Evening star., 1921-12-18

FAERY LANDS OF THE SOUTH
SEAS. By James Norman Hall and
Charles Bernard Nordhoff. Illus
trations by George A. Picken. New
York: Harper & Bros.
TT was in Paris, after the war, in
which both had served. Both were
feeling for more adventure, but
adventure, this time, as wide as
the world apart from that through
which they had just come The South
seas. All right, the South seas. At
Tahiti they divided a corner of the
island drift Of the Pacific between
them. Nordhoff took the Cook and
Hervey Islands, Hall the Paumotu, or
lower archipelago. Keeping as far
from the overtraveled, overwritten
routes as possible, each settled down
to quiet days of looking on, and dig
ging in. and feeling out. in these
strange and beautiful lands. They set
down the things they saw and found
out. They wrote letters to each other.
letters of slow passage telling Of is
lands not visited before by white men,
Of native tribes in possession of an
ideal government. of men from the
outside who had chosen to live with
in these islands, of ancient customs
and old beliefs and Of the enchanting
beauty Of the lands themselves. These
letters and these records make up
the body of this captivating book. A
rarely beautiful product of this year
in the tropical islands. "Our year in
the South seas is up. Where are you
going now?" IT have no pIans.' he
said. except that doubt if 1 ever
go north again. I believe I've had
enough of civilization to last me the
rest Of my life. We are happy here:
Why should we leave the islands,"
Il fancy the South seas have claimed
the pair Of us."-and with this sen
tence the "faery" book closes. And
here is news note from Popeete. "A
Papeete news dispatch states that
Charles Nordhoff has not only re-
manned in the South seas. but has
married a high-caste native girl OF
distinguished family and is the father Z r
of a two-month-old daughter" rms
fact. coupled with the news that Hall
is now on his way back to the "Faery
Kingdom" bears out the closing SEN
tence of the book, Il fancy that the
South seas have claimed the pair OF
u.s." And, SO, we may nave more
books of the "faery" sort from this
pair
THE BRIARY-BUsH. By Floyd Dell.
author of "Moon-Calf." New York
Alfred A. knopf.
A beautiful story, and a big one.
with not a dull page to it's account.
nor a silly page, nor q careless one.
Marriage, which contains more human
content to the minute than all the
other relations of life put together. is
a theme to which writers are swiftly
waking up. This is study in mar
raige. The two people. intelligent, ar
tistic. temperamental and intensely
modern, claim, and believe, that the
venera BILE institution may. and should.
open the doors to perfect individual
freedom and complete personal inde-
pendence. The story in hand is the
working out of this theory. Rather,
is it a demonstration that the theory
is unavoidable in practice. Keeping
within the situation that he has chos-
sen. holding fast to the individuality
of each of the two as he has con-
ceived it, the author moves steadily
and growingly toward the fact that
freedom has its losses as well as It's
gains, that strict independence is I'M
possible in a world OF close-kn!t rela. +.
tionships. that marriage, though II
need not be the tight-shut thing OF
the past-and present-may not be,
on the other hand, the wide-open
state of their claims for it. The story
is set in Chicago. And for 1t the au-
thor creates a corner Of artist LIE
that is as attractive and sincere as
corner of Paris itself. That Is a dis
tinct achievement. Mr.. Dell likes odd
Titles as .'Moon-Calf" and 'The Briary-
Bush show.
Oh. the briary bush.
" That pricks my heart 50 sore.
If ever get ont of the briary-bush
I'll never get In any more.
A MAGNIFICENT FARCE; And Other
Diversions of Book Collector. By
A. Edward Newton, author of THE
Amenities OF Book Collecting" II.
Illustrated. Boston: The Atlantic
Monthly Press.
A born story teller. Every time he
opens his mouth. out steps little
story. all washed and dressed and
wearing a good morning smile. The
half dozen of these. At this opening
moment the author is on his way to
the doctor. But he plays along, gath
ering up old friends from Rahway
-.Lottie Brewster" the translator
of Ibanez: William Van Antwerp of
here a signal from Carolyn Wells
that reads, Wait minute till
change my frock: I'm from Railway,
too" Finally. the doctor. who says,
mo work. No smoke; Go to Europe
write a book" So-this book of "di-
versions" set down on the page just
as they take shape in the mind
dashes for changes of thought. com
mas for breath, no full stops at all.
Not time for these. One simply goes
along, into this shop and out again.
accompanied by a running comment
on books and bookshops and book
sellers. Seasoned stuff, all of it. and
most delightful. There is a friendly
"reminiscences of Walt Whitman. There
is a sane and sensible view of Will