The sun., 1918-10-06

books III contact with lively soul.
The Illusionists
For our part we have no confidence in the ability
of any number of HowELLsEs or BoYNToNs or Fol.
LETS to improve American literature; we have GER
tainly confidence in our own ability to do so we
have never attempted to improve American litera-
ture and we never shall; We do not believe the
Bookman can do it. We observe many strange and
mysterious attempts to effect such an improvement;
Reedy's Mirror says many intelligent things, but
the improvement of American literature by maya
zine which considers cit 'ry'' a humorous effect
seems to us most unlikely. The improvement of
American literature by the NeW Republic, even,
seems to us unlikely. And when mention is made
of a Z" body of criticism in this country, which
will place American writing in its true relation to
the real things Of literature" We are just dense
enough 10 wish that the speaker had, told us what
the real things of literature are. Our own belief
is that the real things Of literature are exactly
identifable with the real things of life and if we
are asked to say what the real things of life are
We shall answer that they the things that seem
most real to the largest number Of people Literary
art is not one Of them.
A Misadventure of Human Reason.
a NUT-CRACKER started on a walk over the
n earth seeking problems to solve-"nuts to
crack as SOCRATES, the sublime hobo of Athens,
first put it.
Losing the Road, he came - a Forest decorated
far as the eye could see with japanese lanterns
of magic hues and diaphanous textures.
1t was the wedding night of OBERoN and
TITANIA, the King ard Queen of the Fairies.
The Nut Cracker, being purely reasonable
being, one who believed that two and two make four
under all circumstances, was taken aback Fairies
were inconceivable, unnatural, against Professor
CIPHER s Law of Immutable Facts.
well, it doesn't Tease me" said the Nut
Cracker. 81 can solve this problem. 1t s phan-
tasmorama, this fairy spectacle, invented by my
digestive apparatus to deceive my,eye and brain.
must really quit eating cucumbers'
Nluttering the which to himself, he bounced upon
tiny fairy lady hurrying across willow leaf.
She was dressed prismatically with slippers made
out of tiny frefies and on her head rested tiara
of glttering molecules sifted from the moonlight
found in the mountain lakes near her home.
The Nut-Cracker grasped the beautiful being
around the waist placed his great nippers over the
heart of the bridesmaid of Queen T1TANIA-for such
she was-which shimmered like piece of red coral
through her body of prisms.
He had cracked many hard nut that way. All!
this time he would abolish forever that humbus
about fairies.
But his pincers closed on nothing, and as he
was hurled to the ground by his tremendous effort
against a vacuum, he heard little laugh musical
ironic, like singing, quiet lightning
1t came from the bridesmaid of TITANIA, who
still few from leaf to leaf.
'Well, F" said the Nut-Cracker scrambling to his
feet, nothing like that has happened to me since
my famous battle with Feminine Intuition There
must be something wrong somewhere in that theory
of Doc CYPHERs.,'
And the NutCracker laid him down on a hard
board that night and dreamed strange dreams of a
strange land called the Imagination, where his two
Feminine Intuition and Fairy
Bridesmaid, waltzed on his skull.
Some New and Some Not Very Old Books
WE have vowed never to make another list of
w "the best'' or ''the Indispensable books
war books, novels, nor any other species Memory
is too fallible, sins of omission are sure and un