New-York tribune., 1922-10-15

E&4S1}. 1sssssts
- ERE. in Mr.. Somerset Maug-
hams "on a Chinese
Screen" we have book
which, by every rule of the
up.so-date American critical
..n. . should be roundly panned- For
d. written, not in the Kings Yiddish,
~ sie Kings Kansas-N Nebraskan, nor
~ ~ xdnr,s Columnish, but In the
Ixiasy English; even, in certain tense.
is dramatic passages, in what York
,sbiYe ggentleman Of my acquaintanee
Es,s,ls .KiAg's bloody English 1t does
rad like bad translation of a
,pussian book, but ~ unpardon-
/ shI. refense,--is written with beauty
:. Judd and exquisite as vase Of Ko-
zoo ssth In rank among the Middle
Kingdoms perfect porcelains. 1t does
I -. ,s.nsenize the dreams Of the late
y. Hd. China's first emperor, after
4 81. invention OF the eight mystic tri-
Grams; nor does it psycho-analyze the
~esessons of the globe-trotting Wichita
Falis sfiapper, recently arrived in
1 Shanghai when she discovers that the
Chinese coolies have two yellow, bare
*,fset apiece, each adorned with Ave
. tsilo%3 bare tees.
What else can ! say against the
1 ssek? oh, yesi
+ Although 1t deals with the Orient,
] Il does not pity the heather, or even
tnatronizcs him It alludes not to the
Essvefy Of women or to the White
| Man's Bnrden-such a profitable bur-
| del, to carry about, at thousand per
cent profit year on the Investment
lor to inscrutable, unfathomable eyes.
I1s describes no opium dens except 70
sunpare them favorably, as to cleanli-
ness and modest, soothing Mongoi
Il shrm, with the saloons of the Aryau;
\ 4 doess net harrow cur souls with a
Il Nanehu bandits private little drawing
ikbona pogrom that has a matyrized
missionary as the piece de resistance
8It hardly mentions the latter at all ak
3eept to say that some Of them may
HE saiats, but that few of them are
Rgents.
|A In short, it is a truthful book.
Fsok of charm and distinction and
{ cen observation; book with a
llread, beneath all it's simmer and
4 II irF n arS -,
slzatipna elegy; a book with sudden
dramatic high-lights and sudden bits
Iof character vignettes that, almost
Iafrench in their terse ra6inense,tt and
\ their merciless logic, show why Mr..
\ Maughain the successful novelist and
1 essayist' IS also Mr.. Maugham the sue
eessiui playwright, though unpraised
| and ansung by League and Guild, by
Serious Thinkers and all. the recent
E hncssen youths cursed with occupa-
+ p1si diseases of the mind and the
Aszfsisca. This book is recommended
u tbs average reader as three solid
hours of exquisite beauty and stark
truth, and to the young American
srsef'short of plots and local color as
? Fefrable treasure trove. But let
hin beware! Not for moral reason
I}sts shim swipe who may!-but for ar
fsa'ic and, by the same token, practical
'sasons, since he will have swiped in
vain unless he be another Maugham,
sha knows how to weave garment Of
fnance close to the loom of fact,
And, finally, quite personal, quite
hiatic giving of thanks from reviewer
hsnthor:
x lom fou sing-may the star Of hap
saess protect your book and bless it!"
MFR JAMES REID MARSH, the
w author of "The Charm of the Mid
die Kingdom" is another author guilty
Of objectionable offense--his particu-
lar one being really absolutely unfor-
givable in the eyes of nearly every
European or American resident Of
China. il we except few men of the
Robert Hart and DR.. Morrison breed
and the charming, cultured, tolerant
gentlemen who wear the cassock of
the cSeeiety of Jesus. For Mr.. Marsh
has actually learned Chinese, the
quickest method Of becoming an out
cass' among his kin in the Far East, a
sure proof Of the Rising Tide of
Color,
Mt Marsh, furthermore, stepped him
seln N Chinese lore and culture and
pnllosopay, thereby entering, as he
Russ J. himself, into a princely her
itaage, But what did the former Emperor
r aGermany say? "Volker Europas,
@eAret re- Eure heiiigstem CATER" C"Races
W. europe, guard your most sacred
syssssss'onsW ssssss q Lothrop Stoddard has
T.s Tavsd 1ae warning, SO has Professor
s,Ms.y Fairheid Osborn, SO has the
snSs ss oI california, so has Australasia,
,assIn .s nele :, comes this Marsh fellow, and
sns sius onlnese, and likes the Chinese,
f,sss;.es S aunires them and their art, their
sshna;osopng, sha;9 their music, their morals,
aa,s ,,n sasais, their liquor, their flap
ss, rs,i.m org their food, thus almost auto
| l''s.ly ssls putting himself outside the
sag ssatSs y the Ku-Klux Klan and every
issssa, lucent organization which de-
,"I.y ma y aoids that unless man be pink
hssa M Ian. skinned and Christian he
nn .ste right to exist, and absolutely
fa;,nssaas 70 demand or even to expect
Nsrss Nsss ana Justice, Besides this, Mr..
% vor,sr seems to have penchant for
Il ~ lyeiiow) and wine (red). There
10 hs eoaDe about it: Mr.. Marsh ought
NJ ~ eafred and feathered.
Nsnsso oook is more naive than Mr..
III sih r;.h less sardonic, less dramatic,
irhtnnassna rather typically American
sioSlae siLess ! Of touch and sympathy. 1t
sheIgs.a aase an honorable place on the
toms. = 81 every sinophile, next to the
I'D + '0s :; J: Hardy, Putnam Weale
Marsh ~ 80 from Messrs. Vaughan and
she sv pr.sa ar Bertrand Russell and his
rohlem of China.p
~ sM.;loW, '..;l. appalled,, contrite and
|sselp. aghtly ashamed before Mr.sRus-