The Washington herald., 1922-07-22
ALLEGED HUMOR
FILLS PAGES OF
QUEEN OF SHEBA
Reviewer Finds Jazz and
Stupidity Combined
In New Novel
The a.ees Of shes..- BY Phinness

A. crutch. b. A. NJ. A. r. p. A.
&C. p. Putnam's Sons. New
York;
behind. and temptation prevails,
The Queen OF sheba is funny ss a
crutch."
A mass of alleged humor. occa-
sionally resembling the real thing,
Of the school exploited by the
Cruise Of the Kawa." and not quite
approximating the example. The
Queen of ShebaT is slightly anus
ing to begin with. rising a little to-
ward the middle. but relaxing limp
ly shortly thereafter. In toto. Il Is
that most terrible literary crime:
stupid.
To students Of sociology. the book
will be Indicative of the modern
trend: Jazz-jazz-jazz- moth
ing behind IL. Perhaps II isn't even
as good as jazz. this attempt TO fol-
low in the footsteps Of the humor-
lists. For the efforts are consist
entity cheap. Listen to the charac-
leTt. JdndLs Cultunls onendulklns
Eni. Meni, Mini, Mo, and an infni-
tude of others. Puns In about great
enough quantity TO supply the writ
ers of inserts in movie comedies for
six months. "'Balkis Is willing"
"as a bridegroom he was a great
success. but as a bridegroom. he
had no equal are samples OF the
wit
The reference 20 historical docu-
ments is infreouently clever, and
there are some scenes that are good.
although they do not redeem the
crime.
"Balkis.- the royal shebsn flap
per. is a well-drawn characteriza-
ton Of the modern fiapper. as the
newspaper waEs like TO think she
is: a certain vacuity and vagueness
Of outline in the drawing are In
dicative OF characteristics. But the
habit Of talking. which drove away
her suitors. even TO the Colossus
Of Rhodes. is cheap. for it is a
fault charged TO women since Eve
is said 10 have argued Adam INTO
partaking of the apple.
After reading Of Balkis I've ana
ten-cent escapades. and vading
through her small-time wit "a 10
with a Joy tinged with a wonder
II IL could be true that one turns To
Mortal Coils." by Aldous Huxley
George II. Doran Company. New
York;
Mortal Coils" 10 not q pleasant
book Huxley is as close q student
- D..-AAAa e. ~ srT0w
Trapprock." Huxley's style Is as
and as economical as his teachers.
But his satire lacks the touch Of
the whimsical that makes Beer
bohm fascinating with the charm OF
the artist: Il has the fascination OF
a rattlesnske.
With a compactness OF compost
tion rare In this wordy period. he
presents real. ridiculous situations.
so memorable, so unpleasant that.
with his characters. there is nothing
TO do but laugh.
For Mortal Coils is terribly
funny. The spectacle OF a Mr.. Hut
ton. who knew himself to he a
fool. bored literally TO death with
women, and yet unable 20 stay
away from them. led eventually 20
the electric chair by the most tire
some imaginable female. could ha
nothing but the rarest. most satiri-
cal humor.
The picture Of the seduced nun.
and the fippant relating OF her
tale. with the elimination Of sym
pathy by assigning a hysterical rea
son for her assumption OF the veil.
dreadful and oppressive as the situ-
alton is. is converted into a pas
sage OF brilliance and wit Tha
horror and eNasperation the reader
might feel at the light treatment
of the material cannot stop his
esoteric laughter
And yet one has an almost ir-
pressible desire to throw the book
at the wall.