New-York tribune., 1908-10-24

RE "As As1+ Is snailSaSs ninE fred While M L.s,so
y Il G we;5s 4bs nirsfsefen Nscnaa 1y company eai
Asr15sn Kuickerbocker viele Illustrated by
John Rae Emo PIP $50 pufieid & Co
sALTHAyEN; I5;S, By s3-,b1erS I W sons Sse00N '' ~
v-c SPRUCE. BY Holman Day isuno. pp- SI-
Hsrper s. Brothers
.R~H1TRss Bv A Neil Lyon Emo PIP W. *
Jehn Lane Company
A. wells IS beyond question the most piausl-
,Ie -ornancer OF the time He creates an hlu-
xso,, ~ like the very face OF truth that II Fe-
|,,-.s q wrench OF the viii 70 take from him the
confidence he asks you 10 yield Almost oio He
',,srsusae the readers of -The Sea Lady 10 Dc
-. a, ,,,e--,si6s His task no doubt, Is easier
a, .s7-l,s Var in the Air" The flying n1achlne
Is sr. s,ooYnpIished fact, and, one wouIo say, a
,,ra-,,sed novelist should find the exploitation
~ this motive a very simple afalr. Never @Ne
less xse do Iot know OF any writer VINO 0o1iN
have achieved quite what MI "ens Les
a.h,eved In this book Composing one more oA
fl,.se rou1ances Of the future FOR Tfhch ne ne7
q rsc,liar gift, he has not merely or0ush' 'ie
sdsa OF fight into his pages. but has sonle'o"
filed the latter with the atmosphere OF "oFlo
8, zsicb that idea has been developed far be-
,oud the dreams Of living inventors he does
this paradoxicaIly, by half-divertiIg the read
-, attention from the very thing which one
,z-o,l5 ezpect TO have placed in the foreground.
Tae rnsrvei OF the flying machine Is suooro-
mated 70 something OF far greater drsnatc sae-
utdcance He does not ask you TO cape al q
sky fuIl Of war engines. He asks you ratneF u
consider the effect which such engines would
hive ,lpon mems minds and upon the whole
fabric Of society. He writes at once as an In
vsutor Ct fantastic situations and as e philoso-
E.her.
That .his is g brilliant book In q fact WHICH
the reader takes & little time 70 discover. 1t
opens awzwardly. Bert Smallways. the hero of
me tale and Butteridge, the scientist, who IS
of great importance 10 the action, are first IN
troduoed TO Us as more or less comic types, and
for & while Il seems as though pure farce were
impending Then, by good luck, Mr. WeAs
vsru1s TO his task comes to close quarters with
his very grave central theme and relates IN a
betting manner the progress Of a tremendous
aerial war amongst the nations He deals with
colossal issues and rises TO the occasion Ger
many, led by her great war lord, Prince Karl
Albert. srvoops down upon the United States,
The other Western powers are stirred TO action
The destruction Of life and property becomes
appalling, and when the teenling East sends
forth its flying machines the world is turned
INTO g veritabIe chaos. The perception OF that
awful possibility runs like undercurTent
through the book. TT is difficult, perhaps,
says Mr Wells, for She broadminded and long
perspectived reader TO understand how incredi-
Ole the breaking down Of the scientific ctvtliza-
ton seemed to those who actually lived at this
time who il their own persons went down in that
debacle" He unfoids breathlessly interesting
story Of battle and adventure but al the time
ne Is thinking Of what our vaunted strides IN
mechanical invention may come TO mean, how
the very instruments which seem TO promise
49, ri
upside down and wheln It in ruin There is
many a passage Of speculation in this book
which It would be tempting to quote. Again and
again the story absorbing f is, brings the
reader TO reflective pause on some problem
stated By the author IN prophetic mood The
book is wanting IN unity. We have already
noted the rather confused manner Of its open
ing and at the end there are signs Of inagtna-
tive exhaustion; but the main body Of the mar
-ative is al OF a piece" strong alike In con-
ception and in execution II shows Mr Wells
at his best
At a time which witnesses the publication Of
many morbid and ugly novel IT is especially
delightful 10 come upon such bit Of sweet
and sunny romance as "Heartbreak Hill" It
is a light, Ieisurely tale in which even wicked
men plying their craft with ardor. are never
theless brought somehow within the scope OF
that beguiling atmosphere in which Mr.. Viele
has been at pains 10 envelop his heroine. Mop
sic. though the rerest slip Of girl, easily doni
mates the book She and Sidney Beatoun, who
between them own Heartbreak Hill look at
each other and at life with young dancing
eyes They little suspect the secret that lies
hidden in their seemingly worthless property
Il Is IN the background that the wouId-be spoil
eTs Of the hilI do their work. and while we be-
come much interested in their transactions we
ao7-- bo.t ha
IN her company It is for the sake Of her TO-
nance that rejoice when the truth about
Heartbreak Hi at last comes out. Mr.. Viele
directs the workings Of his plot with skill. he
touches them frequently with humor, and from
beginning TO end his sentiment is sincere. It is
= graceful and artistic performance.
The drolIery Of Nj w w Jacobs lies both
IN his substance and in his form. You chuckle
FIRST over the oddity Of the type OF situation he
puts before you. and then over the demure fun
which he adds to the OF the other by turn
Of a phrase. by word of quaint implication
His reputation was made by his short stories;
but with him, TO turn from one form Of fiction
70 another meant only increase Of scale. In
a novel be does just what he does IN a short
story; ne sets few men and women in motion
and rnischieyousy causes them 10 misunder-
stand one another. 10 indulge necessarily IN art
less but most amusing repartee and. in short,
TO keep the observer IN a state of smiling won
5ernent as to what they VIII 90 next The sim
plest kind OF love story is told in 'Salthaven."
Nothing at all tragic happens 70 the seataring
folk who figure IN the picture. The plot as
77iat IS almost nirnsy But this does not in the
least matter The main point Is that Joan
Hartley IS a clever and lovable mink, and the
people about her do not need 10 be very dra-
matte in order to hold our attention. All that