The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-12-06

Miss Sidgwick' s novels have not as
yet figured in that singular combina-
ton of merit and trash known as the
: best Sellers and the reason is
plain. She does not deal in sex prob
lens, and the love interest is relegated
to Il position corresponding to its ac-
tual Importance in life. The interest.
and they are very interesting, centers T
about the interplay of national and /
racial temperament and characteristics /
English, Irish, French, Germans, Rus !
slams come into the drama at various
angles, even the minor characters add
ing a touch which is felt in the story.
In Promise and Succession. evidently
parts Of trilogy, the silent war of
the generations is superadded to the
reaction of racial temperament. Music
is heard in all of Miss Sidgwick 5
novels, but in Succession il is the main
theme. 1t is the story of the troubles
and development of genius in child
hood. The fact that the hero is but
/ is at the end of the book effeetually
bars the Glove theme. Promise and
Succession perhaps owe something to
! ROLAND 5 remarkable trilogy Jeau
| Christoph, but the point Of view is so
different, the line taken so opposite,
that the debt is immaterial. The life
of the young genius is very difficult
in this book just as ii is in life, but
while ROLAND takes the ''stOrm and
stress type of genius. the Wagner.
the Victor Hugo type, Miss Sidgwick
chooses the type Illustrated best per
haps by the name OF John Keats.
Keats, it viii be remembered, after
the failure OF Endymion. remarked TO
well meaning advisers that he had
written Independently without judy
ment but that he proposed to Vrite
independently with Judgment. So lit
tie Antoine in Succession, like Keats,
is immovable in essentials 1t Is him
self that he must express in his art,
not the ideas Of the generations which
have preceded him. The little boy :
world-grandfather uncle teachers
all are driving one way, and only the
spirit of genius in the child is un.
consciously standing for its own. The
vitality of the child Is all but spent
in the struggle; what the end is to be
we know not, but we do know that he
must be himself or die.
All of Miss Sidgwiek s stories touch
in one way or another the literary and
artistic circles of Paris and England
The differences are brought out-as
the scene is transferred from one
country to the other, the atmosphere
e changes. The method throughout /:
: . kinetic', to use Stevenson S phrase
> Very little is told US about the peopl,
! they say things and do things; w,
e are to form our own opinions. Their
. is no moralizing, no preaching, almos
q no criticism. This is miles away from
i the art of Thackeray and George
Eliot-another vehicle as the painter
D saw 1t is not necessarily better O
. worse, but it is different, and the dit
!, ference must be recognized if the
! stories are to lac enjoyed fully.
: Every Librarian must be glad t
place novels like Miss Sidwick 5 upol
his shelves. There are quantities o
{, things in life Just as important an,
Just as interesting as the sex relation
: and the preoccupation Of literatur
. with this relation has tended to foste
all manner Of distorted views. What
: ever may be the ultimate rank assign
ed to Miss Sidgwick S books there can
. be no gainsaying of the fine intelli
gence which shines through all o
them. They make traditions and view
points other than ours comprehensive
and in that way are far more educa
= tive than many books written with ;
distinct educational aim. They edu
cate the spirit, refine the perceptions
. deepen the intelligence.