The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-07

uus uu bOt BVt ~ AhS sun
tlety, his psychology. his nuances, his
Infinite shadings n careful grades
Of meaning left the mass Of the pub
lie uninstructed. 1t Is even a question
whether 1t Is yer really a part Of the
genius Of the English language to sub
init to such i%nvolutions and complica-
tons OF structure.
Mr.. Howells. who commenced au-
thor side by side with Henry James. has
achieved a very different distinction.
The style is subordinated to matter.
Its beauty Is the beauty OF great SIM
plicity. utter sincerity of purpose vet
IL shows always tho master hand in
the keen, patient observation OF life
as the master saw 1t: II shows the
quietude. the humor of the reflective,
p%erceiving mind behind its matter.
The present volume might possibly
he called a volume Of short stories.
Indeed there are stories in 1t. But
taking the volume by and large. they
are not stories in the usual sense
There is non Of the mechanical struc-
ture OF the usual modern magazine
tale. Once or twice in The Critical
Bookstore" for example. n feels
strongly that the denouement is a
mere convention. hauled In by the hair
Of its head as an a~fterthought. Per-
haps the time will come when any
vivid truthful picture of life will
be called a story. whether 1t begins
with a complication. has a climax Of
difficulty and compleNity. with a catas-
trophe, good or evil. to point the out
come or not. 1t Is easy to look back
to the time when Walkley firmly de-
clared hat Bernard Shaw did not
write plays: discussions. one might
call them: treatises, anything. but
not plays. That was some W decades
age. We all know now that Shaw
writes plays. and most wonderfully
constructed plays. Perhaps the time
will come when we shall all know that
Mr.. Howells's sketches are stories.
Had the phrase not been so hopeless sly
distorted by the journalists one might
now call them SLICES ont of life" This
IL indeed just what they are. Here
is a great hearted. keen eyed gentle
a the spectator Of life. He looks
on at all that goes forward under his
observation with a half humorous. toll
Grant smile and then he sets II down
before you. The chief JOY TO he de-
rived from reading these hits Of life
Is not a startling surprise. No: It
is the pleasure Of feeling. II have been
there: I saw that. I though. that very
thought NJ that very spot: why did
IL never occur TO me to clothe IL IN
words n description; to maintain
the fieeting moments existence by set
ting II down on paper"
There are nineteen pieces In this
volume. Whoever has visited a GER
tain great storage house in Forty
second street bearing the nane OF n
famous President v.ill recognize the
spot whe.e the Daughter of Storage's
parents Aept their household goods
whenever :hey broke mp housekeeping
to 60 abroad. n they will see at
once the Woman's Exchange not
many corners distant. where Peter
begged the daughter to lunch with
him. II is neither a romantic nor an
artistic spot-those long empty corri-
doris with rows of electric lights: the
dustless. sweet smelling s~paciousnc~s
OF the flreproof rooms whore New York
ers store their furniture. Yet one can
ina CINE the creative genius wandering
l~istless through these corridors. ac-
DttiBh AhS VI M'lllth 81 v
wholly occupied n leaving in or takiu.
out. Immediately seeing i; as the right
spot for romance. for young love to
blossom. So did Mr.. Hnwel's. Ru' he
endowed his heroine with the temporal
n,ent Of delicate indecision and then
played humorousiy with tho lovelincss
OF a questioning conscience and ex-
ouis!te. hesiiat.ns ~reticence.
The resentment gives one Of
those strange and verac!ous instances
Of forebodirC gone astray. one has
the presen;imont indeed OF loss and
sorrow and Yet 1t is never the t,S- =
one is looking for hat jumps from the
jungle.
The Return 20 Favor "Somc-
body's Mother and A Experience
are the meres; outlines Of humorous
incidents htA Oh. so keen, perceived,
The Boarders" - WALSH 10 TN" final
degree. We too have soon them,
though not - 'cudcrt, these cheap,
inefficient, s"idid pc"pi'. The tili-
ca, Bookstore" : both q d",i.Gt aud a
disappointment, If tlrIo y nnHN Cr' r
living who tHS not uud"I- I'i the
~rlCm' Il ON ia, ul"A,r- Ni-t su,l
q charm ne shoe wi.rc "a, literature,
all ;hc n,d and he b.s,. tp-,'hrr with
a d~,S'rat,i, selected t,muGui uf ,lr
TOW hooks should dwell side 10 s.Jc.
waiting FOR tho word &, he educated?
Mr., lInWclls tx cruo. enough to -guW
tir critica, hookshor 80 n !inHu,ai
failure. and IL j. acre that romantic
consolation In tho form of u lady who
could not hold her muuth shut Is
c...-1 go. .s.- -, IT I--Ia - ..,tH.