Evening star., 1920-02-22
THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM.
BY Adriana Spadoni. New York:
Boni & Liveright.

DoHi q LlVeriSnt.
t"HE clear motive with this au-
Ii' thor Is to do a sincere piece Of
work. That story grew out
of this task appears to be a
matter Of incidence rather than the
one Of prime Importance. Sincere
work is never altogether smooth.
Hard spots. unsightly places. are, to
a greater or less degree. inherent in
every object. = The popular story
teller skips them. This is not a pop
ular story teller She is bound to
offend many sensitive and ingrained
people. But she sturdily goes on with
the story as it is. Jean Norris is the
theme of this invention-or is it not
transcription? Jean Norris, from her
graduation at the University of Cali
fornia to the day when, at perhaps
thirty eight or nine, she voluntarily
moved into security and a sanity
that prior to this had not seemed to
be goal of her inner tumults and out
reachings. One marriage in fact, an
other one in essence, precede this
| final alliance as waymarks along Jean
Norris life. AS a public person this
| is a woman of Importance - capable
efficient. interested in many measures
for the general well being, influential
personally charming in frank and
slightly aloof way. Side by side with
| this public career, the author sets
down the real life of Jean Norris. 1t
is keenly divining piece of work,
of sympathetic findings. Yes, it will
create discussion. 1t is true to life.
1t is not true to life. Jean Norris is
a good woman. She is a bad woman.
The book should not have been writ
ten. Why not? And SO the talk will
| Wi however. that
having been done. it is a work OF
| literary distinction. even a work OF
genius. Nothing quite so big nor so
| sincere of purpose nor SO arresting IN
| it's immediate erect comes to mlno IN
ones survey of recent novels from
| any source.
THE MYSTERY AT THE BLUE VII
| thor of "Uncle Abner," etc. New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
| The majority Of these stories, like
the initial one. are touched with the
uncanny, the weird. the unexplaina-
BILE. Now the average mystery tale ls'
| from it's beginning. transparent al
fair, despite the customary labored
gestures to give to it an impression
| Of the supernatural or Of deeply sub
merged natural causes and influences.
Mr. Post is superior to this crude
prentice work. Not that he. either,
convinces one Of the reality OF ms IN
ventions. What he does do. however,
is to work in the atmosphere OF piaus-
ibility against backgrounds of IA
miliar circumstances along lines OF
known and accepted happenings.
Then, at the right point in the matter
at hand, he makes the quick fronting
upon places and movements and in
terests that lie just beyond the reach
\ of eye and ear and touch that do not
fit into the tidy steps OF recognized
llogic-a fronting upon. those tantallz-
| ing and unseizable nearnesses that,
! at one time or another. stand close to
the most literal of us. Everybody
knows that the thing is not true. but
he is prodigiously impressed. never
| theless. The fact that Mr.. Post is
he is keen to the dramatic moment,
| that with no more than q stroke or
two he turns out a veritable human
| being, that with an almost parsi-
monious hand he deals out the choice
elements of mystery-this combina-
of each one of these very superior
| inventions. So through a good va
riety of incident, one is able to have
| most enjoyable hour at the hands of
| this original and versatile writer of
the short story.
THE ROLLING STONE. BY c. A.
Dawson-Scott, author of '1dylls of
| Womanhood." etc. New York: AL
fred "A. Knopf.
u was blow to his home folks. but
q boon to us, that Harry King ran
away from home in pursuit of the
iprize-fghting satisfactions that his
lusty body. cfaved. For we go along
with the boy-to India, South Africa,
New Zealand and back to England,
through days that his enoromus zest
for change and experience packs with
| vivid scenes and curious oddments of
humanity and many strange hazards
OF circumstance. A genuine soldier of
fortune. this, eagerly responsive to
every nod of his tickle mistress. In
teresting as are the places and the
people and the events that crowd one
another here in SO rich a profusion,
I one soon finds out that it Is the boy
himself whom one is trailing. And
almost Immediately one discovers that
| Harry King and the reader are en-
gagged in the same pursuit, the pursuit
of the boys dream of what he would do
| when he had broken away from the dull
home things that revolted him. Always
in front of. or beside that which he is. or
that which he is doing is the other
boy. the other experience that he is
going to be, going to have. That which
he has becomes negligible-because
he has it. Only that which he has not
is torinentingly desirable. So it is, in
war war In in love; In W. work; And this is
L
Harry King in q story Of consistent
and believable development. A most
dramatic story. too. At no point does
the writer step aside from the busi-
ness OF Harry King to indicate that
she 10 dealing with q universal hu-
man tendency-but one gets it all
along the way. And the story ends
not real story ending at all. but a
true and lifelike pause-with some
thing else set up as a goal for this
eager youth to achieve. It happens to
be woman. though it might have
been an out-faring to the South seas
as well. Just one more something to
get.
UNTIMELY PAPERS. BY Randolph
Bourne. Foreword by the editor,
James Oppenheim. New York: b.
| w. Huebsch.
One gathers from Mr.. Oppenheim's
foreword that Randolph Bourne was
for some time prior to his death the
center of group of young idealists
who found themselves distinctly out
of tune with their time. Their time
great war. These essays BY MI.
Bourne embody the. thwarted hopes,
the blemished political ideals, the
foreboding outlook that America
thrust upon this group of young po-
litical tia. Parnassians ,n by its conduct in
lectuals in fact, and pacifsts in ef-
feet. Naturally, therefore, the times
are out Of joint to them. Mr.. Bourne
eMbodies these fallen hopes here.
The book is rather a plaintive
production auss,snco on otse the h whole lament mt
as Grass materialism on the part
Of America in respect to the war.
Now, to the average American
not a Parnassian-America added