Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-26

- - ORE than twenty years ago
IN III Mr.. Phillpotts drew the plans
IN" for .rW1decombe Fair" This
1Vl was not designed TO be
story but rather the begin
ming of many stories whose courses and
conclusions would run far beyond the
borders of any single book. The direct
aim OF the enterprise was to gather an
entire village into a single view; to weave
a harmony out of the single and sep
arate melodies of its age. and middle
life and youth Finished. it is offered
as a modest comedy of Dartmoor.
This comedy has no overlapping hero or
heroine to hold 1t together and move II
forward Instead, a rhythmic procession
of villagers does this Each one ad-
vancss In his own proper person. busy
about his own affairs-and. quite In VII
lage fashion, about those of everybody
else-each absorbed in his own way OF
looking at things; all. sociable and talka-
tive. Humor is the keynote OF this
drama of the countryside-the fine humor
that, with kindly hand. draws out the
real self and sets it, with a smiling in
diligence. in the place of that which one
fondly imagines himself to be. What
amazes one here is the completeness with
which the author hands himself over 10
the reader. giving his own eyes and ears,
his own droll amusement at the speclai
oddity of one or another of these folkS,
his perfect touch with all of them A
balanced and all-round realism, made
perfectly communicable. sets one down.
IN effect, in the very heart of these nome
" doifes of Dartmoor. The landscape
round about the River Dart is here. as 1t
is in all of Mr.. Phillpotts' books. as self
conscious as are the people themselves
as absorbed in its own processes as they,
as full of purpose and meaning. The
critics appear to have complained of TINS
habit and to have reproached the author
with making scenery as important as
people, with delaying action in an elaD-
Grafton of the theater of action To TINS
Mr.. Phillpotts quietly says, IF ! deem
a forest or river. a wild space. hilltop.
or the changing apparitions of inanimate
nature as vital as the adventures OF men
and women, and as much part OF the
material which / handle, then to these
things must be apportioned the signif-
canoe / desire for them. IL i choose to
make a river protagonist, or lift for
est, in its unknowable attributes. into
man beings who move within it, none has
the right to deny me-" Certainly those
who love Mr.. Phillpotts' books love them,
in large measure. for the very thing
which the critic lamentS.
THE NEST. BY Anne Douglas Sedg-
wick. author of "Tante." etc. New
York: The Century Company.
The five short stories of this volume
hobnob together in common exposure
of one or another of the frailties that
are assumed to flaw the feminine nature.
The first one hinges upon a woman's
vanity. So do two of the others. One on
her stark, staring stupidity upon occasion.
And one upon her incorrig1ble lack of
COZ rC- CT int cn1ty int -
ing stories, despite their drab shading
of theme Miss Sedgwick is. in all cases.
an expert and finished craftsman. She
is. likewise, a keen psychologist And
here with deft precision she lifts the dis
sembling mask of look and word and act.
TO show beneath the cunningly concealed
reality of feeling, thought. motive. The
situations are of the simplest, just enough
of drama TO frame the exposure, to set
1t out. to carry II across. The studies of
women are profoundly penetrating, reach |
ing to some OF the most significant ele-
ments of their nature. In every case
womans love for a man, woman's |
ravening love for another woman, her
love for herself. her love of love. A |
group of remarkable short stories
THE STORY OF STEPHEN COMP
tons 4 Novel. By j. E. Patterson,
author of ''Tillers of the Soil" ETC. |
New York: George III. Doran Com |
pany-
At the start, a newsboy. AT the finish,
prime minister. And in between, a steady
hand-over-hand ascent. through an
espousal of the workingmans cause in a
north Of England manufacturing borough
This is the life story of Stephen Compton
who achieved parliament by way of the
much modified socialism that is at pres
ent expressed in the aims and name of
the English labor party. The author en-
dows this youthful reformer with enough
OF fault and general bumptiousness TO
keep him we'll within the pale of recogni-
ton a. human being. He. moreover
proportions the ups and downs of his
career 10 the measure OF veritable
chronicle rather than to that of pure in
vention- A reader looking for romantic
adventure sustained throughout by perils
and escapes will not set high store by the
history OF this hero One, on the other
hand. who counts that fiction best worth
while that keeps fair company with life
with people and conditions pretty much
as they essentially are-will follow this
unpretentious portrayal of character set
about by modern English life in it's politi-
cal and social phases with undated salts
faction and pleasure.
Trites. author Of John Cave" New
York: Dutfield & Co.
1t is what the author does with the
material in hand that makes this novel
notable one. The material itself I'M
mistakably of the United States brand
is conventional. even somewhat stale
The grocery clerk grown millionaire
Is but variant Of the canal driver on
the towpath and the woodchopper on
the frontier become President The
shop girl of an indescribable moon
like beauty turned to actress of sur
passing power is a theme that is worn
TO the warp. Neither, upon the sur
face. offers the glimmer OF a chance
for originality. Nevertheless, the au-
thor does. with this overworn stuff
make a fresh revelation of certain
things about as they are. This he
does by subordinating action to char
acter, and character to the secret de-