New-York tribune., 1918-02-24
"The I. p. rail- A Book
of Rapid Thrills
1t Describes the Building Of the Union Pachc-The
Theme Is Pronounced Truly Epic, Dut Zane Grey Is
Also Accused of Writing Kind of Dime Novel


! Pacific and sent traffic forth on the rail.
tEsat they rad laid with such ;rauou; erer '
ton Hill stahd out be > true rrf fcanees
Yet this paper Gals the book "a trulv
American story and one tnat "canpat
fail to awaken 4 thrill Of pride in tho
achievement along with the interest in tbe
characters" Other reviews also attes,
the books interest-compeling power
"The Baltimore News, for example. aft,
admitting that zone reads Zane Grey fg
the fine thrill Of his stories. The hair
breadth escapes Of his heroes, their splen.
did vitality" and for the sDel of q rim.
ping tale, well told" goes o. TO say that
in addition to these assets. which are
abundantly to be encountered in The L
P Trail there is also light thrown on
the obstacles overcome in the running Of
q railroad through uabroken W derness
across the plains, over, under or around
mountains that bar The way. One seas
the life Of the frontier towns" the re.
viewer continues. "built as that sort Of
civilization follows the pioneers, the dance
hail. the orgy of the drunken 3esperadoes.
the greed for gold, the gambling hell all
Of which combine ito give d vivid back
ground for a story of adventure that GREY
always handles skilfully"
4 ND yet, to a good many reviewers this
"A fine thrill seems to achieve rather
an over-abundance Of attention at The
hands of writer as prolific in the depart
ment Of melodrama as the redoubtable
Cooper Of Old
after the first chapter" observes a
writer in "The New York Evening Globe
consisting of a single sentence of twenty,
seven lines, and which must be regarded
as only the opening trumpet blast of the
great Aida procession. everybody is of
and the excitement begins"
In "The New York World" one finds a
succnct delineation of the leading human
characteristics:
Its hero is young engineer. Warren
Neale, who has forced place Tor himself in
the construction outfit and who has an
abundance of romance and perilous adventure
on the side while making his place con.
stantly bigger. Neale is big chap. strong
handsome, daring and capable. Men seek
and hold his friendship. The CAV women Of
the camps and the dance halls would be his
willing attendants. But from ver,y early IN
the chapters there IS only one girl for whom
ne has mind and heart. and that is Allie
Lee, whom he finds miraculousy alive and
safe in the wreckage of caravan raided by
Sioux Indians.
Savage redmen do some of tleir wors,
deeds in Mr.. Grey's book Savage white men
are little behind them in their quick and
murderous RACES. But amid scenes Of Wild,
est excitement move the cool, suave. black,
coated gamblers Of frontier tradition,
the more deadly dangerous the more frozen
and eXpressionless OF face
Yes, it is work which, this same re.
viewer admits, presents ''the best and the
most lurid qualities OF the dime novel Of
old But this qualification, it is sug-
gested, ought to be borne in mind:
ut is story faithful to the times and
places with which it deals. It is story OF
the days when men lived the dime novel life
IN our own great Vest when thov worked
like demons by day and lo5 Of them played
Ike demons by night Such q narrative
cannot be set forth truly without red lights
and gambling hells and gunplav and all the
spectacular accomplishments. Mir Grey has
equipped his tale accordingly. If anybody
likes better his earlier books. with desert
breezes IN place Of the hot breath Of the Ay-
by-night city Of the pulsing trail. that is a
matter Of anybodys personal taste and not
of our novelist's accomplishments
But "The Syracuse Post-Standardp isn't
quite willing to excuse all the eun-thrills
on the basis outlined above. It writes:
'Here is epic theme indeed as epic as
those around which Frank Norris wrote his
great novels. Nh Grey does not fail in un-
derstanding their epic nature, but he has
mind for adventure, not for massive achieve
ment The scope of the Undertaking does
not impress him as does the daring and the
suffering OF the Individual He sees with the
eye of a modern Fenimore Cooper. not Of
Hamlin Garland.
"Mr. Grey has told ripping story Of love
and fighting, Of hairbreadth escapes and
heroic rescues. The ore fault with it is the
amazing rapidity Of amazing adventures The
Girl leaps over catastrophal chasms to peaks
OF safety with chamois agility that reminds
one at times OF Bertha. the Sewing Machine
Girl and her sisters of the 1o-a0-so melo-
drama. Mr.. Grey should learn some IT,
serve