Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-31
BOOK REVIEWS.
THE ROAD OF LIVING MEN. BY Will

Lexington Comfort, author OF
''Routiedge Rides Alone" etc. Phila-
delphia: ]. II. Lippincott Company.
- o few things appear 70 prove worth
repeating that about the highest
praise a book, or play. or even
a person. can command Is that 1t
is worth reading again, seeing
again meeting again. Right here. with
The Road Of Living Men" in hand. TINS
i inst mo nraise one accords the novels
o. Will Lexington Comfort These, one
ara all renav second or even a third
readiuc And net. set up beside the rules
and regulations Of story making. these
novels are not ffawless. Sometimes they
sprawl like an overgrown boy not Yet
keen 10 his bodily combinations IT'S
first novel. "Routledge Rides Alone Is.
however. a notable exception. Here IS as
compact a piece of literary adjustment
Of means 10 end. ~ good an example %
structural economy and efficiency, as one
can find The new book Is not quite 50
marked in this respect Nor does one re-
read these novels for their love stories
Mr. Comforts wooings suggest those o.
pan.a Aliebieri Ills women are. as a
~ a. loot as Beatrice herself. II is
much an IN This new story. me WdIH
living passion OF a man tor woman. -
= woman for a man, thdt VIII !" - -
most noyelists concern thNhses
busily. is in the hands of TINS writer not
an much unapprehended as II Is neg
lected for an emotion "f another oluer.
II Mr. Comfort. then. be not every t.iiS
snug carpenter. ard i MS rove s.oiies
stand as chivaTous felndhces' Wia' =
the compelling quality of his work III
the first place one likes the fact that ms
stories are big. rather than neat. ohs
likes his idealism about women anu
af1traT re
sei, This NAV not be true. but one feeis
how much more beautiful men ana Worn
en- would he If it were true. Anu. VI
course ii is true. here ana thtIe' nov
and then Then. the books. all OF theili,
sra noetry. Not even Maurice Hewlett
car snread a more splendid tapestry
wnereon scene and incident. Nisloi, anu
dream pattern themselves IN rich ueslsh
and color And the poetry has content.
Omen M the words and phrases. Nltmh
them YOU will find stirring and proNoca-
tive thought, as well as beauty. 1hes
reveal a philosophy OF the mEsuc soi !,
also a tantaliZed and tantahzihS Propths
into the things that. as yet, ne just out
n reach This particular story IS OF q
piece with the rest. 1t Is about 9I'e "iNi
and the woman Because u IS NJ. ,oiii-
forts story this man and TINS woman
will not be confined in Kalamazoo or De-
troit but take China and America, ana
the lost valley of Tropicania, In South
America for their adventure Ana also
is high and fine and cool and clear All
along the WAYS of these farfarings are.
too. those other things that make thus
writer's romances ones OF such me ols-
enction.
SYLVIA; q Novel. BY Upton Sinclair
author of Loves Pilgrimage. etc
Philadelphia: The John {. Winston
Company.
Mr.. Sinclair turns this story end Tor
end, setting down as the first chapter
what I'm the usual order of novel-makins,
serves as the last one. Here climax steps
ahead OF the happenings that produced
81 effect crowds causes aside punishment
meets one at the door. leaving the crime
itself To trail explainingly in the rear:
. So. reading the first chapter OF sylvia,
one seizes the poignant purpose or the
whole. Here for a single moment ONLY
. one catches a glimpse OF blind Elaine. the
little daughter of Sylvia and the over
rfCh young wastrel whose gorgeous Wed
ding closes this romance. In this swift
: view there Is no hint of where the father
and mother OF this blind child are. save
! that they are not where she is. As the
Frenchman says IL, Elaine is the we'd
ding gift flung by the harlot into the in
nocent and ignorant young brides lap.
Having thus trenchantly introduced the
double theme of damaged goods ard
the hopeless ignorance TO which youth is
on to tell the story Of Sylvias girlhood.
her beauty and willfulness and charm.
her coquetries, her lovers, and finally her
great 90 marriage. Sylvia herself is
good deal OF triumph, because Mr.. Sin
clair has achieved her so completely from
her own standpoint Those Well out of
Sylvia shoes. to whom q very little of
girlish vanity and self-goriiication goes
a long way. will be likely To call Sylvia
an exaggeration, and 10 say that 4l3
pages are quite too many 10 devote to
So plain and Lnsubtle subject In
Vulnerable SylviaS. however Will bear
witness to this authors many-sided fidel-
fty In their portrayal II is just possible,
too, that some of these at least may pom
der 70 good effect the conditions that can
produce one ar another of the little
Elaines. sylvia" is undoubtedly the best
of Mr.. Sinclair novels. In theme il is
equal. if not superior in meaning and i'm
portance TO any hitherto used By him In
sympathy and penetration IL is broader
farther away from concerns of a personal
nature. In everything that contributes
purely to good storytelling il IS FAR and
away his best romance.
ALASKA; an Empire In the Making
BY John Underwood New York:
Dodd. Mead & co.
Bigness is the dominant no,e OF Alas
ka's scenery. Bigness is the dominant
note in the hearts and minds o. Alaska's
people It is a land Of big mona tains, big
rivers. big forests, big glaciers hig dis
;ances. big men. II is no cradle for the
puny nursing, for Alaslsa's WAY OF rear
ing her young is iueXorab.y crue! She
Kills and mains and drives 70 madness
the Weaklings who seek to oecome her
foster children. The death sting OF her
ferce blizzard strikes to the heart and
her iron cold cnills the brain She al
lows only the strongest the hravest the
httest to SURVIVE And with this KEY
note str sfng all around him. Mr. Under
wood writes his splendidly big and poetic
story OF Alaska: of the amazing face of
the land OF its moods and spells OF it's
opening resources, It's golden opportuni-
ties. It's people. It's animal life It's no I'M
certain promise Of future empire. The
book is elate. enthusiastic poetic
thing-af these, even when the author is
setting tortn painstaklngH The bare