Evening star., 1921-03-20
Reviews of New Books

I the bonds of friendship between
France and America. forged anew
on the field Of battle, may be still
further strengthened on the friendly
field Of sport? This 10 true. and the
book in hand gives = , full account cunt
boil of friendship between the two
countries. Moreover. 1t gives q de-
scription OF the military Olympics.
which took place at the stadium.
meet in which athletes from all the
armies Of the allies took part. 1t -.
besides. the complete story Of the
gathering in Paris. the housing OF
the contestants, the entertaining, the
contests of 1900 picked men from
about eighteen different countries. =, A
picturesque assemblage and a thrill
ing story of friendly rivalry The
single condition of eligibility for the
entrant was that he had earned the
right to wear his countrys cOiors by
having defended them in service as
a soldier. A most inspiring situation
augments. The book Is Handsomely
| made. both in regard to its iliustra-
tions and its mere book charsc-
teristics.
THE VACATION OF THE KEEL
WINS. BY William Dean How
ellis, author Of "Hasard of New
Fortunes" etc. New York: Harper
Bros
This novel. written several years
ago has been published only since the
death Of Mr.. Howells. The story
moves staidly along the quiet paths
that this author laid down for all Of
his works of fiction The immediate
background of the action 10 Shaker
community Its larger environment
is the countryside Of New England.
The action itself hinges upon the
summer vacation Of the Kelwyns-a
college professor and his family
| taking its stressed moments chiefly
from the housekeeping defections Of
| the hosts of the Kelwyn family. The
| romance rises out Of the unexpected
| advent of q young cousin and the ac-
| cidental presence of youthful ex-
perimenter in line of social science.
I This combination spreads the field Of
literary activity in which this au.
thor loved to wander-no amaging
| plot. no striking climax. nothing OF
| that which is called romanticism.
Rather are there hundreds OF finished
| sketches of individual and local char =
acter. The people are all Of the usual
stripe-so much like ourselves that
We more than once lose the sense of
reading story and seem, instead, to
! be partaking OF the homely enjoy
ments and the frequent vexations
that the situation entails. All the
people are real, as real as we our
selves are. with uninteresting mo-
| rrents in their personal attitude and
behavior-just such as folks outside
| of books are afflicted with. The whole
is a little bit Of life presented with
the fidelity and restraint and deli
! cate humor that stamps the entire
! work Of this dean of American let
ters"
NO DEFENSE. BY Gilbert Parker
author Of The Right Of Way
! etc. Illustrations by c. D. Will
. iiams. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippin-
cott Company.
This story sets itself much to do.
Therefore, 1t has to move fast. Ire
| land. England, across the Atlantic to
, the West Indies. furnish. in turn. the
| stage for one or another Of the laps
of it's advance. Its hero is an Irish
man. captivating of course. Convict
ed Of murder which IL turns out
he did not commit. his hrst adventure
rs notn, 1f the he pnsin prison variety Beyond this
| British navy, wages victorious sea
fight of one of the West India is
| lands, suppresses a revolt of the ma :
tives on the Island Of Jamaica-cem-
porting himself at every turn as q
full -fedged hero of high romance
should. The time Of this adventure
10 the period of the French rsvolu. Z.
tion, with the Irish restless and con :
niving against England then. much
as they did in the present century.
There Is . beautiful lady who stands
as the motive OF much 81 this daring
enterprise on the part Of the here
lady who rewards chivalry as Il
should be rewarded. One who likes