The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-10

ward Island More than million read
 CTS, young people as well as the.r par
 ents, and uncles and aunts, possess pie
 ture-galleries of their memories of the
 exquisite landscapes of Ayonlea, trimmed
 with as poetic a pencil as Longfellow
 wielded when he told the story of Grand
 Pre-"
 Anne Shirley. the heroine of Miss
 Montgomery's book, Anne of Green
 Gables will live forever and a day Tn
 the hearts and minds of children and
 "grown-ups'' who have read of thIs
 lovely child and the interesting peopte
 surrounding her.
 Humor and pathos abound in all Miss
 Montgomery stories, in Tho Chronicles of Avonlea' and in Further Chronlcies of Avonlea," winch has to do with many | personalities and events in and about Avoniea the home of the heroine of Green Gables" and there is some .hIns n these Further Chronicles of Al on ca" like the dehca te art wnich has made "Cranford a class.c; the characters are SO real, so human, and so appeahng. "E'urther Chronicles of Avon .ea'' is but mother step by Mss Montgomery. the 1 talented author, toward permanently baking a place in the hearts and m.nus If millions of readers who love hes tories and eagerly look forward to them. THE MAN OF THE FOREST" By Zane Grey. Harper Brothers, pub fishers. New York city.
 From the moment that Zane Grey takes lold of hls elemental story. there is no question but that the hand is strong enough to wieid the sword. There IS ,omething in the sureness of touch m the ] artistry with which the woods and mountains emerge as the background or ais epic story, that makes the reader i; congratulate himself on his discovery be- hN bo in ''IhG l han of the Forest"
 Readers are not cynical about the or 1muses then. to find fault. The more ! Iinary western story just because II 1 sophisticated the reader-the moro vynlcai 100, for that matter-the louder is apt 1 O be his whoop of joy when he dis- overs tale of high adventure that ne .an really throw himself into unreserv- sdly; that he can enjoy and the same lime admire. Many hanos have tired the Ar,hurlan sword. When the hand does appear that is strong enough to wieid t, sooner or later that hand receives ] recognition And Zane Grey is more and nore coming into his own Tn recognition IS genuine and profound artist. All this is an afterthought. ] Was not speculating on problems Of literary 1 craftsmanship while I was reading "The | Man of the Forest" ] was too busy wondering whether Helen and Bo Ray ner were ever going to be rescued from 1 heir plight by sturdy Milt Dale, tremo- ing at the things that might happen when his giant cougar was proving around loose and all but whispering into Milt's ear, when he was down on ms 1 luck, "She does love you, you fool h. cidentally, Milts love for the woods and l open places and the way in which he l communicated that love to Helen Ray ner rang true.
 If the stirring succession Of incidents 1 in 'The Man of the Forest"-the kidnAp- ] in gintrigue, the furious rides on ioneis trails and the clash of weaponS-arouses i the universal boy in us, there is some 1 thing in the sweeping story that arouses 1 the poet in us, too. When the readef finds himself revelng in the beauty of X landscape, in the feeling of isolation rom crowds it is a sign of two thingS-thas
 the nature background has been merged ! into the story with unobtrusive art, anu 1 that the workmanship is sincere In the l last analysis, an author cannot convey ! the subtle flavor and poetry of an eN-
 perience that he does not himself lee
 deeply. i kupert Hughes, who is keen ooser.el
 of life and letters, has commented OH tI,.,
 point in connection with Zane Grey ] he were a Russian writing of the Tartars land steppes, he would be hailed as giant by all the reviewers who can 9e'
 nothing noble on this side of the Atlah' 1 tic admire the Russians, but l piac' Zane Grey on high peaK, too
 ] ITO me he has more of the epic spirl' lthan any other living American. He glNe' l the Homeric, bigness, ruggedness trs mendousness to his people. His land lscapes are in themselves thrilling. Inef' ] is thas much-abused word 'gripping;' han' Grey first grips his characters and theH emotions and their scenes-grips 'then with great hand, molds them simply but bigly. and sets them before us m
 kind of majestic simplicity