The New York herald., 1922-05-21


HEART. BY Fl. G. Wells. The Mac
milan Comany.
HoNFRoNTING a new book by
Mr.. Wells, ones first ques-
ton naturally is-which Mr..
Wells? Is it Wells, the artist, the
poet, or Wells the critical analyst,
the psychological microscopic, or
Wells the constructive seer and
proprietor, mayhap, some minor
incarnation? Not, of course. that
any great personality can be me-
chanically taken apart and one Sec
ton allowed to function independ-
emily, but it usually happens that
in Mr.. Wells's case one aspect or
another is predominantly in evil
dence; one facet of the sparkling
whole flashing its own color above
the others. The answer to that
query in this case is that here we
have Wells the constructive phiios-
opher in something of a temper
over one very unmanageable ele-
ment in the makeup of humankind
that refuses TO settle into any har-
mony with the scheme of things as
they should be, which ne is trying to
envisage.
We are primarily concerned with
the necessary making of a Better
World. with mankind in the max
ing" with the adolescence of the
race" with the performance of the
Mind of the Race as it emerges into
the new PSYCHOLOGY" of a clearer
self-consciousnesss and purposefully
tries to get full control OF itself.
But constantly there gets in the way
of this process the pesky nuisance of
Sex. and Mr.. Wells.-very insistently.
wants to know what We are going
TO do about it. He has repeatedly
asked the question before and has
diagnosed a good many incidental
cases-for instance. in The Re
search Magnificent" and ''The New
Macchiavelli," to cite leading cases
enly-but no comprehensive synthe-
sis,is as yet in evidence This book
is another contribution to the general
diagnosis.
Here he is limiting himself, rather
narrowly. to one special phase of the
larger puzzle. 1t is a microscopic
study. an attempt along psyche
analytic lines Of one man toward
''self- nowledge-without anesthet-
les" Naturally the women in the
case are not neglected but interest
and scientific research centers upon
the man and his difficulties.
There is very little mere story in
the book and it will hardly make
any strong appeal to Wells's larger
audience. There is nothing spec
tacular. or horrific in the popular
sense about il. In fact. il is more
a scientific study. in terms of fiction.
than anything else. although. like all
,wells's work. it is vitality alive. con-
cretely imagined and always given
out in full color. But it has very
little plot and is on the whole a
sofnber affair, colors dark, toward
the red end of the spectrum and
S-sometimes beyond into the hardly
perceptible untra red rays
Sir Richmond Hardy is a middle
aged man. married. with grown up
children. He is deeply concerned in
his work as a member Of the fuel
commission, trying TO get order out
of the after the war chaos: order not
merely for his own England but a
world order. He has a vision Of
the Better World. but finds his col
leagues hard to get on with. blindly.
stupidity resistant to their own for
ward impulses
There is not a man on that COM
mittee," he says. who is quite COM
Portable within himself about the
particular individual end he is there
TO serve. &. . They are terrified to