The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-08-27
CONDENSED
CLASSICS
~
THE MYSTERIES
OF PARIS
~
1y EUGENE SUE
1y EUGENE SUE
-. Condemnation by
MISS Sara Ware Bassett


Mlss Sara Ware Hassstt !
a*A~~~%*~%ea.*>%a.s...HS
III 70 INTERPRET justly the works
IL OF Eugene Sue, one must not
forget to take into considers.
tne epoch at which they won their
rsce In world literature.
mnen Sue was born the novel was
comparatively new product
Anere had. it is true, been books he.
e its advent, for the invention of
limiting had put reading matter with
me reach Of the people; but until
uon made its appearance most Of
material published had been Of a
K.sious trend. consisting of lives of
saints, and treatises on theology
no science. Even then such volumes
1e costly, to say nothing of their be-
- OF far too ponder0us a nature to
nswer the cravings of a public scant.
~ educated and DESTROYS for enter.
uinment at time when amusements
were few.
1nerefore, when out Of this arid lit
ary waste the novel sprung into be-
anss we can easily picture the eager
ns with which the hungering masses
~ upon 1t. Here, at last, was some
ulng human and within the scope Of
We everyday mans understanding
re, In fascinating form, were pre-
ented not only with characters from
me life with (which he was familiar.
mt also adventures in those mystic
realms OF romance that he had imag-
med. It was like water to the
tAirstyi
Hence, II when reading the very
Ariy novels. or even those Of the later
0ecades to which Sue belonged, we are
conscious of stilted dialogue, and mel.
dramatic and improbable situations,
let us remember that the writers of
mis- era were to no small extent pi-
Nneers In sparsely trodden wilder
ness Of art; and that when ''the world
vas so new and all' in literary de-
velopment it Is a marvel that their
handiwOrk has endured for so many
years. Sues Mysteries of Paris"
penned In 1872, seems touched with
the fires Of everlasting youth. Indeed,
4 must possess the charm Of universal
appeal or 1t would never have held its
Place for almost century. When we
consider how few Of our present-day
nOvels survive second season, we are
breed to doff Dur caps to this artist
W the past, who, like Stevenson, so
veil merits the sobriquet Of ''Tusitala,
Z Teller Of Tales" and the secret Of
whose spell lies IA the eternal child
n us answering to the sorceries of
master story-teller.
The book in question is labyrinth
n exciting and dramatic happenings,
which, cleverly woven together, en-
body the authors unique philosophy
that the quest for good may be made
quite as seductive a crusade as the
quest for evil; the only difference ~
ing in the goal toward which one
turns his steps. Certainly the story
bears out this theory, for we are swept
along by the magician's cunning page
after page, chapter after chapter, I'M
I'll his creative resources seem limit
less. Never for an instant does our
interest lag. When the book is fin
ished we feel that had Sue so or
dained he could have evolved just as
many more plots with an equal de-
nee Of ease.
He opens his narrative with a scene
b the slums Of Paris, where Fleur-de-
Marie, a beautiful girl Of the streets.
Is being viciously attacked by the
Slasher. q brute Of the underworld.
4 trivial quarrel between the two has
arisen and the man is about to strike
his helpless creature when suddenly
| stranger intervenes, and by superior
strength and wit lays low the assail-
mt. The newcomer Is M. rudolph,
Who styles himself painter OF rams.
Although poorly CARRIED and speaking
he jargon Of the pavements, we speed
" realize that he is something other
han he pretends; and in this suppo-
,ition we are soon justified. Tor pres
,ntly we learn that in truth N. Ru-
iolph is no. other parsonage than ms
'oyal highness. the grand duke OF Ger
,lstein in disguise. The Slasher. how
,yer. does not know this, and neither
loes his pretty companion, and we
,oon find the three cronies seated ami
lbly at cafe table relating Tor one
mothers amusement the stories OF
heir past lives.
Rudolph has little to say. He IS an
lrtisan, he declares. The Slasner
rankly admits himself to be an es-
aped convict who has served IN the
alleys for murder; but with the in-
of human nature he an
ounces that while he has no scrupies
gainst murder, he will not steai.
Teur-de-M Marie, or Goualeuse. as ner
onrades term her, Is q sixteen-year
Id waif who has never known any
aren't save Screech Owl, q cruel wom-
n from whom she. fed when 2 cnilo
or has she had any home save prison
valls and the haunts Of vice. Never
heless, despite her vile surroun0-
ags, she has kept her soul untainteo
nd ID essentially pure Of heart, Deing
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