Evening star., 1924-11-16


Children" etc. New York: Charlie:
Scribners Sons.
N overdue novel. For GER
n tainly it is high time tina
"A the other side should hav,
L its day in court. We are
tired of the exploitation OF
the under dog at the hands oI
writers keen to the popularity OF
their theme and it's bearing upon casf
returns. That top dog should have
hearing-and he gets it here. not II
a made-up story but in one that Of
fcrs thousands of examples all over
this country of it's truth, both In fact
and Implication. From The New
comes Arthur Train draws this IL
Illuminating verify as summary Oh
The Needles Eye''-"It does not
follow that all men are honest be-
cause they are poor; and nave
known some who were friendly and
generous. although they had plenty
of money There are some great
landlords who do not grind down
their tenants; there are actually
bishops who are not hypocrltes; there
are liberal men even among the
Wings, and the radicals are not all
aristocrats at heart" This is the
story of the house of Graham & Co
Graham. son of this rich and power
full house. \ fine fellow. A man OF
his word \ lard working man In
wide fields of industry. Fair-dealins
and friendly with everybody-work-
men, partners. everybody. n man OF
vision, doing finely constructive
things that come back to the adVan-
tage of laborer as we'll as employer
And this is the story of the hatred
and envy and suspicion and plot that
gathered about the straightforward
course of John Graham The needles
eye as a passageway to the kingdom
of Heaven is a wide-open door COM
pared with the aperture through
which John Graham was required to
pass into the trust and good Will OF
n public eternally stirred to violent
reactions by self-interested agitators
and sentimental advocates Of the
under dog. The stamp of Arthur
Trains work is sober sincerity
He makes no use Of any of the arts
of literary advertisement. He is
oblivious to the waves of erotic and
ueurotic dementia that the average
novelist wallows around in. He tells
A straight story, here drawn from a
very Significant and neglected. phase
of current life. A fine story. The
same power to him again.
THIS ABOVE ALL. BY Harold Speak
man, author of Beyond Shang-
hal" etc. indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Co.
4 big theme Harold Speakman has
chosen to set to dramatic action here
Honesty of the most elusive and diff
ficult sort. since it's point is honesty
with ones self. Easy enough not to
lie, nor to steal, nor to bear false
witness against a neighbor, nor to
murder. nor to defraud. Yet almost
impossible not to lie to ones self, not
TO steal from ones self, not to traduce
and malgn ones own soul. To be
self-honest-"thisa above all''-such is
the center around which this excep-
tionally fine development revolves. 1t
Is the story of a young painter of
talent and promise who wakes to the
fact that nothing he has done in the
way of his art is actually hiS-a touch
here is that of Whistler. or of Manet,
or of Corot, or of another beloved
artist-of anybody save himself. A
part of this story interestingly de-
veloped in the art corners of New
York City goes into the awakening
of this youth to the fact that he is
unconsciously trying to copy the
painters who have inspired him. that
the spark to light his own individual
fire of talent, or genius. This awak-
ening is followed by a somewhat
panic-stricken flight. away from all
secondhand contacts with his me-
dunn and himself. This fight takes
him to the interior of China, where
large part of the story unfolds
and unfolds in a knowledge and in
ttmacy equal to that which makes
the New York section of the mar
rative so vivid and interesting A
thread of romance, itself an obtrusive
but very real part in the rebirth of
this tormented young artist, adds
beauty to a story of great charm in
itself and of clear distinction in it's
workmanship.
TEMPERAMENTAL PEOPLE. By
Mary Roberts Rinehart, author of
*" etc. New York: George H.
Doran Co.
Eight short stories. each of which
projects the drama of temperament
that crisis through it's own peculiar
sources Of stimulation. it's own
modes of action, and producing its
own inevitable effects. One of these
Is about a cowboy and one Is about a
queen. And, in between, are almost
equally divergent themes. But, all
alike. deal with some high moment
OF decision or action, not again to be
repeated in the particular life at the
moment most concerned. Strong
stories-all of them. Vivid and vi
tai stories projected in a vigor that
nevertheless holds in satisfying
abeyance the occasional overbuoy-
ancy of the author herself. a quality
that now and then gets in between
the story and the reader. Mrs. Rine-
hart has not done more finished and
waywise work than is displayed by
this volume of short stories.
IN A sHANTUNG GARDEN. By
Louise Jordan Min. author Of "Mr.
w." etc. New York: Frederick A.
Stokev Co.
A picture Of amazing beauty-this
Chinese garden. A rainbow of color,
riot Of growths-fowers, trees,
vines. grasses and ferns, velvet-clip-
ped. or standing man high; water in
fountain and lake and stream; bril-
liant birds and flaming butterflies
hill and vale and levels of emerald
green; broad roadways and hidden
paths; leafy retreats and bowers Sc
cluded by close-standing tree-stems.
A wonderful garden of ordered
beauty which at first glance is but
a spacious spread of gorgeous disar-
ray. Within this garden the lovely
story grows-the story Of the noble
family Of Yo, as it is set off against
the figure of Tom Drew, sent into
the East by his father upon some
mighty money matter. The Joy of
the romance lies in the picture of
Chinese life as 1t Is projected by this
family of long and noble lineage, a
picture whose appeal can spring only
from the artists familiar and loving
knowledge of the place and the situa-
tion. To be sure, there is a love story