New-York tribune., 1922-04-30
S.me--A delightful tale Of sentiment
and seamstress.


Literary Editor, The New York Tribune.
My Dear Sir: The gravest fault I fnd
with your book pages, a fault, pee
cancy, error, shortcoming. a something
to be desired, indeed, feel or have
sense of in all book pages, supple
ments, sections, review columns, and
/ repositories of the reflections and
opinions of persons (more or less)
qualified 10 advance them apropos Of
the printed page, is that, in the, per-
haps necessary, acceptance Of the
, point Of view that books are, to some
unavoidable extent, rivals with elop-
ing stockholders and political debates
for conspicuousness in type; in other
words, to descend for the moment into
the vernacular, that books are "news"
IN all journalism, diurnal, weekly,
monthly, or quarterly, there is, or is
likely TO be, en- ephemeral quality to
the books themselves no less than to
the opinions concerning them (Ou
sont les Nvres d'antam?)
I should not permit myself to ac-
cede whole-heartedly, to accept with
out reservation. or, in fact, to acclaim
too readily-to swallow whole, if l
may be granted the passing locution-
the quip OF Eazlitt's Cor was it
Lamb's?) that when q new book came
out he always read an old one. That
were, now, an impossible orgy OF
reading considering that in n fair
average Publishing day in the English
speaking world there are, by all &C
counts. some three hundred separate
and distinct books published. But
should revise the quip into an ad-
monishment or, at least, suggestion,
to wit: Occasionally, when weary Of
the unequal struggle to keep abreast
Of the food from the presses, in sheer
relief and in definite assurance Of en-
joyment, pick up (and cling to) an old
book.
But what eld book All, there. sir,
Is my bright idea for you. Establish
department for reviews Of books which
have achieved at least the dotage of
should discover. or AJAX your contribu-
tors to discover, Shakespeare, Homer,
Dente. Dickens and Shelley, although
that is an enterprise in itself which
Is laudatory, because SO many people
have been prevented from ever discov-
+,I,
about them in college,
No, what mean, particularly, Is what
I should call the recapitulatory re
view, che review which brings before
rising generations of readers and
readers who have escaped the initial
reviews the books which critics greet
ed with enthusiasm last year or this
year before and which even so short
4 time has proved that this enthusiasm
was not ungrounded,
Thus, should like to see some one
call attention to James Stephens "The
Crock of Gold" (perhaps may be
tempted TO do 1t myself some time) it
is book which is scarcely old enough
to get into TIE manuals Of classics. yet
it Is a classic, perhaps the most per-
feet example Of it's genre; q mirthful
and fantastic book, utterly without aim
except to give pleasure; g delicious
reduction of all human notions 20 an
absurdity, for me "test book" that is,
a book which one must like or forego
my respect.
Then there is that fine collection Of
short stories by Andreyev called "The
Little Angel" and there is "The Rise Of
David Levinsky,' by Abraham Cahan;
"The Man of Promise" by Willard
Huntington Wright; "South Wind"
by Norman Douglas; zone Man." by
Robert Steele; "Sons and Lovers" by
D. II. Lawrence; "The Portrait of the
Artist as Young Man." by James
Joyce; The Second Blooming" by W.
L. George; "The Further Side of ST.
lencc," by Sir Hugh Clifford; "Taras
Bulba," by n. Gogol; "Of Human Bond
age" cone Of the greatest novels in
the English language, by Somerset
Maugham; "The Brook Kerith," by
George Moore; "The Ghost Ship" by
Richard Middleton; "The Hill of
Dreams" by Arthur Machen; "The
Cream Of the Jest by James Branch
Cabell; "a Hoosier Holiday" by Theo-
dore Dresser; Twelve Men," by Theo-
dore Dreiser "My Antonia," by Villa
Sibert Gather; "The Three Black
Pennys," by Joseph Hergesheimer;
''The Revolt of the Angels" by Anatole
France; "Pelle the Conqueror, by Mar
tin Andersen Nexo; "The Idiot" by
Dostoevsky, etc. l am, sir, yours, ETC.,
BURTON RASCOE.
IN accordance 1oith the suggestion
given By the correspondent above, a.
q