New-York tribune., 1922-07-30


erts Rtnehart Doran.
~ EVIEW1NG a novel by Mrs.
Y Rinehart greatly resembles, in
! its general futility, the activi-
IL " ties Of Diogenes as described
by Rabelais; when the cynic
sage, seeing the men of Athens en-
gagged upon their daily affairs about
the city, set about trundling his tub
up hill and rolling it down again, leap
ing into it and out of it, humping it
and twirlng it, and in short, perform
ing every imaginable evolution with
his strange habitation. In the end he
went back and sat in it as before, and
nothing whatever had been accom-
plished. Nor is it of record that the
citizens Of Athens took any note of
his activities. That may be the Vicar
Of Meudon's moral, and is much more
to the point than Diogenes's intended
satire; for the Athenians did contrive
by their busyness to secure three
meals a day and bed to sleep in at
night (Which is infinitely more COM
They had the better Of the argument.
So with Mrs. RinehaTt; her novels are
bought, and they are read.
Now if Mrs. Rinehart is the most
popular and (rumor says) the highest
|
must be very good reason. And if q
critic cannot see the reason, SO much
the worse for critical pretensions.
Let us, then, consider Mrs. Rinehart's
latest success. 1t hasn't been pub
lished at this moment of writing, but
to call it q success is scientific reason
ing, not prophecy; if thing has al
ways happened it is highly likely to
happen again "The Breaking Point"
is a very full and characteristic ex-
ample Of Mrs. Rinehart's method and
style. 1t will probably be compared with
her best-liked previous work, "K," be-
cause of a few minor resemblances in
the plot. The hero, Richard Living
stone, is young physician, over whose
past hangs a cloud Of mystery. The
of what lies behind that cloud Be-
yond those two points the plot is as
original as any plot can be, and 50 COM
plicated that to relate it in full were
impossible in a review. 1t takes the
author herself all Of $50 pages to do so.
Besides, it is usually considered un-
fair to reveal the plot of novel in
which that is the main interest. But
in this case a brief glimpse can do no
harm. No review can affect by one jot
or little Mrs. Rinehart's popularity
with her immense following. For one
reason they don't generally read re-
views, and for another they know what
they want without being told, and have
the moral courage to stick to their
preferences. They want, first of all, to
have something happen in book; they
want action, not an explanation nor an
argument nor mood, nor even a study
Of character. They are the people who
make the "movies" the biggest industry
in the country; they are, in short, the
grown UP children who say conhdingly,
"Tell us story" And here it is.
MRS. RINEHART always begins with
IVA disarming show of dealing with
every day folk-another reason why she
gets their suffrages. She starts with
just such people and circumstances as
we all know; the kind of people who
have chicken and ice cream for Sunday
dinner, who sing in the choir and drive
villains nor preposterous heroes; no
one ever indulges in melodramatic
poses. If they are . bit dim as individ-
uals, 80 that somtimes it is an effort to
remember just who is who, one might
say the same of newly-met crowd of
subway strap-hangers or baseball fans;
just ordinary people. And then from
this beginning the author builds up by
insidious degrees, in a Conversations
tone of voice. so to speak, situation
that is entirely impossible and entirely
plausible.
. For instance, we first see her present
hero DR.. "Dick" Livingstone, merely as
a rising young doctor in q prosperous
small city, presumably in New England
He lives with his uncle and aunt, the
former also doctor; he is taking over