Evening star., 1928-12-15
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Booklorer

Donald and Dorothy, or John and
Jane, who are in preparatory school
and are obliged to read David Copper
field and "A Tale of Two Cities" as
part of the English course. are not
likely to be either shocked or grieved
/ This Side Idolatry,' fictional
treatment of the life of Charles Dick
! ems. If boys and girls in school today
read the book at all, they probably re-
| fleet that it is not surprising that a
man who wrote such long novels had SO
4 many faults of character The genera
| tions which have loved Dickens feel
| quite differently about This Side
Idolatry." In recent lecture in Wash
ington, DR.. Richard Burton compared
! the treatment of Dickens by Mr.. Roberts
/, to the efforts of pigmy to pull a
| giant from his pedestal, and said that
after the strength of the pigmy was
| exhausted the giant still remained on
the pedestal.
He warned readers not to accept Mr..
! Roberts new Interpretation without
! looking up for themselves the authentic
| facts and considering the judgments of
Carlyle and others OF Dickens contem-
poraries. Mr. Roberts, on his part,
claims that he consulted all possible
sources of information, published and
unpublished, and interviewed surviving
| friends of Dickens before writing this
biographical novel. He mentions ma
terial hitherto unknown possessed by
descendants of Dickens godfather,
| whether or not Dickens had all the
faults attributed to him in This Side
Idolathy," he still remains the creator
of David Copperfield, Paul Dombey,
Uriah Heep. Smike, Fagan, Sairy Camp,
Mr.. Pecksniff, Tiny Tim, Sam Weller,
Mr.. Pickwick, Lizzie HeXam. Lady Ded-
lock, Thomas Gradgrind and all the
others in that large and varied family
which testifies to his versatility and
originality.
| 4 X
What are some of the faults which
Mr.. Roberts discovers in Dickens? Ger
tainly he has no tale of youthful wild
oats" to tell, for he says, when report
ing the engagement of Dickens to Kate
Hogarth, who became his wife: He
had never kissed any grid before. ex-
cept his sisters" Once married, Charles
the husband is represented as develop
ing into a selfish egotiSt, especially after
the success of "Pickwick Papers had
turned his head He scornfully threw
over a contract to write novel on the
j Golden Riots, which he had humbly
! welcomed when "Pickwick" was threat
ening to be a failure He took house
without consulting his wife, furnished
it to suit himself, and assigned the
rooms automatically.
His growing vanity alarmed his SEN
sible wife, who sometimes, for his good
made fun of his most unrestra1nsd
f1atterers and thereby incurred his dis
pleasure and made him think hiSAyoung
sister -in-law understood him better. In
a moment of confidence his mother told
his wife: Charles is kind of convol-
vulus, wholly wrapped up in himself.
He took to calling himself ''the Inimita-
ble" When second contract with a
publisher was broken, the conscientious
Kate said: "Oh, my love wish
YOU would avoid breaking your word
to these men" The climax of the in
dictment against Dickens comes at the
end of the book.
When past 40 and the father of nine
children he received badly spelled let
ter from his early sweetheart, Maria
Beadnell, asking to see him. Having
for some time been dissatisfied with his
wife's increasingly independent attitude
toward him, he recalled with pleasure
the days of his youth when the pretty
overdressed Maria had met him in the
shadow of ST. Paul's. He wrote to her
sentimentalizing over his former love
for her, and finally asked her to cal
at his house the following Sunday, Wher
4 he would be alone, but suggested thai
she first ask for Mrs. Dickens. Maria
discreetly declined the appointment anC
the affair resolved itself into dinner
| at the Dickens home, with Mrs. Dickens
| as hostess and Maria'S husband also
| present.
After surveying himself long in the
mirror, Dickens descended to the draw
ing room and "a stout. middle-aged
woman, arrayed in r,lstling red silk, hel
flagrantly dyed hair adorned with
artificial roses, her fat face plastereo
with rouge and powder, hustled toward
him." OF course, Dickens somewhat ex-
cessive fondness for his two sisters-in-
law, Mary and Georgina Hogarth, Is
mentioned When Mrs. Dickens left hel
husband, Georgina remained in charge
Of his home and children. The scene
of the final rupture between Dickens
and his wife, as given by Mr.. Roberts
is painful and melodramatic. Mrs
Dickens is made to say: And l. Charles
am weary of hearing you prate of cant
and humbug and hypocrisy.
You're the hypocrite: you, who boast
your contempt for money. and break
faith with every publisher! You, who
preach charity, and pillory your parents
and your friends in your books! You
who rant duty and faithfulness, and
desert me for painted actress!"
X x
George Bernard Shaw's book, 'The
Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism
! and Capitalism" which he has spoken
of as my will and last testament to
! humanity" sums up his beliefs as a
| Fabian Socialist. It is hardly to be
supposed that he intended the book for
only feminine readers. In fact, it con-
tains many direct hints to masculine
minds Though serious in purpose, it
| is Satirical in method and permits the
| reader to consider both socialism and
capitalism bit satirically, which is
perhaps as well as more intensely par
tisan methods of consideration. Some
of the chapters are entitled: Dividing
| u" ITO Each What She Produces" !"
ITO Each What She Deserves" ITO
Each What She Can Grab" "The Tyr
amy of Nature" Personal Righteous
ness" Your Shopping" "Your Taxes, ;"
How Wealth Accumulates and Men De-
cay" Women in the Labor Market" P"
Religious Dissensions," Socialism and
Children" Socialism and Liberty"
| X
Sponges are far more interesting than
they look when displayed in the win
dows of chain drug stores. William
Beebe knows SpongeS in the deep re-
ceSses of their underSea homes and tells
something of their personalities and
habits in his book, Beneath Tropic
Seas" Let us enter the realm Of
sponges," he says. with helmet hose
and pump in order, I slip off the port
gangway With last blop! of air l
submerge on my slim rope and slide
gently down past the schooner's hull" !"
Soon he is among the sponges. walking