New-York tribune., 1917-11-25

.<<IT IS always interesting" observes
the reviewer of books for "The
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle" "to have a
new book of Winston Churchills before
one. Mr.. Churchill is not by any means the
dean Of American letters as yet, or what
NAV be called an old novelist; but for
close to twenty-five years, nevertheless, he
has been inventing his romances, making
the appearance of each one more and more
of literary event. Other novelists," he
continues, may come-and go. Best sellers
may arise; new short story writers, leap
ing out of nothing, may get fabulous
prices. But Winston Churchill keeps on
steadily, methodically. Winston Churchill
in his writing is typically, thoroughly
American, not sectional; not sectional,
neither of North, South, West or East.
He deals with the whole people"
"The Dwelling Place of Light" is novel
about labor and love. 1t pictures contem-
porary phases of social unrest in small
New England manufacturing community;
and yet, for all the subject of labor consti-
tutes so salient part of the work, numer-
Gus reviewers have expressed the opinion
that this theme forms merely the back
ground, or that it is but theme sub
sidiary to the theme Of human frailty
where love and the multiple emotions con-
nected with love operate. This latter view
of the books structure is well presented
by The Tribune in the following para
graph;
"There appear at first TO be two cardinal
and coordinate problems in Mr.. ChurchilPs
powerful romance, but in the end we realize
that there is only one. The problem of the
relationship between labor and capital does
indeed figure very largely. In no work of
fiction taking it as its chief motive, have we
found it more masterfully dealt with. The
moving panorama-which is not merely a
living scene, but Also a keen and searching
analysis-of the Vaccinations of the /. W. w,
the great strike the Syndicalist agitation and
the eliminating tragedies, has never been
surpassed in American literature in vital
reality and convincing power. Yet, gigantic
as is this problem and masterful is the
authors statement of it, in the end 1t proves
to be nothing but a bit of side play, auxiliary
to the greater and older and more perplexing
problem of the control of humanity's sexual
passions
The reviewer quoted at the beginning of
this resume of opinion stated that 'as one
reads the romance seems all, and the study
of labor merely an ingenious. background"
an evidence of Mr.. Churchil's art. And
this idea, though not, indeed, identically
visualzed, is worked out by critic IN
"The Publishers Weekly" who calls it
a book good many reviewers are likely to
do unconscious injustice by laying empha-
sis in the wrong place. Because it deals
largely with the smoke and CRIME of facto-
ries, the influx Of foreigners, the activity
of suffragettes, specialists and the |. W.
w. they will assume that the main theme
of the story is the contemporary social un-
rest, Americanism in state Of fiux-in
short. new variation of the Melting Pot
idea" But in point of fact, the critic finds,
whether the author was aware of it or
not, all this was not theme, but back
ground"-a background which simply
serves "to illuminate and explain the char
acter and the tragic mistakes of the CEN
tral figure, Janet Bumpus."
"The Sioux City Tribune" which, by the