New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-23
SOULS RESURGENT.


,,rts RrsrRCrNr Ry Mario. liar. HaHiitSo Car
= ,.sc. ~. te- Charles Scriener' sons
o..,sonallv. AZ intervals that are
200 long. there rises from the un-
,..;,yuished and undistinguishable
-, 81 current American fiction,
-, ,re,tv. superf cial. a realist Of
.,-.ie,al gifts and greater promise,
~s,o5ore Dresser was the first Of them.
-. s,,. hook sister Carrie remains
- ,es.erniece. never surpassed by
= ,ever egualled. stephen WHIT
- @prcdestined" was another first
- 20 rejoice over. but Mr.. Whit
-, has abandoned the hard path for
-, sbsdier. easier avenues OF TO-
-.r.ie.sm. And now We have, from an
,-.-;csn woman. a study OF Far West
- lie in the raw which holds the
,.,r,lirr. The tonic relation 10 the
,,..tv. adventurous. chivalrous tales
- ,hs region which the bitter, frank
su,rss with the Green Shutters" held
4, i,s dsy toward the saccharinities
- ,ls forgotten Ksilyard school.
This is not he first time that the
..,si,ior OF the life Of the pioneer West
80 been ruthlessiy shorn OF its false
-,,.,ee. reported IN all its nakedness
~ hardship. monotony and grinding
,,hor. but "SoLls Resurgent" does not
-,-elv depict and expose the rough
,v-fsces. Il enters deeply into a con-
,,ss-atior OF the interaction Of char
,,,s- and environment, il traces the
..,rpest bv the wilderness OF its con-
rrsrors-the price paid by those who,
= tanning IL. sacrifice so much Of them
,s'ves and OF the first generation that
comes after them. The peace that fol-
iov, this conquest is a compromise III
vbi,h surrerde count heavily. The
Units are for those who come after.
Jobn Feruseth has turned a Wiscon
an wilderness into q ranch. the most
r-osperous ranch in the region. In
he process he has sacrificed his wife,
tsr rrettiness. her spOnsiole good
Auror A Puritan. he has "lost God
~ the struggle, but from II he has
emerged with an ideal on earth--a
vague Tolstoyan theory of the soil as
me oHlv source of human contentment
and haruiuess His ranch must be-
come the nucleus OF a sort of Amer
s,r mir. and his eldest daughter must
complete what he hss begun. he has
ssrt her Fast 20 be educated: he leaves
:; his death p son, uncouth, un-
trained. a weakling morally though a
good rancaman, and another daughter,
lnere ch.ld. 1nkempt, ignorant yet pre-
eoc,ouslv knowing. familiar with many
hing, f~o-- which childhood should
b sereened-a familiarity, for in
stance. with drunkenness which has
become more than acceptance. Il IS
recognition o. the males right 70 MS
habit OF periodical intemperance. Man
as-s are unknown on the ranch. rs
domestic habits are unspeakable. But
rs Affairs flourish.
Into this environment comes the
daughter. fresh from ten years OF pre-
rsra.ory school and college IN the East,
trained 20 its amenities, TO all the
reserves and the regards OF sheltered
rir.hood. Under her fathers Will she
becomes the head O. the family, the
gua-dia0 OF her nineteen year-oid
brother and her untutored little sister;
ire chief. also. Of the three ranch
fariS. Her mother. unstable IS water,
5oe, not count; her resentmcnts arc
--,srrsittent. like the reconciliations
fs covets and welcomes. Yet the
mother is the real victim Of the con
sses.. the victim OF an idealistic
,tsorv. also. like that other, historic
wife. I'm different sphere and on a
different cultural level, in a Russian
country house. .,,...--
Ire girl accepts the responsibilities
linus. upon her, appalled, by their
vs.qit. Her beauty, her dress, her
manners. her fastidiousness, al! that
se-s her apart from the primitiveness
o. the ranch life, IS admired, yet re-
ssnted: her insistence upon her right
- rrivacv. even from her mother and
sister. most o. all. Her mere presence
AZ the table. where family and hands
al take the.r meals together, produces
eons.rairt. Through a long winter IN
,Ypressibly monotouous and depress-
;rr. she becomes increasingly con
vi5ces % her failure. and then-sne
Discover that she is winning, slowly,
rradually; that admiration has won the
ssy over resentment, that the superior
standards OF manners. Of point OF view
o. honor which are hers are making
themselves felt. And in the oawning