Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-13
Reviews of New Books

Opposite them is the hero. a young
business deal. If. now and then. the
| author grants to this hero powers
| that point to the Superman. 1t must
| be conceded that the situation itself
| warrants such liberal endowment So,
| the reader accepts him just as he is
| and follows his lead in an absorbed
| zeal for his ultimate triumph. A love
story of plausible content contrib
| utes to the more robust nature Of the
adventure. The whole Is a finely fresh
and enjoyable invention.
RED FRIDAY. By George Kibbe Tur-
ner author Of THE Last Christian
etc Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
To met his purpose here this author
constructs a society-a fully de-
veloped unit Of political control. Such
samples of bolshevism as the world
a large appears to have collected out
of it's under layers of unrest form
the basic material of the structure.
general conditions of life that hold
in the United States, rounds out the
political theory of bolshevism and re-
duces it, besides, to daily practice.
The whole is Cast in story form. It
is. moreover, projected into a future
the corrective tests of perspective.
Bolshevism is. as yet, fluid term,
filling out now this. now that. OF half
formed underdone political notion
world. This writer has. however, put
into concrete drama the outstanding
claims and easily recognized methods
Of the bolsheviki. The purpose of
the novel is to show some of the
things that would come to pass in
the United States if the country were
suddenly to turn MANIAC and embrace
bolshevism In detail the story
group of constitutional trouble-mak-
ers seeks to overthrow capitalism and
to pass the United States over into
the possession of the bolsheviki Both
lesson and warning give purpose to
an invention that is ingenious and
forceful.
THE MYSTERY KEEPERS. BY Ma
rian Fox. author of THE Bountiful
Hour" etc. New York: John Lane
Company.
The worth of mystery tale lies
in the skill with which its author is
able to excite and sustain the readers
curiosity without satisfying that Curl
osity till the exact moment when
further delay tends to feebleness and
futility. When the mystery is ripe it
must be gathered. Such appears to
have been, at least, the theory of the
work of the story is the working out.
generation by generation, Of the
equivalent of the ancient and COM
mon curse upon children, and chill
lish. Violent and sudden desth-time
and place and circumstance all fore
told-constitutes the source of the
action. The unraveling Of the Sc
cre+ shapes and colors this action. To
bring this old theme into believa-
BILE present, to make it's sequences ac-
ceptable, to let it down, gradually,
from the realm of the supernatural
to the level of natural cause and ef-
feet. to clothe it modernly and pic
turesque1y. is the achievement Of this
writer. The savors of old romance, the
touches of clairvoyance. the general
ly modern aspects Of the case, make
blend that is likely to attract and
toward this sort, or class. of inven-
ton.
ALL THE WORLD. By Charles M.
ing" etc. New York: George H.
Doran Company.
Reducing world reconstruction to
the scale of small-town interests, Mr..
Sheldon develops realistic story that
involves in natural relation and Sc
quence many of the most vital Of the
social problems of the present. The
writer makes use of the fact that any
social unit. Independent of size. pre-
sents the fact of unemployed men, of
disabled soldiers and sailors, of alien
population. of the difficulties inherent
high prices and inadequate wages. Of
labor grumblings, and so on, and so
on. This comprehe nsive truth he
weaves into the fabric of the story
in hand. This is the foundation upon
which he erected the spiritual struE-
gle involved in these material inter
ests, and upon which he exemplifies
by daily occurrence the relation OF
story of comprehensive implication
and plausible detail whose material
basis serves merely to emphasize its
spiritual content.