The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-04-15
(Kansas City Star.)

ago, SO paralyzing to the attempts o
reason or imagination to fathom It
zeal causes and its probable conse
quences. that one 10 conscious Of q sub
tie feeling Of resentment and irritation
at the suggestion that 1t is. at THU
stage of Its development, theme to b.
dealt with In the form Of work q
fiction. however mastery the hand tina
attempts the task. -
1t seems like d PROCLAMATION, of som,
sort or another. that one should essa,
to weave It's cataclystnic horrors int
tales Of love and intrigue and supposi.
ftitious adventure: while one-half tht
world is at the BUSINESS OF manning Of
killing the other half and while famine
and desolation sit at the hearths Of
millions OF homes. The ordinary novel
list may well hesitate before he tries the
patie1sce OF serious readers by adven-
turing lightly into this field. But II
there is any writer now living who
might be deemed capable OF the tasl,
whose pen is bold enough and power
ful enough and earnest enough to win
respectful attention and serious read
ing for such a work Of fiction. at this
time-that man II surely H. G. Wells
For 1t must be admitted, even by those
who approach his theories with doubt
and suspicion. that his motives are
honest and sincere. his viewpoints large
and luminous and his literary tech
nique compellingly attractive.
Mr.. Wells novels are not merely nov
els--the are Wellsian sociological,
philosophical and economical theses.
Whether in mr.. Brittling Sees 1t
Through" (now issued in book form by
the Macmillan company-it ran as a
serial in Colliers) Mr.. Wells has &C.
complished the great novel iof the war.
the reader IL convinced, as. he reads
the book, that he had no such purpose
in view In. Writing the book. Magically
adroit and artistic though his style and
verbal settings may be. these things are
all forgotten In the residual feeling
that here in a. book whose purposes are
deeply interfussd with the primal ele-
ments of human life ana human well
fare. 1t Is not a book written by an
Englishman for Englishmen. There is
no national love or national hatred in
1t. It Is not less bitter upon the faults
OF England than upon the faults of Ger
many or the faults Of Russia. Nation
alism is swept aside, and MI. Brittling
sits down in equal sympathy with the
German and the French and the Rus
sian and the English and the Serbian
and the Belgian fathers and mothers
whose sons have been killing each 9TH
er. to think this terrific horror all out
and to find out. If possible, why such
things must be in this day and gen.
Grafton and to inquire seriously what
balm may be in Gilead, or else
where. for all this suffering.
With a naked soul. hiding no thought
that may bear upon the subject, Mr.
Britling, the intellectual, advanced
thinking Englishman. sits down to
think 1t all QUITO see 1t through, as
far as 1t is humanity possible to see it
through, and as the reader follows his
excursions Of thought from the hockey
fields Of Matching's Easy to the knees
of the god-captain of world wide de-
rnocracy, he loses sight of the fact
that he is perusing a work of fiction,
and feels himself, like Mr. Drifting,
staggered and appalled, by the vast
ness Of the problem presented. OF
course. neither the reader nor Mr.. Brit
Ting sees it NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. it isn't
through-yet.
The scene Is laid in Matching's Easy,
little country village in Essex. on the
modest estate OF Mr.. Brittling, a coun-
try gentleman philosopher. essayist and
rolemic politician--the average high
class, free-living, free-thinlking Eng
lishman. Matching's Easy is but AZ
miles of London, yet within its con-
fines there are some people who have
never set eyes on London-and do not
care to-" 70 the Dover House. the
home Of Mr.. Drifting. comes Mr. Di-
reck. an American, on his fist visit TO
England. with the purpose Of booking
Mr.. Drifting for a lecture tour in
America. MIR. Direck ia accepted In the
household Of Mr.. Drifting as an intel
lectual American. He finds Mr.. Brit
ling engaged in the outdoor occupation
OF breaking in new automobile AMI
the indoor occupation Of preparing a
magazine article upon the subject Of
the passing Of all wars-"And Now
War Ends" It was at the period
when the world was at peace and Sc
riously discussing war az an institution
Of the bygone ages Of barbarism. In
England there wasn't semblance Of
war cloud on the horison-except, Of
course. in Ireland--but 1t had got used
to seeing the clouds hover over that
turbulent portion OF the United King
dom. In the home Of Mr.. Britling,' Mr..
Direck meets Herr Heinrich, the Ger
man tutor Of Mr.. Britlings sons. an
eccentric. efficient. lovable type Of the
Teuton. addicted to the violin. a pet
squirrel. Esperanto. and to the habit
Of asking innumerable questions and
taking notes upon the strange customs
Of the Ensliih people There is also
Teddy" Mr.. .Brittling's secretary. a