Evening star., 1922-09-03
Reviews of New Books

comes to nothing. 80 such romantic
interest as appears here Is under the
man nmsanasement Of good; n gentle, ,idr fat Mr..
the latter shepherded by the capable
Enphsmia; ssn And AL the ,,ntea neighoSrs srs
other peoples business. all. under the
kindliest intent in the world. messing
things up generally. and all ridicu-
lously happy when their Efforts to
do harm fail and things straighten
ingly simple run Of events that places
this Bryan T. Holland in the very
next row to his own grandmother,
Mrs. Gaskell. whose "Cranford' is
still a we'll of quiet joy.
THE MAN IN THE TWILIGHT. BY
Ridgwell Cullum. author of THE
Night Riders" etc. New York:
G. p. Putnam's Sons.
A full romance-full Of action and
color, full of human passion and
self developing energy. The story
itself has to do with a war between
rival companies in the wood-pulp
business. Its setting is. therefore.
away to the Canadian north. where
newspaper wood grows. And this
ment. since it delivers over to the
reader. not only the appearance of
the forbidding landscape. but the
way it feels and thinks. The hero
of this tale is leading one of these
companies "A native corporation.
Over in the rival camp foreign
company-is the heroine. a gifted
young business woman, whose pres
ence tends, to complicate both the
business and the potential romance
Of the situation. Back Of the whole
Of this outstanding warfare is the
guiding hand of one of these con-
cerns-the native one. And this is
interesting person in a group that
contains not a single negligible
character. The plot is a compli-
Gated one, but IL is never a confused
one: The spell Of the Canadian
background is here. strong and ir;
life, conspiracies that result in a
strike OF bolshevistic brand, in at
tempt to shut Off communication
with the forest supply in firebug
operations. in all the damaging in
ss that ean be OF
romance fulfills itself. That is in
teresting. too. But, after all. it is
tho shadowy man in the twilight
that enlists sympathy and regret
finely robust affair-this adven-
ture of the north.
THE DAY OF THE BEAST. BY Zane
Grey. author OF ITO the Last
Man" etc. New York: Harper &
Bros.
Zane Grey, for the purposes of. this
novel, makes use of a small American
city-it stands for any American
town or community. The story sums
to an after-the-war picture of life as
this bears, in particular. upon the re-
turnAd anldier nnon yp,rp q
girls released from SO many of the
traditional restrictions by the war
in one of its indirect effects. The title
indicates the spirit of this romance.
It is. a black story from the first page
to the last. getting its direction from
the rather futile effort of one re-
turned soldier to set things right
where everything is absolutely wrong.
The girls are running wild, with mis-
hap overtaking each in turn. The SOL
diers are dazed and embittered by
neglect and indifference from those who.
but a few months before. had crowd
ed honors upon them. In a spirit of
deep resentment at the treatment of
the returned soldier the natter moves
forward and out into some blank place
of suspension. The reforming boys
simply die out of a job that is too
much for them. The girls are still 60
ing on at the rapid rate with which
they are moving at the beginning of
the story What is the purpose OF a
novel like this one? Where does it
hope to come out, what to achieve?
MORTAL COILS. BY Aldous Huxley.
author Of Limbo" etc. New York
George H. Doran Company.
Aldous Huxley pops and bangs and
barks like a machine gun He emits
surprising sparks. like an electric
current short-circuited. The display
is a good one, managed just right.
with most diverting effect. The fuss
set up runs along a line something
like this: ''Oh. why. why don't the
women let US alone?" This. in sub
stance, is the motive that sets up the
action of three of these four short
stories. The men are bored, simply
bored to death. by the general onset
OF tho women. But. despite this
deadly weariness, they are too weak
to stand the women OF, too feeble to
let them alone. This Is the complex
out of which everything happens here.
from murder to seduction. And this
writer is as open and as brutal as a
small boy in his disclosures. He's a
clever child, a regular ferret for
prying, and as savage as q young
Indian with whatever he has in hand
Entertaining? Very. However, II you
like to think well of your kind. just
pass the young man by. If. on the
other hand. you are out for the truth