The New York herald., 1922-10-08
N EW FICTION
-IN-
VARIED FORMS
THE BRIGHT SHAWL By Joseph Herges.
heimer, New York Alfred A. Knopf.

of primarily in terms of color.
He sees life less as tale that Is told than
as a succession of dissolving views. He
delights in sharp. bright contrasts. and
paints them glowingly with the pigment Of
vivid words. Whatever thesis lies behind
his stories is always rigidly kept In the
he seems to say. "and get my message
afterward if you will" And the chief
reason that he stands to-day among the
few American novelists who may be
seriously ranked with their foremost Brit
ish contemporaries Is that he is that rare
combination Of verbal painter with
true color sense for the unerringly right
the story teller merge in the moralist and
preacher.
When you recognize In Mr.. Herges-
heimer this inborn need of rich opulence
of hue, you marvel at the self-discipline
by which he has often held down his style
and given US page after page of calculated
drabness-monochrome expressive of re-
Black Pennys'' expressed In terms of
painting is study In heavy. dense shad
ows; life seen through an atmosphere of
gloom. But he got his sharp contrasts
none the less. in the deep. rich glow of
the furnaces, the sudden flare of molten
iron, the bright incandescence Of a spray
ing shower of sparks from mighty ham,
mers There is much In common between
"The Three Black Pennys" and that great
est study In black and white I'm the whole
range of English fiction. Joseph Conrad's
'Nigger of the Narcissus"
''The Bright Shawl" because it also
chances to be laid In Cuba, must face in
evitable comparison with "Cytherea"; and
because 1t presents, in all its essentials
except the stage setting. sharp antithesis
to the former volume, many eager par
tisans of "Cytherea' are going to find It
disappointing. On the other hand, its very
points of difference are likely to win the
author host of new devotees "Cytherea"
studied human frailty in the ripeness of
mature years; 1.-The Bright Shawl" studies
austerity and self-sacrifice in the first
glow of romantic youth. The former hero
wrecks two homes. and lives on wretchedly,
nursing bitter memories; the latter risks
his life for an ideal, and his few glorious
months are solace to his old age. Per-
haps the fairest comparison to make would
be to admit that "Cytherea" embodies a
less important theme unerringly worked
out; "The Bright Shawl is the bigger sub
ject. less fiawlessly achieved.
Briefly, this new volume, done in the
predominant reds and yellows of the Span
ish flag. tells the story of Charles Abbott's
youth. as it comes back to him In old
age, when Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, heard
by chance. transports him through forty
years back to the 'incandescent sunlight
of Havana" and shows him once again
that matchless dancer, La Clayel. with
"the superb flame of her body in the brutal
magnifcence Of the fringed manton, like
Andalusia incarnate"
Young Abbott. wealthy idler Of his day.
is sent to Cuba because OF weak lungs:
and finding the country afiame with re-
bellion against the arrogance and brutal
ity Of the Spanish military officials, his
impressionable soul catches the contagion
of the dream of Cuban liberty. He forms
swift friendship with an ardent band OF
young patriots, dedicates his fortune and
his young life to this alien land which has
first taught him the meaning of patriotism
and renounces all earthly pleasures as un-
worthy of his exalted purpose. Even the
two beautiful women whom Spanish au.