Evening star., 1923-02-11
Reviews of New Books

distinguished and triumphant life as
a great genius.
THE CODE OF THE KARsTENs. BY
Henry Walsworth Kinney, Boston:
Little, Brown g. Co.
The Karsten code was a very decent
one. 1t ran along the line of chivalry,
not to covet another mans wife. not
to do wrong to any woman. once
however, in the course of generations
a karsten fell down and smashed the
decent code. Then. after the fashlon
Of those days. a holy man pronounced
a curse upon any Erik Karsten. who,
like the original sinner OF that name
had curly hair. That brings up TO
the Erik Karsten of the story 1t is a !
romance of mahy women tluttering
into one mans life-and then out I,
again. 1t is not altogether clear
whether the curse fulfills itself when
However. 1t is a swift-moving story
of Mary and Marguerite, of Helen and
Joan, of Barbara and Beatrice. These
are not the names, but these VIII 40
that. in turn. entranced and tor
mented the accursed Erik Karsten
Karsten goes the world over bringing
| up in Japan where he finds klkuryu,
| the geisha. This is love. Here ne
will stay forever in the peace and
| quietude Of Kikuryu's devotion. His
! boy comes out to Japan. When the
| story ends-soon after this-kikuryu
arms. A romantic version of the plain
| old truth that you get what you give.
| The story is, you see. solidiy oased.
AS a line of love event and incident
il is spread thin-haS to be to cover
/ the facts The pleasure, in the ro-
nance, and it contains pleasure. lies
in the author himself. in his knowi-
edge Of the far places of the world.
1 .1,, ho
put on some of the essentials OF hu-
man nature, in a thoughtful and po,
! etic handling of certain aspects OF
this development. What appears 10
! be fine equipment mere VIII go iiito
another story. just little better thah
! this one.
THE WHITE HEART OF MOJANE.
By Edna Brush Perkins. New
York: Boni and Liverlght.
"Charlotte and knew the outdoors
a little. Though we were middle
aged, mothers Of families and deeply
involved in the historic struggle Ior
the vote. we sometimes looked at the
sky" The author speaking. Ihen
follows an account Of the adventures
of these two as they Jared forth un.
der the particular span M,ior. OF SKY gesert seat
They had heard that the Mojaye was
region of reluctant friendliness;
calling for patience and sincerity and
some courage on the part or tnose on
also. that the Moiave, once convlnced
of the good quality of these. coula
turn over to them more thriils or
real adventure than could any otl.el
equal stretch of earth. no matte mater
There is no effort here to dress the
truth up past believing: 1t is. on the
whole, a plain story. il any story so
filled with freedom and rusty en-
| SofiSfaa OF wOn
der and beauty may be called a plaih
story. 1t is a convincing and lnvl,,
! ing account, exactly the KIND 10 leaa
other folks. other women, 10 Try II
for themselves.
PAGAN LOVE. BY John Murray Gio-
hon author of Drums Afar, etc.
New York: George H. Doran Com
pany.
The romance opens with rescue. A
vaeabond. Just on the edge OF drown
ing himself, leaps into the water to pun
out a man who has already gone under.
An accident, the latter, calling Tor
Gratitude in one form or another to the
rescuer From this point the matter
moves briskly TO the huge and perfect
business concern belonging to the one
| whose life has been saved. Ana mere
is where the vagabond-no Vasapono d.
ALL as matter of fact-getS MS ne"
. start and where he gathers in a very
| substantial success. He makes lrienus,
, in the business and outside OF it. He mas
both ability and personal charm. trau M :
ualIy a mystery develops INSIDE tne
. business. It is a tormenting. Intangible
something about the man who has SO SO
Completely proved himself a master IN IN
mystery runs out and touches the new
:, comerSall queer. all quite un-get.at-
able 1t touches. subtly but pnmis5ss1 b1s sossl
bahits upon every turn of his daily life.
AaSI't And this solicitude is sourced. always
in the head Of the great hopss e; well. We'll
snecIally interesting incident till II Is
time to open up the secret. to spread
omt the mystery. No. better read thai
part for yourself Enough It to say Ye,a taa.
7 SLa, e comes to the human all accept
ed rules Of calculation are likely 10
YOU will believe it, after all.