The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-05-08
Among the Books

"auccd."
BY Henry sydnor Harrison. Fronts
piece by r. M. Crosby. Houghtou, Mif-
fiin & Company. OF Boston. 1915 net
Nueed" Is out at last It is being
road here. there and everywhere, ana
readers are settling, by Individual de-
fs laid, and just who and what are
tho people that lend It character and
color
"ouced" furnishes ample material
for any amount of discussion. for 1T is
many sided. and touches life at in
Vulnerable points. For those of n past
generation, white haired old ladies' an..
veterans of the confederacy. there is
In the book a Reunion Day parade.
with It's band music. Its old battle
iiags and its all-pervasive thrill For
the young, there are the journalistic,
political. literary, business and human
itarian interests and ambitions OF a
rising Southern democracy, vital and
lnsistent In aim and demand.
Against this complex background
stands out in clear relief the figure OF
oueed. He is the book, Tor all that IL
contains Is remotely or intimately con
nccted with him. with what ne says
and what he does. The phenomenal
product of an unfavorable carly on
vironment. against which his deter
mined Will had ceaselessiy struggled
Queed, too self-centred to realize the
loneliness with which he has fenced
himself off from others. possesses,
nevertheless. redeeming quality, that
OF unninching honesty at any cost,
which entities him always to respect
Engaged in literary work. which he
believes TO be OF tile greatest posi-
Bile Importance Quecd begrudges
every moment hlched from a task.
which. in reality, proves too absorb
Ing for him to take other people and
things into rlghtful considera ton.
But he is simply blinded because lie is
pedant. not because he is ignobie.
Probably child's query as TO the
meaning of a1truism and a meeting
with the heroine OF the book, q whole
some young woman possessed OF attri-
butes and principles. first aroused in
his mind an awakening impulse that
rapidly broadened his relations with
life In general.
Tho number of characters in the
book is large. because, In it, the crowd :
Ing activity or new era is suppressed
Ing the different methods of that
which IT has outgrown and displaced.
From scholarly Isolation into the
secthing activities of journalistic and
editorial career. with political Issues
ihNOiNeu' s SSueeu IL projected. .a OR
course. he makes mistakes but lie
profits by them. Best of ALL the
young woman whom he is destined to
love and MARI Is straightforward and
friendly enough to tell him a few
plain truths which improve his ac-
uuaintance with himself. as he stands
revealed TO those around and about
him. through his work
Little by little his vision enlarges.
Little by little his wall of self-defense
is broken down. More and more he il,
humanized through the opening out
of his mind and heart to hope. love
and desire to play brave mans
part in the struggle going on around
him.
His courage does not forsake him,
even when he learns beyond per-
adventure that a shadow, not of his
own making. has clouded his life from
its beginning. hc deals with the con-
sequences of Ill doing here. as he does
with his other problems. He squares
himself honestly, taking the cost fully
into account and counting self-sacri-
flee as matter of-course asset
Oneed could not by any stretch
of the Imagination be described as
humorous. but the book in which he is
!. placed is. the author having keen
insight and n ready wit to add spice
TO situations that might otherwise
make too strenuous a demand. Queed
could not be strictly considered as a