Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-02
BOOK NEWS


edition with all the charming Ingenious
ness of her own Elizabeth, and remarS-
| able also for its eroticism, which Mrs.
| Glyn as strenuously denies in that same
preface. In this connection. however, 1t
seems tthat 'the lady doth protest tho
much"
! Mrs. Glyn now is in this country. Her
book is enjoying tremendous vogue In
England and is entering upon similar
profitable popularity here. 1t ihas been
adroitly advertised, not the least potent
publicity being the authors present quest
| for an American hero" Yet 1t is well
able to stand alone.
However 1t may be viewed, Three
Weeks" is not a novel for the jeune
| file, even though, as has been pointed
| out, the "j. +. is not necessarily d. +.
| It Is the story of great love; the love of
| the ~Imperatorskoye" for a young Eng
\ lishman and of the development of the
mans character through daily and inti-
mate association with a woman of re-
markable mentality.
| Paul, at the outset Of the story. is an
ordinary enough chap, clean, good to look
upon, athletic, a young English animal of
good breeding and good habits but with
little thought for affairs outside the
bounds of his own parish.
The woman's is quite a different per"
sonality. She has read much and travelled
| far She has been married for political
reasons to the reigning brute prince of aii
unidentified Balkan state who abuses her
and for whom she has no feeling of
loyalty or respect.
These two meet at a hotel in Switzer-
land. The meeting is unconventional.
That which follows Is even more so. Mrs.
Glyn, perhaps more than any other
modern unites boldness with delicacy in
her writings. And here is situation to
test her powers to the utmost. She sets
herself to relate the most intimate details
of a great passion and she does 1t so
charmingly that even the puritan-and he
need not be, very puritanical puritan at
that-condemning the theme must still
praise the manner of its treatment
Both In her introduction to the Ameri-
can edition and in the story itself, how
ever. Mrs. Glyn has made most unfor-
tupate choice of words in relating the
motive which first prompted her tiger
woman TO throw convention out of the
door and herself into Paul Verdaynes
eager arms. 1t was caprice, she says,
caprice and nothing more. There is hap
PLY, no twaddle about love at first sight,
nor Is the woman swept on her feet py
any torrential passion. On the contrary.
she enters upon the liaison merely to
amuse herself. And even though an abid-
ing love comes later. this unfortunate
dSpeTSlOH TeiHdiHS a OiOt upOi thS ShhA
acter of the "Imperatorskoye.
Once they have ret matters move
swiftly for the young Englishman and his
royal enchantress, and on their second
evening together:
Beautiful, savage Paul she whs-
pered. DO you love me? Tell me that!
Love you!" he said. Good God. Love
you! Madly. and you know it, darling
queenl
. Then said the lady, in voice in
which all the capesses of the world
seemed melted. then, sweet Paul. shall
teach you many things. and among them
shall teach you how-to-live. y
And so begin the few brief weeks of
lilies and laLguor covered by the narra-
tive.
The occasion of it al Is frankly avowed
to the lovelorn Englishman, when part
ing is imminent Some day. his charmer
tells him, 1t may be that "a son of ours
shall worthily fill throne-a throne most
ignobly filed at present, and that only
through my birth and family influence.
''I have a right to find an heir as
will splendid heir who shall redeem
The land-thc spirit of our two selves,
given by love, ami endowed by the gods"
This defiance of current and rock-ribbed
conventions is the keynote of the earlier
chapters of~the narrative. The amorous
zephyrs Of the earlier chapters swell
gradually to fitful gales of unrest, and
cu,minate in swift and tragic tornado
of passion.
II is a big book, this "Three Weeks"
too big book to be dismissed lightly.
T0 society, as at present constituted, 1t
has no message and it points no moral.
Bu- it limnS with Gear, bold strokes
commanding figure of a woman; a woman
with alternating charm; mystic, cogno-
rn0thRr-ai these and
more; and it shows for our inspection the
arotheosis Of healthy man animal into
a man who has lived and loved, and who
comes to the end in the day of his youth,
to that end where memory is the only
alternative for grief, until She, the dead
'Impera torskoye." from beyond the
grave, bids him live anew for his son,
mothers country and beloved by his
mcther's penple.
Three Weeks. BY Elinor Glyn. New
York; Duffieid & Co.
There is more philosophy. more tersely
put and phtased so it will stick in the
recollection in the little volume of Hin
dustan sayings, published this month by
Paul Elder & Co., than can be found
elsewhere in days journey The book
is published under the title. "Betel
NnLS, WlIn the buD-CdpliOn, ihNy
Say in Hindustan." AS is usual with
Elder publications. 1t Las been given
dainty dress.
Here's Frolic Truth in Oriental guise:
verse may find him who a sermon flies
This serves as introduction to the say
ings, and an eminently fitting introduce
tiCn it is. The original Hindustan has
been rhymed in English by Arthur Gull
terman, who has retained, in pithy form,
the truth of the original. Here are few
verses, taken at random from the very
excellent little volume:
God ripes the mangoes,
The farmer shakes the tree
God cures the patient,
The doctor takes the fee."
s'He laughed dersion when his foes
Against him cast each man stone;
His friend in anger flung rose
And all the city heard him groan."
1.-The goat gave up her life; twas not enough.
The eater grumbles that the meat Is tough"
1.-THE teeth are thirty-two in sharp array;
The tongue is lone and weak, and yet among
The silent teeth It dwells, and talks all day.
Yet takes no harm-how clever Is the tonguel'
a3etel Nuts What They Say in Hin
dustan. BY Arthur Guiterman. New
York: Paul Elder & Co.
LADY Geraldine's Courtship," perhaps