New-York tribune., 1921-01-31


Corner, objects, with justice, because
in quoting from her book we made her
heroine sneak Of "la charne" and chen
printed letter from reader who
held the poor heroine up to scorn be-
cause of her carelessness with genders.
The error was ours. "Le charme" was
what the heroine said,
On the other hand. with equal justice
we have a right to protest against ari-
other confusion in articles. Little,
Brown & Co., the publishers of The
Next Corner, quote us as saying that
the book Stands out as q successful
novel on account Of the ecstatfc sweep
Of its style, Its warm, vital figures and
its cleverly conceived plot" We said
no such thing. This was the Judgment
OF smother Tribune reviewer and most
certainly was not signed by us. TO us
Kate Jordan's style seems forced and
limping, the figures of tho book are
neither warm nor vital, but steam
heated. Yet we must admit that the
plot is delicious burlesque. This
seems not to have been within the plan
of Miss Jordan. who complains that we
have attempted to belittle her book. We
were not aware at the time Of writing
that we had done SO. Until Miss Jor-
dan made her protest we hardly dared
to hope that she iEr ,nded The Next
Corner as q serious piece of writing
We quote from page 1874 Of The Next
Corner carefully and accurately.
""He had kissed her on the neck.
"'You--you beastl' The words were
shattered whisper, and her fingers
dragged at the spot wsere his lips
had fastened, as if to tear 1t away,
You hateful-vile'-
"As she looked into the deep-set liv-
ing points of his eyes, her shoulders
drawn up in nausea, her beauty and
exquisiteness gone into disarray, she
was specter Of despair"
But, after all, we are only a news
paper reporter, and what does liter
attire mean to us7 Our duty is little
more than to report the nature Of the
books we read. A summary of The
Next Corner is easy. 1t is book to
be read with the shoulders drawn up.
1T is also our duty to report another
difference of opinion which concerns
this time aot book, but play. for
somehow or other plays do creep into
the column now and again. The letter
is from Miss Susan Glaspell, who
wrote Triaes, the best of American
short plays, and who has invariably
brought distinction to the theater.
Still, we cannot agree with her esti-
mats of John Hawthorne" It seems to
us chat she has read into the plav
things which are not there. It was
not the "strangeness Of the play which
offended us, but rather that it was the
conventional highfalutin' attitude Of
American poetic drama toward life. Ii
was an attempt to lyrfcixe realism by 3
person with no grasp Of realism. Still
It would be fairsr to step aside and let
/ Miss Glaspen have her say. She writes:
M ednesday I saw John Hawthorne
IS Presented by the Theater Guild j
have been indignant ever since. Having
to do something about this indignation
l sit down and write to you. To you
because you, together with few 9th.
| e1s, have seemed to CAFE about the
American play.
"But just what is it you want from
the American play7 mean you as !
focal point Of the feeling for which
you have so generously been articu.
late. the let~us-have-a-hettar- Americas.
drama feeling. ~
$50 ask you, what do ~ want II
our rsAF American drsnsa7 I "a Judge
" tass issrs .fcr John Hawtisotiie,' W.
Ewant dramas made from other dramas
! want the STUFF We are used 20 having In