The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1921-08-17

CLASSICS
~
THE MYSTERIES
OF PARIS
~
By EUGENE SUE :
By EUGENE SUE
Condemnation by
Miss Sara Ware eassete

nv INTERPRET justly tl.e works I
of Eugene Sue, one must not
j. forget to take into considera-
Ion the epoch at which they won their
I,ace in world literature.
When Sue was born the novel was
I'M a comparatively new product.
there had, 1t Is true. been books be-
IRE its advent, for the invention Of
knitting had put reading matter with
the reach Of the people; but until
hction made its appearance most of
he material published had been Of
pligious trend. consisting Of lives Of
he saints, and treatises on theology |
hid science. Even then such volumes
Iere costly, to say nothing Of their be-
he of far too ponderous nature to /
answer the cravings Of public scant-
" educated and DESTROYS for enter
inment at q time when amusements
+ bere few.
81 Therefore, when out Of this arid lit
rary waste the novel sprung into be-
hg, we can easily picture the eager
ess with which the hungering masses
ell upon it. Here, at last, was some
Ming human and within the scope Of
d ne everyday mans understanding
4 ere in fascinating form, were pre-
u ented not only with characters from
Ne life with which he was familiar,
nt also adventures in those mystic
I kalms of romance that he had imag-
led. It was Vke water to the
Airstyl
VII Hence, II when reading the very
rly novels, or even those Of the later
ecades to which Sue belonged, we are
luscious of stilted dialogue. and mel
dramatic and improbable situations,
us remember that the writer's of
lis era were to no small extent pi-
heers in . sparsely trodden wilder
kss of art; and that when 1.-THE world
hs SO new and all" in literary de-
klopment it Is a marcel that their
ndiwork has endured for so many
lars. Sues Mysteries Of Paris"
knned in 1912. seems touched with
e fires Of everlasting youth. Indeed.
mnst possess the charla Of universal
peal or 1t would never have held its
ace for almost q century. When we
nsidef how few Of our present-day
wells survive q second season, we are
reed to doff our caps to this artist
the past. who. like Stevenson. SO
iii merits the sobriquet Of '"Tusitala,
III Teller Of Tales" and the secret Of
hose spell lies in the eternal child
Us answering to the sorceries at q
hster story-teller.
The book In question is labyrinth
exciting and dramatic happenings
hich, c,everly woven together, EN-
@ 1dy the authors unique philosophy
at the quest for good may be made
05ite as seductive a crusade as th'
Jest for evil; the only difference ~
$ In the goal toward which on
rms his steps. Certainly the stor!
ars out this theory, for we are swep
" bng by the magician's cunning pag
Ter page, chapter after chapter, un
his creative resources seem limit
!. es Never for an instant does GU
ferest lag. When the book is fin
bed we feel that had Sue so Of
a ined he could have evolved just q
ny more plots with an equal d.
be Of ease.
y He opens his narrative with seen
the slums Of Paris, where Fleur-dt
lrie, beautiful girl Of the streets
being viciously attacked by tn
Usher, a brute Of the underworld
trivial quarrel between the two ho
~ sen and the man is about to strik
y helpless creature when suddenl
II Stranger intervthes. and by superit
length and wit lays low the assai
Z. The newcomer Is a NJ. Rudolp
81 10 styles himsa Il a painter Of fan
q though poorly CARRIED and speaktr
~ jargoA Of the ravements, we spec
I'D realize that nv Is something 9TH
NV n he pretends: and In this supp
No. lon we are soon Justified. for pre-
y fly we learn that In truth NJ. II
vi ph Is no other parsonage than h
II al highness, the grand duke Of &c
TEN In disguise. The Slasher, no.
! p, does not know this. and Meth
Is his pretty companion, and '
IN find the three cronies seated an
p at cafe table relating for o
~ others amusement the stories
ir past lives.
tudolph has little to say. He Is
~ lsan, he declares. The Slash
II hkiy admits himself to be an (
~" PED convict who has served In t
frou 'eys for murder; but with the
es b slstency Of human nature he q
omal pnees that Whit lie has no scrupl
"A inst murder, he will not ste
..ta de-Marie, or (sIaA:euse, as h
citiu nrades term her, is a sixteen-ye'
, cod waif who has never known a
'asil eht save Screech Owl, a cruel wo
fooa from whom she fed when a chill
blc ns hss she had any home save prfs
" - ~ Is and the haunts Of vice.. New
y" less, despite her vie surroul
- she has kept her SOU untaint
. net Is eSSpntiallv nuro NJ l.rs,r< hpI