Evening star., 1924-03-01
The Library Table
BY THE BOOKLOvER

which a writer of fiction might copy
right his characters for all time.
Some creators of successful charac-
ters have been obliged to kill them
off prematurely, to the sorrow of af-
fectionate readers, for fear that sue
ceeding writer's Of less originality
might borrow the characters and cap
italize their popularity. Addison Is
said to have ended his de Coverley
Papers" with the death Of the simple,
kindly Sir Roger for this reason, and
Trollope brought Mrs. Proudie to an
untimely end because he did not wish
any one else to take liberties with
her personality. Who knows but that
some humorist might have reformed
meek spouse who knew her place?
Fielding ridiculed Richardson's PA
mela ~ creating for her a mascu-
line prototype in the form of
brother, Joseph Andrews" More re-
Gently Sir Harry Johnston has; in
THE Gay Dombeys," attempted to
supplement Dickens. Even Shake
speare has not been immune from
such tampering. for st. John Ervine
has written a play "The Lady of
Belmont" in which he tries to upset
all Shakespeare's conclusions in THE
Merchant of Venice"
X X 4 +
Easing his plot on stray sugges-
! tions in Shakespeare's famous play.
st. John Ervine works out q sequel
in which Shylock appears as not such
! a bad fellow after all, Bassanio as a
far from satisfactory husband, Anto-
MO as q stupid bore, Jessica as a
loose woman and Nerissa as shrew.
We are glad that he leaves. us our
| illusions about Portia, because many
Of us have always considered her
Shakespeare's finest woman. In The
Lady of Belmont" Shylock is shown
as victim of injustice Uhere Is rea-
son for this point of view to be found
In Shakespeare's portrayaD. and as
rising above his prosecutions and be-
| coming u undetermined. forgiving
senator of Venice, who straightens
out all the petty intrigues at Belmont
and even offers to lend Bassanio some
money. BasSanio, whom most Shake
speare students have always rather
despised as entirely unworthy of Por
| tia, is developed by St. John Ervine
into a spendthrift and a philanderer
who attempts to seduce willing
Jessica, but is prevented by Shylock.
Antonio becomes a tlresome, boastint
dotard, who can talk of nothing but
the trial and the pound Of flesh.
K X x x
Readers who are inclined to avoid
books entitled "Anthropology." "Evo-
! luton" and Biology" for fear. that
they will soon find themselves en-
quilted in a sea of abstruse words and
technicalities or bored by fne-spun
arguments, can take up with perfect
confidence THE Coming of Man." by
John NJ Tyler, professor emeritus Of
biology In Amherst College. The
book is written in simple, charming
style and in 135 pages tells the STORY
of mans slow and endless coming"
in a way that makes that story very
vivid and vital. l was especially
struck. in his chapter on "The Dawn
Of Civilization" by the authors
statement that woman was the real
originator of agriculture. While
savage man was hunting. savage
bulbs. some of which were lost.
sprouted and grew. Woman, noticing
this. pulled away the snothering
weeds. and possibly loosened the soil
| with her digging stick. This was
the beginning of the garden, far far
culture is woman's work. Her
knowledge of plants made her the
first herbalist and botanist, the first
physician. She has founded ag-
riculture and given 1T high position
and value" To prevent the men and
! boys from eating up all the seed
grain and growing roots in time of
scarcity. the woman enlisted the help
of the priests, who instituted the ter
rors of the taboo. Finally as the
garden grew apace and as game be-
came scarcer she drafted the man to
guide the pIow. SO that man became
the farmer. By this means he is no
! longer foot-free to roam and wander
as he will. He is being tanned and
house and home broken" These
quotations will give the flavor of this
small book on great subject re-
Gently issued in the series of Am
herst Books"
X * * !:
Those who especially admire and
those who especially detest Carl
Sandburg's peculiar type of poetry
will equally be interested in some
comments on it made by Samuel Nc
Chord Crothers In his essay New
! Poets and Poets Not So New" in
volume, The Cheerful Glver. @ ME-: IL:
| sympathize with the "old-fa shioned
reader. when we take up Carl Sand
burg's Chicago Poems: While we
admit his power. we feel a certain
( lack of urbanity In his greetins.
| Hog butcher of the world.
| Tool maker stacker of wheat
I PLAYER With railroads, nations freignt
| Stormy husky, brawling.
! City Of the biz shoulders
| "Ssndburg evidently believes in
!treating his readers rough. He slaps
us on the back. rolls us in the mud,
shows US sights we don't want 70
see. introduces us to people We don't
want to know and then a~ks US
how we like Chicago. To SIT win
| a dynamiter at supper In German
saloon eating steak and onions is
! q broadening experience. But the
description of 1t seems to LEND ltselI
to prose rather than to poetry. we
read:
ar rnav an ice handler who wears . flannel
| shirt with pearl buttons the size Oh
And he Jugs hundred.pound hunk into s.-
| ana ne Ioon 1s box and helps himself to cold ham
and rye bread ,v
"1s that the way to begin q poem?"
| 4 * j; X
| mankind at the Crossroads, an
interestingly written and scholarly
work by Prof. Edward NJ East OF
| Harvard, is a book to make the
reader "stop, look and listen its
nurpose is "to present a picture OF