The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-29

THE TIMES GIsP ATCH:
ty adding to tn. misery of such an ex-.
lstence.
The book is. without DOUBT. power
fully written. But 1t Is too hopeless
and sombre In tone to be attractive.
There is not single ray OF light to
lift the gloom Of the picture from be-
ginning to end.
"Tom Browns school Dnys."
BY an Old Boy-Thomas Hughes.
illustrated by Louis Rhead Harper
and Brothers. of New York and Lon
don. $3.50.
w. d. Howells has written an intro
duotion to this holiday edition of one
OF the best books for boys to read. in
which he says: From his earliest
boyhood UP Tom Is the free and equal
comrade of other decent boys of what
ever station and he ranges the woods,
the fields. tho streams with the joy in
the sylvan life. which is. the birthi
right of all the boys within reach of
them. The American school-boy of
this generation will as freshly taste
the pleasure of the school life at Rug
two generations past. and he can hard
ly fail to rise from It with the noble
intentions. the magnanimous ambitions
which only good books can inspire
'frhe Sine-Tcnths."
BY James oppenhelm. Harper ard
Brothers. Of New York.
This story of Mr.. oppenheim is
penetrated with the atmosphere of real
trayal of common life and toll. But
1T is far. from being merely pictorial
in intent The author enters into the
lives of all the people he describes
The secret of his power is that with
out narrowing his readers feelings ne
enables them to discover, under sordid-
ness and confusion. a real pleasant
ness, and yet a sense that life is an
enjoyable thing after all.
The optimism OF THE Nine-Tenths"
Is the same spirit of mingled humor
and responsibility that carries humeni-
ty through Its own troubles. 1t Is
genuine and awakens responee. The
reader is given a real appreciation of
the workers and personal under
standing of their emotions. Scene fol-
lows scene in a serieE OF dramatic cpl
sodes. and through II all there Is real
growth Of character which results in
chasing the book throughout as a real
iBtip and moving story.
1.-THE Song of Kenny"
BY Maurice Hewlett. From Charles
Scrfbner'o Sons. of New York, through
pany. OF Richmond. $3.50
For readers of an adventurous medi-
eval love story, a novel of pure ro-
mance."The Song of Kenny" has much
to commend Il.
There is a great deal said about the
lack of red blood in people and books
rendering them alike vapid and tire
somely conventional. Certainly such a
criticism could not be passed on The
Song Of Kenny" which has red blood
and to spare.
The book has three heroines and
three heroes. II a man who thinks his
self-appointed mission on earth is. to
STAY and to burn and destroy. be a
hero. The heroines are thre cousins.
One is brought prisoner to the cas-
tie of her hereditary enemy. a rob
Der earl. who has slain all of ha-
kinsfoK by treacherous assault, and
spared her only that he may keep her
a prisoner in his castle. marry her
when she comes OF age. and so get pos
session OF her property. which, is a
life confers upon her is that she has
the -Hong of Kenny sung above her
when she has at length been taken
by violence out of life in which she
had known neither love nor happi-
ness.
or the other two women, the one
marries the robber earl to begin with
and the third sens.bly weds man
she loves. The robber earl meets his
fate after doing all the mischief he
could accomplish. Then his widow
turns to a poet-priest for consolation
and finds 1t.
The stir and the hurly-burly of the
book. the assault and defense of it's
castles. the warning of factions for
their possession. the cruelty shown to
the weak and the cringing to the
rich create an atmosphere In which
love songs lose their sweetness and
knightliness its glory. $50
But the pictures, drawn by Mr.. Hew-
lett, OF the wedding feast at the cas-
tie OF PilSpoyntz and Of the bride Mt
ed high In the arms of her bride
groom. while his followers cried aloud
their fealty to her. IS a brave picture
and one that stirs imagination to re-
call And the description of the cold
gray land with the mists lying over
its islands. of the rough highways and
rude shelter for man and beast to be
found outside of castle walls in med,-
eval England forces, itself into tile
mind IS being realistic truth. so vivid
is the power that reproduces it before
the readers fancy.
Maurice Hewlett Is at his best IN
old England Stories The exuberance
of his talent may 'betray him into
some Extravaganza but "The Song
of Renny"fi is written out of poets
hearts and with aEpoet's pen. 1t names
the novel and 1t is.its strongest fea-
iture.
tF-1ower o. the Peach.
+ By Perceyal Gibbon The Century