Evening star., 1924-09-28

|
| the artist himself it is a study calcu-
lated to broaden his vision by its all
| around sweep and to heighten his
| interest in his own field by it's COM
| parison and contrast with fields al
| lied to the one occupied by him.
UNCONVENTIONAL MEMORIES. BY
Ralph Nevill, author of Mayfair
| i and Montmartre." etc. illustrated.
New York: George H. Doran Co.
BY passing usage-not by accepted
authority-there has been assigned to
| the word unconventional the some
| what shady content of certain be-
| haviors, individual and sociat 1t is
/ important to say at once that the
! memories" in hand bear no such ir-
regular and temporary connotation.
Rather is this the contemplative re-
view of life which. though personal
and individual. embodies in effect the
| life of an eutire class in the English
social whole Herein lies both the
| charm and value of the book. A
| mans memories" are generally
he himeslf has, in one way or another,
| been worth while" Here Mr.. Nevill
qualities in great shape. The first
half of the book goes back to the
school days in England, embodied
| here in the author himself and his
! immediate associates. Out of this
one gets a full and informing picture
| of that which most other writer's
in passing have touched less freely
| and intimately. The second half OF
| the book covers personal recollec-
tions of travel throughout Europe,
| into Persia, across over into Japan. In
| an easy way of talking the author,
| wherever he goes, lifts off what ap-
pears to be the cream of events or of
| objects for our entertainment, those
| of special significance to the various
| peoples under consideration or of
| special moment to the world at large.
| Interesting as this latter half of the
memories is. it is upon the first
| fullneSS of detail, in it comprehensive
| ness. that the lasting substance of
| the story lies. There is the quality
| of youth throughout these recollec-
| tions. Indeed, one gets rather per-
| picked after while at the continued
lustiness of these memories. This
order of writing gives the effect of
many years as rule. So, to settle
the question, one goes a-hunting this
mans birth date. AN early memory
of being held up to see the Shah of
Persia as his train passed through
Petersfield station in 1S72"-that's s
| all, but that is enough to satisfy. He
is still young and feels it, so the
memories themselves partake of his
youth. Most enjoyable for this rea-
son and many others.
FRAYCAR'S FIST. BY Mary Heaton
Worse. New York: Boni & Live
right.
| A dozen and more short stories by
Mary Heaton Worse. If this were a
! classroom and | were a school teacher
I'd select some of these Stories-al
most any one of them would serve
for direct objective illustration of
| those points of purpose and struc-
ture that distinguish the short story
! from the long one, and that set within
| the unity of the short story its action
and suspense and steady ascent to-
| ward its high point, toward the OBJ
| jective elimination of the purpose it
| self. But I'm not a school teacher
SO I'll content myself with the
| thought that that teacher stuff is all
| true and more is true. These stories
| are moments out of life-yours and
mine. They At the human anywhere,
in Japan, or Timbuctoo. or kalama-
| zoo, or New York. For while the outer
! incident may vary according TO
! climate and custom, the human ele-
ment does not change much. IT can
be counted to react pretty much the
| same the "prlC over unuer the ele
| n.ental stimuli of hunger for food or
hunger for love, under injustice
under ambition. and so on through
| the whole line of human needs
Original stories, in so far as there is
chance for much of originality. Fol-
| example. there is the story of THE
Girl Who Wanted d New Face" Not
at all-not the everlasting girl who
wants to rival in beauty Helen and
| Itlpon3t-1 nd daln br
girl is already as beautiful as any
of these one would say. After a few
experiences, such as any beautiful
girl is likely to face. this poor girl
was praying for face that could
not be to her d source of unfaiIine g
| betrayal. That is the kind of origi.
| nality that these stories are likely
| to present, and to present il in a
way that makes them carry straigh,
into ones acceptance and thorough
| enjoyment.
BLACk-EYED SUSAN. By Joslyn
| Gray. illustrated by +. c. Cas-
well. New York: Charles Scrib-
ners Sons
This is one of the fables invented by
| certain authorS-themselveS indubitably
youns-for the edification and delight
of young girls. Bright and wholesome
stories. Susan, the heroine of this one
is clearly lazy. Not her own fault Nc
| child is lazy. Rather not interested ir
the line of action set before it. Susan's
frailty is the direct effect of the
mother-myth, that of passionate love
for the young. Self-sacrifice, wholly
gratifying to the vanity Of the mother
completely ruinous to the child, worked
in the case of Susan as it always works
| where the mother-myth is most actively
| INIT ri
see her, Susan is as helpless as a
Graded baby. SO she would have con-
| tinued had it not been for the timely
| advent of a Snappy SpinSter relative whc
| originated and carried out the heart
breaking plan of sending Susan out
| West to visit old Aunt MahaIa Mum.
| ford, an ogre of an aunt, so rumor said
| In breathless terror, Susand went her
| way. And under the wizardry of hel
beauty and helplessness. Aunt Mahala
proved to. be no ogre at all-rather. q
maudlin old woman, wax in the hands
of this soft young thing. Here the fable
sets in. In the twinkling Of an eye
true to biblical promise-Susan was
| changed. Without sign or warning she
became not only the angel of that house.
hold, but its arbiter as we'll She rescued
| a poor slavey from the abuses that ole
Mahala was putting upon her. She her.
| self did marvels of housework to hell
the downtrodden girl. She took hand
at out-of-doors, giving quite a Maud
Muller touch to the hay fields of that
Western prairie farm. Incidentally Susan
| refused the fortune of Aunt Mahala
| who would have made her the sole he'll
to her not inconsiderable store. Others
had a right as well as she, SO Susan
said, as she consented to accept what
she thought to be her rightfuI share
You catch the quality Of this recon
| atructed girl from these allusinnS Tc