The Washington herald., 1921-09-25

~ Ohm cALsWoRTHY can write beautifully of
things which are not beautiful. That is not
just the fashion these days OF course. one
II writes abodt things which are not beautiful but
one does so severely and with studied avoidance OF
beauty which is almost puritanical Realism seems to
require painstakng dissection Of ugly things with
scruphlous that the general atmosphere Of ugl
ness Is preserved at all costs. In the midst of all
this Il Is exceedingly refreshing such book
as ITO Let" Mr.. Galsworthy is not dealing with the
most sordid or the most repelent aspects of con-
temporary life, but If he essentially of the
generation Of novelsts he could and doubtless would
divest his study Of the passing Of the "possessive
principle" of any suggestion Of beauty. Mr. Gals
worthy however, without endangering the effective
of his satire does by his splendid craftsmanship
endow his realism with beauty. There is jewell
Ike cleaness in his style, Of repose and ease,
and At the same time sure depth which no one else
to achieve in this day of quick, effects.
And the amazing part of il is that while he writes
with the distinction Of less hurried generation than,
say, Scott Fitzgerald Mr.. Calsworthy keeps very
much in touch with the times. sat the England he
describes Is always the England Of the moment.
There was in The Man Of Property" for instance no
one remotely like Michael Mont. that effervescent
modern son Of nobility who in ITO Let" coming to
view Soames Forsytes Goyas remarks naveiy Il say,
some picturcr and later. when he marries Soames'
daugnter says 70 MN after the wedding, "Good-by,
sir; and thank you! I'm SO fearfuly bucked."
But then the whole business of ITO Let" is to
bring the Forsyte chronicle up to date In fact, it
threatens be the final chapter in that history which
Galsworthy lovers have followed so eagerly since the
days Of .The Man of Property Fleur Forsythe daugh
ter Of Soames falls in love with her distant cousin
Jon son Of Jolyon and Irene, who was, as everyone
who knows the Forsytes remembers once the wife of
Soames in the days before the tragedy of Bossnney
And there you have your story. Jon and Fleur are
FIRST of the old hidden links between their
families and when they discover them, Fleur for
is too much in love and too young to let go. Her
elders may suffer, but she clings to her love- 1t is
Jon who makes the break for the sake of his mother
and Fleur is left to marry Michael Mont. 1t is
tragic story Of young love- but there other things
than love in il. For is complete picture Of the
changes from the old Forsyte way of life to
the uncertain modern one Old Timothy and John
both die Winred busy changing her interior decora
tons with the fashion; Fleur marres nobty-Forsyte
money joined to land But he pursuit Of self-inerest
is form Of thought that's going out" says the brisk
young Michael Mont And again, "The possessive
principle has got its shutters up The house to let
TO Let muses. Soames at the end, 'the Forsyte age
and way of life where owned his SOUL his
investments, and his woman without check or ques-
ton =. To Let-that sane and simple creedp
Yes it's modern book, of the point of view of mod
ern England which is apparently good deal less
complaccnt after the than modern America.