The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-13

Inc mystery and portrayal of the CLASH
between the East and the West. TIL,
story opens on the night of Walter Hurst
murder by treacherous Brahmist pries
and of his sons birth. David Hurst
physically weak and an n-English dream.
er, learns of his brothers disappointment,
| In him. and becomes misanthropic, almost
forgetful Of his youthful visions. Then
comes Prof. Heillig and Sarasvati, the
Brahmist priestess. to awaken him. He
finds love and the delight of active serv-
ice, but the East and the West can
not work together, and so voluntarily,
though still loving Hurst, Sarasvati goes
back to her people.
The scenes are laid in England and in
India with considerable detail The life
of Kobeuna with its mixture of Western
trivialities and Eastern tragedies Is SO
natural as to be homelike; the giimpses of
the Brahma mysteries are fascinating
The characters show the generous hand
OF the author; there is nothing moncto-
nous from the self-controlled Mrs. Hurst
or the diabolical Rama Pal to the philan-
thropic Mrs. Chicester who couldn't re-
member anything from one minute to an
other. The plot 10 uneven, but never
hating and a sense Of tragedy obsesses it,
The heroine. Sarasvati. does not domi-
nate the story as she should. or the
three chief characters Diana. an excellent
portrayal Of the English feminine type;
David, product Of heredity, environ
ment and IDEAS, and the heroine. Saras-
vati. the latter is exceedingly pleasing
but not prominent
Mysterious, appealing. heroic she is, and
we feel the spell of the East about her,
but she lacks the quality that should
to be shaken off easily. To Rama Pal she
is theatrical tool for revolutions: to
Diana she is a pitiable child in the wrong
climate: to David she is all in ali, but In
a human sense. This failure to trace the
influence of Sarasvati makes the motive
of the book-the conflict of the East and
the West-less clear Nevertheless the
book Is impressive. Conflicting ideals are
expressed wildly enough in Mr. Eliot and
Rama Pal to set the reader to thinking
THE FLIRT: By Booth burlington. New York
Doubleday. Page Co.
In THE Flirt.Y Mr.. Harrington has
sought to unite the airy grace Of Mon
sieur Beaucaire" with the Hoosier home
Illness OF THE Gentleman from Indiana"
two Of his best known former novels His
object apparently Is to analyze the char
acter Of a scheming cold hlooded, insin-
cere young woman as we'll as to tell a
story and to make life seem both real
and fantastic, the result being an extraor-
binary mix-up of the realistic and the
Unfortunately the two styles |
are so mingled that the story, it's scenes,
and it's characters, are farcicaL We are
asked to believe in the plausibility of a
series Of events that are incredible in /
and are offered to us as some
hing that We should believe in. Valentine |
Corliss with his scheme for extracting |
wealth from his fellow tpwnsmen to !
whom he has returned after years of alb !
,ence does not hoodwink the reader any |
nors than he could have deceived the |
victims picked out for him. Cora Madi- |
son. Richard Lndley, Ray Villas. Laura |
Wade Tumble, and most Of /
all the preposterous Hedrick Madison |
are puppets, and the author has been
too breathlessly at the pulling !
Of their strings.
THE PENALTY: By Gouvcneur Morris. Illus
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