New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-11
RODMoOB

.o,vcoH BY JON cc~Der rOvy. limo 70.
20 q. Arnold s1Ae'
A., Powys's frst novel, Wood and
60 Was an interesting, brilliant
-,,,ure. Il had literary quality Of a
,ish order; Il gave evidence of an in
.,S;csnes and q temperament Vlvidly
.I,e1vant Of life and character and
s.v.e'v responsive 20 their manifesta-
go. II had a purpose which, IN the
ss.S-slonment, never stepped out Of the
S.rinion Of fction--a philosophy OF
En- abort, 10 was and remains 1T
.-s,nre. q significant contribution 70
,is action Of the period.
- now we have a second novel
- Mr.. Powys's pen. Its craftsman
-, IA As high as is that OF Wood and
go" The authors consummate mas
~. ~ his plot and characters is even
80 notable. since here he has chosen
nv. ...sr unon a far more difficult field,
~, re anal impression is one OF
doubt III, ..o,,.l .hose
-. the story is psychopathic
49, lis scene ehills-the Eng
80 -. ~ the North Sea, most melan-
vi, NV ,brouded and threatening Of all
~ o,sans Rodmoor has lived under
~ w .rssbipg. clouded skies, has listened
:. he ominous swish and boom of its
.Sioss tides for centuries. Its grim
-, RS entered It's homes, its blood
"a mains and heart The local physi-
80 newcomer. combats the depress-
49, environment with endless abluuons
'-.bef.selves, in many cases, an early
,rshopsthic symptom. The clergy
~ fnds refuge in his faith.
Sane time ago Mr.. Powys puohsheo
M, Of a hundred best books-the
Sooks. that is, which he himself pre-
i.,, We DO not remember whether
sVu,hering Heights" was among them,
-. a certainly should be, for its ON
',,rs atmosphere places "Rodmoor" be,
- Emily Bronte's gloomy, powerful
,nvsl ONLY. We have grown too sophis-
LTD for that sort Of thing. We can
III abandon ourselves 70 the creepy
,,sn hut only IN books Of an earlier
,s,iod written By authors whose view
roirt whose inspiration was unham-
,sre5 by the qualifications which MOD
fyr s,ience imposes. We can still read
,rsb tales. but We can no longer write
them with effect.
TIE eral impression Of "Rodmoor" is
ave ~ rrelodrama. Of the authors hano
c,ising in the denouemept the hand ~
a. The hero, Sorio, an American
tvbrid Of some sort" emerges from a
-,6touse In this country only TO fall
back into homicidal mania on the coast
NJ the North Sea. He preaches
PHILOSOPHY q destruction as the me
~ escape from ourselves Destruction
NJ others illusions and happiness, de-
struction Of self His antagonist, the
souire Of the village, a Tnorose glaht
vitb an asymmetrical head. soberly as
eusses with his degenerate sister-the
mind Of q man in the body OF WomSh
which Of them viii finally muro"r
their widowed mother. This sister eX-
rsriments with love and pssslon-witn
hs main and the suffering Of 1t, with
he iealousv OF others. She in the end
becomes the victim Of her own uncon-
trolled and uncomfortable neurosis..
The victims are women-the mother
~ his pair. who all her life had been
,bs victim Of their father as well; the
ia maid. returning 20 Rodmoor Win
tho desire for revenge upon the daugh-
,sr Of the woman who had married the
nan she loved: and, finally, the hero
jne. A loving woman 10 whom love be
comes torture, in the person OF her
lover and Of the sister who IS the
squire's victim. a..
.ster The environment impresses one
isr more than do the sorry, doomed
creatures who live-and die-under IT'S
nall Those who have lived on the
shores Of the North Sea. not in its pale
sumner months, but through its bitter
seasons. will find IL swishing and boom