Evening star., 1912-11-09
BOOK REVIEWS.
CATEw.ys TO LITERATURE; and

GATEwAys TO LITERATURE RE; and
other ESSAYS. BY Brander MAI
thews member of the American
Academy of Arts and Letters. author
of The Development of the Drama.
etc New York: Charles Scrlbner
Sons Washington: Brentanos.
~HIS volume breaks in two IT 'he
middle. Here the author leaves
a general discussion Of the vari-
ous approaches to literature to
take up a critical study of GER
tain writer's. Between these TWO parts
there iss an interesting analysis, shor
and pointed. of the comparative uses OF
literary criticism and book reVle"ln
These. set side by side. reveal sharp dll
ferences of purpose and feature. for IN
stance literary criticism as 1t Is eSeHiph-
fed In, say Sainte-Beuve, or Arnoio' oi
Lowell is a branch of literature, "niie
book reviewing is department OF Joui
naIism One deals in large part WIN tue
finished I'm writing, the other with .he
passing. One is looking for the pest .ne
other for the news about BOOKS. ohe ue-
yeIops by established standards ana laws
The other moves by flexible comparisons
of the book in hand with this, tnat OF tue
other one among its fellows. Out OF liiis
contrast Mr., Matthews defines the 'asn
cf the reviewer as one tnat IronlS' ~.
upou authors, but upon readers Inc ie-
viewer is neither an tndu1sltor nor d
missioner to authors Rather for MN "
chow readers what the book market mas
1rnon its shelves, telling about THESE ooohs
with what of knowledge and literary acu-
mon. what of penetration and sympathy
no has been able to gather for this rela-
4g,aIv humble task. While the oook re-
viewer is most damned for fool, shil
or a fraud Mr.. Matthews, 10 tne .on
trary. has hopes for hlm tnihhs niili ~ ~,
80 iban he used to be- feels him enough
worth while to give him the peneut VI
this admirable and much needed ulscuse
sion. All the essays of this volume are VI
a niece with this authors pupilcatlois
ono feels their substance Ihey are Oh
the sort that one recommends to the stu
dent of literature for painstaklng tho,-
onghness of exposition. for schoiaIship
and. breadth. saving nothing at al aoou. a,.
his wish that Mr.. Matthew's Woulu ny
sometimes-since he can fiy-and not al
WAYS walk in the decorum of professor
Ships
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN. by
Pierre Lott and Judith Gaut1ef.
Translated by Ruth Helen Davis.
New York: Duffield q Co.
The Daughter of Heaven" is undoupt-
..1Iv an amazing something to see and, In
Darts n noble and poetic thing to near.
Readiny one emissions the play as pro-
crossing toward It's inevitable tragedy
loss through a series of actions tnan
,brauyb a succession of brilliant scenes
IN. gorgeous pageantry of court cere-
,ropia1 the red tumult of battle, the
mounting flames of the funeral pyre-
caupled with the illuminations of exalted
,nonolopue For the purposes or tnlS
drama the authors have gathered up one
Of the iunumerable rebellions that, mere
and there in the near or remote qual. l.ei
of China. mark. continually, the resist
ance OF the ancient Ming dynasty u
Mauchu rule. The progressive young
emperor himself. dreaming OF united
and enlightened China, is the hero OF u
pIay and the embodiment OF the modern
spirit The Daughter of Heaven is the
empress of the Mings. vowed to the ex-
termination of her people ana 10 SELF
obstruction before submission. sealed to
.he past against the present Despite
its thread of modernity the tragedy is
heathenly splendid conception whose
spirit faces upon the yesterdays OF the
drama rather than upon it's tomorroWs.
sNyANTED:- and Other stories. BY
James Otis, author of "Toby Tyler"
etc Illustrated. New York: Harper
e Bros.
James Otis little stories suggest cure
for -he dreariness that affiicts much the
larger part OF our realistic fiction. To
effect the cure, let the authors of this
school pack up their writing stuff, aban-
don the adults and move over to chill
dreE, making them the subject of their
rigid scrutiny and literal repo I. In this
fc q the most-Sharpened-off-to- point
re list of them all, being as utterly vera
cious as in him lies, viii. find his narra-
tiyes coming out as stories of romance
and adventure. Just under the coat, or
II hat does duty as coat of his newsboy,
az boutblack or stodgy pupil coming
dul lesson. he will. most Likely. come
upon prince, certainly upon pi ate.
and without fail upon whole companies
- soldiers and sailors, 10 say nothing
Of tne swarmS of fanciful creatures
whose names We have well-nigh for
gotten. The stories in hand are as literal
a. any ever executed by Mrs. Whar' on,
David Graham Phil ips or Theodore
I'-eiee They are much more cheerful.
But Mr.. Otis was shrewd enough TO
choose ii set OF boys To write about and
so the realism took care of itself with
OUT d mage 10 the story.
ONCE UPON 4 TINE TALES. BY Mary
s ewart. author of Tell Me a True
story" Introduction by Henry Van
Dyke. Illus rated by Griselda NJ.
Mcclure. New York: Fleming III.
Il you are lucky enough TO have chill
5ren. either in your own proper person Oh
by some makeshift OF parentage such as
teacherhood or aunthood supplies, you
wili sit down of an evening to take d
took at these "Once Upon Time Tales >
This you have learned to do out of many
belated and disturbing reminders that the
gay procession of juvenile books will beal
watching. despite its uniformly open and
innocent behavior The first of the tales
tells only what the others are to b,
about. Having one more five minutes tt
spare. you viii read the second one. Anc
then another, and the next. The allotted
Eve minutes viii steal out with no dis
turhing adieu. And the tales, one aftei
another. will bow themselves in 80 en-
sagfngly and time their leave so patty I,
your instant OF keenest enjoyment that
before you are aware the whole compan,