one of
those stories filled with pseudo-scientihc
jargOn, and'it deals with an island which,
being in the Fourth Dimension. has hith-
erto escaped the notice of the world. A
company OF New York newspaper men
are taken TO the island Of which. by
strange circumstances, an American has
become king, and while on Romance
Island they see many wonderful but
quite impossible things. There is a love
story in the book, but where so much is
unreal and visionary there can hardly be
expected TO be much human interest in
a love affair. The melOdramatic features
OF this tale are rather childish and absurd
and it is doubtful whether, on its merits.
Romance Island will win many read
ers.
HodF6aJ Hgs FFpas