Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-12
NOTABLE NEW BOOKS ON HISTORY AND LITERATURE
ERVlNE'S VIEWS
He Writes Entertainingly and
lnformingly About his Elder
Contemporaries

If any one is interested in what ST.
John G. IRVINE thinks about Gals
worthy and Shaw, Wells and Chester.
ton, and several other contemporary
men Of letters, he will find it set forth In
Some Impressions Of My Elders" (thc
Macmillan Company, volume In
which Mr.. Ervine has assembled n
| series Of essays written originally for
| the North American Review.
What Mr.. Ervine thinks about these
men Is worth knowing. lie is acquainted
with them and can interpret them more
| accurately than is possible for writer
who knows them only through their
books. And he Is man Of letters him
self who has written some distinguished
things. SO his book is the comment Of
one competent literary craftsman upon
the work and personality Of a group of
other competent literary craftsmen.
lie has written freely but at the same
time courteously. expressing his admira-
| ton and his criticism with frankness
and for the most part with charity. But
when he writes Of the Irish, as he does
| in his essay on Shaw, he says things
which are likely to bring lot Of other
Irishmcn down on him with the fires Of
their vituperation. lie is speaking Of
Synge and here is what. he says Of him
and of the Irish:
am dsinclined 20 believe that
Synge was great dramatist. lie
brought desirable element OF Bit
terness and acrid beauty into the
sticky mess Of self-satisfaction and
sentmentalsm which Is known as
Irish literature. but I feel that he
was lacking in staying-power. He
shot his bolt when he wrote Tho
playboy Of the Western World" the
chief value OF which lay In the fact
that It ripped up the smugness or
the Irish people. than whom there are
no other people in the world 80
pleased with themselves on such slen-
der grounds, and taught thcm tne
much-needed lesson that they are yer!
like the rest of Gods creatures. Synse
portrayed tho Irish people iaithtuliy
as he saw them he put In the ele-
ment of poetry in the Celtic char
acter. but he also put in the element
Of cruelty; he put in the wit ana gen
eroslty. but he also put in the dull
ness and the greed he put in the Sai-
iantry. but he also put in tho cow
ardice. he put in the nobility, Dut nc
also put in the brutality. IN otner
words, he saw at the same time the
ldeallsm Of Padraic Pearse am
| Thomas MacuOnOuen peih'N
tho incredible brutality Of De Nalcras
rutiians.
Mr.. Ervine admircs the brilliance OF
Shaw and insists that he is one or inc
greatest contemporary writer's, put ht
saws that he needs the corrective OF
Chesterton. who was born to arise ano
remark "On the contrary to whatever
shaw may say. The concluding para
graph of his essay on Wells is illuml- :
nnting, lie writes that he remembers
Mr., Yeats chiefly as 4 dark image oo'
scurcly seen, and Mr.. Shaw as sh!
erect man who talks emphhticnlly pc
cause otherwise he would not he talking
nj all. He remembers Ga!sworthE a'
one who is clenching his teeth lest hi
should say too much, and George Moore
os one who Is consumed with fear les
he will not say enough. Wells Is re-
mcmbered rs an eager. friendly man
whose speech. thinly uttered, suggests
continual testing.
The book is ono which those who hn'
Measure in reading literary criticism H.
: iuminated by criticism Of life Will D'
likely to prize highly.