New-York tribune., 1922-12-31
By Isabel Paterson


TIE RED REDHArNEs. by Eden rhnipo,,s.
rHE TREASURE or GOLDEN CAP. BY n.nu.,,
toppiestone. Dutfon.
TIE CATS PAW. ny Natalie Sumner Lincoln.
RoGuEs HAVEN ny Roy Bridges. Appl.,o,
A PLEASING delusiOn exists among the
"A laity, and is fostered by those who
- know better, 70 the effect that any
author could, II he only would, de-
base his talent TO the making Of popular"
heuon and thereby enrich himself AZ tbe
expense Of his artistic integrity. According
10 tma theory. Joseph Conrad. for example.
might nave spared himself years o. unre-
munorative labor had he been willing 10
stoop to the artifces Of Robert ". Chambers.
'lthough, Of course, he would never have
achieved the loftier ard more limited success
which has now crowned his efforts. Con.
versely, Of course, Mr. Chambers might have
been another Conrad IL he had been sun.
GENTLY self-denying in the matter Of quick
returns. Well, il is a pretty thought and
doubtless eonsoling 10 many stern and
suffering young intellectual. even il It is not
true. And Mr.. Eden Phillpotts has done an
" service to his colleagues by Offering an
exhibit in disproof
Everyone knows Mr. Phillpotts's solid and
FERROUS novels dealing With the Dartmoor
County folk; and even those who don't care
much for such painstaking studies Of the
honest yoeman have always admitted i. was
good stuff Of lis kind Nov he essays a
detective story, the sort Of thing you might
suppose any practised author ought to be
able TO dash of during a summer holiday.
Nothing 20 il but plot. you see; no deep
delving after character, no need Of atmos-
phere nor fine writing, just an artisans job
Of construction.
Yes, but Wien your plot stands out as naked
as the skeleton Of a sky-seraper, Il mas TO
be exceedingly well joined up, FOR there Is
nothing to hide defect. And so "The Red
Redmaynes" is plainly a seeond-rate perform
anee; readable, indeed, but not at all plau-
sible and suffering from manifest weak
nesses alike in conception and in craftsman
ship. Past master in his own line, here be
Is but a joumoyman and must stand aside
for his betters.
The chief error is in motivation. There
Simply ism any MS mann eNAiaAAtAFf Nla
First and Second Murderers, 50 TO speak,
do their killing for no good reason, but only
because 1T was their nature to- But this
Is out OF nature. Surely a forced beginning
in a book Is worse than a forced ending; Il
fatty preeludes all chance Of a first class
story, just as an error in the major premise
makes syllogism fundamentally impossible.
Il is reckoned unsportsmanlke TO give away
the plot Of a mystery story. But Is It not
even less sporting for Mr.. Phillpotts TO solve
his mystery by saying that the angel-faeed
Jenny Pendean aided and abetted the assas-
sination Of her three dear old uneles Just
for funl Not even a Freudian complex
against Gueles, mind you. The antics Of her
husband, wSo was the active agent in the
matter, seem te be put in just TO make IL
harder to guess Minor absurdiies one can
but pass over in panied silence. Mark Bren-
don, the detective, is one Of these. Likewise
the incident Of his biting his tongue until
blood flowed from his mouth, and the next
day smoking and chatting without the least
difficulty. Now II it had been his head he
had injured, one would not be surprited a.
q lack Of painful consequences.
No, these things are not so easy as they