Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-21

40
unspeakably descriptive potency. Inc
cry of anguish from the battlefield; or,
perhaps one should say, the world
wide hospital ward.
In circles noted for their strenuous
intellectually the author is highly es-
teemed.
Schopenhauer in the Air. BY Sada-
kichi Hartmann. The Stylus Publish
ing company: Rochester, n. Z.
Men who make books often sacrifice
truth on the altar of epigram in their
endeavor to say bright things, but TINS
defect is strikingly absent in THE Per
fectly Good Cynics Calendar" me
book is a clever travesty of the astro-
logical birthday calendars, with no
other purpose than to hand you a laugh
in burlesqueing some respectable OLD
saws, and in touching up, lightly, the
foibles and follies of life. Here are a
few of the sentiments
IF penny is wise, who says
pound is foolish?" Never call man
a fool-borrow from him." promoter
One who sells you his" Don't make
sweeping assertions-do the house
work" poets are born, not paid"
The Perfectly Good Cynic's Calendar.
BY e. w. M. Grant, Addison Miner
and oliver HEREFORD. New York: Paul
Elder & Co.
In 1.-THE Irresistible Current" by Mrs.
I. Lowenberg, nearly 60 pages are CIV
en- to the exposition of the idea that a
uniform belief in God will eventually
destroy all creeds." 1t is a story of
Jewish life, negligible as literature, but
showing considerable application to
metaphysics by the author. The tone
is didactic throughout and the odd
mixture Of literary and philosophical
diction gives a result that is nothlng
more than grotesque. The tone OF the
book is wholesome and commonplace,
and it may safely be put in the hands
of young persons.
The Irresistible Current. BY Mrs. l.
E,owenberg. New York: Broadway
Publishing company.
In "The Point of Honor" with the
explanation that 1t is a military tale,
Joseph Conrad has given us ngnI
but charming little story, the scene laid
in France and the two principal char
aoters two chronic duelists. Don't get
the impression that this is a tale OF
CORY deeds of arms; quite to the con-
trary, Conrad's cheerful tone and light
touch dissipates the horror and carries
YOU entranced with the code of honor
and the absolute bravery of the dash
ing French cavalrymen. OF course
there is a charming love story inter-
woven.
The Point of Honor. BY Joseph Con-
rad. New York: Mcclure company
If all the moralizers from Marcus
Aurelius down to Roosevelt were to get
together and agree on an ideal COM
posite of character the type probably
would approximate the standard OF
conduct held up for the ambitious
young man in Thoughts on Business"
Waldo PnndrqU Warren. WnllG
there can be no question about the
soundness of Mr.. Warren's teaching
the man who could approximate such
an ideal probably would be quickly
translated to some other sphere. There
would be nothing mundane in such a
person and the world would be no fit
place for him. If you would be sue
cessful in business you must have vtr-
tues of mind and soul, on must have
charms of personality. ou must have
penetrating and unerring judgment,
you must have depths of sympathy and
feeling, you must be a highly trained
automaton, you must work increasingly,
you must love your friends, forgive
your enemies and eschew the world,
the flesh and the devil.
In short, Mr.. Warren's book is a
compendium of high standards Of bust
ness and personal conduct, cleaned
from experience but rarely approxi-
mated in real life.
Thoughts on Business. By Waldo
Pondray Warren. Chicago. Forbes
& Co.
Montrose ]. Moses makes an exceed
ingly valuable contribution to the Ibsen
photography in 1.-THE Man and His
Plays" Just issued by Mitchell Kenner-
ly of New York The work is a highly
sympathetic appreciation of the work
of the great dramatist, although the
author apparently holds no brief for
Ibsen, as many of his biographers do,
when they are not positively opposed
to him. The work is written In a clear,
penetrating, incisive style. with care
full avoidance of the blind leads of crit
icism which always yawn before the
Ibsen student. "IbSen's portraits have
not the large humanity" he says.
(which will allow them to be separated
from their age Following out this
thesis, he considers the man in relation
to the background of life in which he
found him, and the result is that the
work is as scientific as it is literary.
In the concluding chapter he recapitu-
lates:
There is no gainsaying the value of
Ibsen to his age; we may not always
take life so seriously, but this in no
way makes actual living less serious.
We may be given to clinging to the
SUMMER side of doubt, but the fact re-
mains that truth will be hidden until
the doubt is cleared away We Will
never be able to systematic the Ibsen
idea, although we may be able later to
measure definitely the Ibsen technique.
But in his moral and ethical value, he
will in years to come bear that relation
to his period which Rousseau and Vol
taire bear to theirs. His portraits have
not that large humanity which will al
low them TO be separated from their
age. That is why The Pretenders, >
'Brand,' and Peer Gynt' have more
claim upon the future than "A Dolls
House."
Schoolmen are given to preaching as
naturally as a hen is to clucking, but
the modern schoolmen have an adj
vantage over those of the middle ages
Their preachments usually are vitalized
by experience and based on studious
and Profound insight into the problems
of life. At least those of writer's like
David Starr Jordan, whose book, 1.-THE
Higher Sacrifice" has just been issued
bv the American Unitarian association
President Jordan holds up the same
high standard of life which has char
acterized all his earlier work. and
truths are told in a style made force
full and telling by his years of expert
ence in the exposition of truth. There
is a note of optimism on every page:
MEN are better than they seem, and
the hidden virtues of life appear when
men have learned to translate them
into action Men grasp and hoard
material things because in their pow
erty of soul they know Of nothing else
to do. IT is lack of training and lack
90 i,,ao orin tiop which oiUea ouT. socia