Evening star., 1928-08-25
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Il. TRACEU ELL.

for Italy and later France, when he
was forced to leave the former country
\ X
The author rather overdoes his
theme that Louis and Oliver were one
and indivisible In an effort TO DrllB
out this fact. Ncumann deScendS TO
some talk that might be effective II II
were not silly.
Yet this mitigateS iii no way against
the narrative skill with which he nam
dies the mere story of the uniting OF
the evil King and the even more eVil
man he makes his chamberlain ana
confidential adviser,
The uncanny thing about this book
is the evident fact that the author
somehow fell in love with his devil.
Could one, Off hand. find anything to
admire about a man who committed
all the crimes in the catalogue, gave ms
wife to another man, then ConniVed In
her self-p0iSoning?
Yet Neumann not only loves him,
the reader plainly senses but builds up
his story so that this evil fellow actu-
ally does what might be termed in the
vernaCular Sidney Carton act in
the last chapter And he works out
his story so well that the reader Is hall
minded to agree with hing. until ne
suddenly throws off the sinister spell
which the story hos woven over him.
One may hesitate to believe that a
real human devil-~and Necker was all
of one--would sacrifice himself on the
altar of his strange duty to the dynasty.
We NAV swallow the devil doing evil,
but the devil doing good is a bit too
much Yet it cannot be gainsaid that
the last scene which ends this fitful
tragedy is in keeping, 1t may strike
some readers as convincing. But We
had to laugh at one sentence, THE
hangman was a kindly man"
X e
While the devil is the ostcntatious
hero. Death is really the main char
aCtcr Perhaps 10 story has ever de
pictcd the fear of death with more in
tensity. The King. in his evil latter
days fears the coming of death so
wildly that he retires TO a fortress,
where, surrounded by walls. guards and
traIjs. he attempts to foreStall the dread
arrival.
The King. his devil, and all France
seem forgotten in this mighty struggle.
which is picture Of n universal strug-
gle, softencd to most of mankind by
other factors. IT is not mitigated for
the King. Death strikes him hard with
paralysis. blow by blow knocking him
down. and down
The last days of the King present
what one must believe to be gorgeous
picture, a wonderful literary presenta-
tion OF just what the last days Of such
a man. in such an age, must have been.
This is the achievement Of reality, a
quality which foreign authors somehow
secure easier and with less fuss than
English writer's Contrast Dickens
death of Little Nell.
We recommend this book 10 the ro-
bust reader II Is full of the unex-
pected 1t is not like any book the
average reader has read. The phrase
ology is different. the psychology Is
different. the scenes different. II is
not nice" book at all, and we would
reiterate that 1t Is for the robust reader.
Such one will find 1t absorbing as
narrative, and unusual as history
made into a novel. Personally we
much prefer Dumas. His stories will
live when this Is forgotten But "The
Devil does give picture of what life
must have been like away back there.
and II is good to read it--even if
shocked--in order to be able to con-
raSt the sanity, cleanliness and safety
of modern life with their lack in those
days. and to come away more apprecia-
tive of electric lights. radios and bath
rooms, and Of the spiritual decencies
which these clean things symbolic.