Diversions On A
Penny Whistle
(Continued from page three)
not well-considered, neither are his
love affairs deeply felt—except the
last love of his life, Clementina.
Only in Clissold’s story of her, do
we sense the wistfulness, the de
siderium, the longing, which goes
with true romance. The only touches
of poetry in the novel, and the only
convincing moments of emotional
intensity, are in this last episode.
And even here, the mood is elegiac
rather than really poignant.
Wells brings many of his famous
contemporaries into the novel. But
he does not individualize them or
dramatize them at all. I had hoped
to get new light on Maynard Key
nes, on Jung, on Lloyd Georgi, on
Bernard Shaw, and Dean Inge. But
Wells takes no pains with his ac
count of them. They might as well
be fictitious nobodies, for all that
we learn of them. Wells even brings
himself in, as he did in Joan and
Peter. But he does not even prove
to be his own best subject.
There is still no doubt that Wil
liam Clissold bears the very form
and pressure of its time, in the
journalistic sense. The allusions are
brought up to date: right down to
the middle of 1926. But the form
and pressure are of the time: they
are not for all time. For there is
here no evidence of the creative
imagination at ,work to iem!body
deeply felt and strongly realized
conceptions. After a careful read
ing of the work, I recall only the
phrase, “Panta Rhei,” which is from
Heraclitus; and an inapt remark
that “Dean Inge prefers the light
Moselle of Neo-Platonism to the
heavy port of Catholic doctrine.”
This last is a silly remark to make
of one of the greatest scholars and
the noblest religious mystics of our
time. But this whole account of
William Clissold and his world did
not convince me that Wells has
here added much to our feeling for
the dignity of human nature—and
this in spite of the tragic ending of
the story.
THE REVIVAL OF MANNERS
Bon Heelit—“Count Bruga”—
The worst novel of bad manners
I have even seen. A savage, direct,
heavy-handed, heavier-footed satire
on Bohemian society in New York.
Count Bruga is a poet and |an
atrocity; ho lives by keeping track
of studio teas and buffet suppers
for the artists. He oats all the re
freshments unless they got to the
buffet in time to prevent him; ho
was once known to devour all the
food prepared for ten guests, be
fore tho hostess noticed what ho
was doing. Ho is probably the low
est amorist oven in naturalistic fic
tion. Tho novol is almost as bad as
its central figure; it is messy, lump
ish, and ill-constructed. I have
hoard a'rumor that it was written
to gratify the author’s spite against
Maxwell Rodenheim. Incidentally,
it should bo sure of a success of
scandal. It. is full of sordid squalor,
and is both off-color and out of key.
Carl van Vechten—“Nigger Heav
on”—Harcourt, Brace & Howe
Vivid impressions of the negr<
smart-set in Harlem—all tho luric
warmth, tho intensity, the garisl:
color, the blend of the blues and
the spirituals, the life of tho streets
the cabarets, and tho homes. There
is a sympathetic account of the con
trust, between the two worlds, black
and white. Most of van Vechten's
characters are golden-brown; the
aristocrats of the negro world. The
hero, Byron, is conceived in far
more human terms than any of van
Vechten’s previous attempts’ at char
acter drawing. Working so much as
he does in description of manners,
and in the elaboration of “Fire
craekers and smart phrases, van
\ ectjfen has sometimes been con
tent with types instead of Individ
ual characters. Smart writing tends
tr,o»-;jnrJ characters who are polished
''Ui shallow, good pegs for clothes
and epigrams, but not very sub
stantial in their humanity, jlut
van Vechten has to some extent laid
aside his smart manner; he is really
moved by his subject. The women
characters, Mary and Lasea Sar
toria, the “ daemonische frau” of
Harlem, are well drawn. Oauipaspe
Lorillard (who is really that famous
New York Kgeria, Muriel Draper, so
1 have heard) turns up again in this
story. This is one of the few echoes
of “The Blind Bow Boy.” Nigger
Heaven is in a much more sincere
vein. The currents of feeling run
deeper, and there is a real feeling
for human nature, especially when
it is quite close to earth.
Ruth Siukow—“Iowa Interiors”—
(Knopf) —
More drabness of the middle west,
set forth in asbestos grey and a low
keyed style. Monotony exists: why
amplify it?
Meade Minnigorodo -''Some Amer
ican Ladies”—
Impressionistic portraits of the
wives of the lirst six presidents.
Abigail Adams and Kaehel Jackson
are particularly well done. The
studies are not much affected by !
the Stracliey -Bradford habit of
“framing lies in the best fashion.” j
Minnigorodo may be a novelist
working with real, instead of im- |
agined characters, but he does not j
put too much of his own tempera- 1
ment into the work. His documents- [
S tion is good, the excerpts from the
old periodicals are well chosen and
aptly used. We get some vivid
flashes on manners and morals in
post-revolutionary society.
S. G. Tallentyre—“Women of the
Salons” (reprinted.) (Scribners.)
Geoffrey Scott—“The Portrait of
Zelide”—Scribners.)
Cleone Knox (pseudo)—“The Diary
of a Young Lady of Fashion.”—
Appleton.
Eighteenth century manners re
vived. The golden age of epigram
here lives up to its title. And these
three authors have caught the triek
of eighteenth century style, so that
they can quote /eighteenth century
letters and memoirs without calling
attention to any glaring deficiencies
in their own writing.
Zelide, a Dutch beauty, was once
Boswell’s sweetheart. The Diary is
a bad fake antique (J. C. Squires
and Stuart Sherman saw this at
once); but it is no worse than a
rickety Louis Quinze chair or any
rococo relic, at that. And as for the
great Salonieres, what ladies are
there who are a greater delight to
the literary gossip?
Gamaliel Bradford—“A Naturalist
of Souls” (reprinted with several
additions)—
The sub-title is “Studies in Psy
ch ography.” Bradford claims to
have derived his method of intimate
portraiture from Sainte-Beuve; but
he follows his master from a long
way behind. The portraits in this
volume are more intimate than con
vincing. The estimate of Donne,
that earlier gloomy dean of St.
Paul’s, is good. But Bradford is
subject to strange lapses and his
eyes seem often to get out of focus.
He is at his worst when he tries to
lay down general moral truths. He
is often not equal to his subjects,
and when he gets away from rather
light and oblique reflections on sec
ond-rate men, he gets lost and flound
ors around hopelessly. This book is
good only in patches and the lapses
into the silly and trivial are very
exasperating.
Shelley Redlvivus
Elinor Wylie—The Orphan Angel
Elinor Wylie has the best man
nered style of any American novel
ist now writing. She keeps to the
tone of good company, she has
the perfect rightness of the best
eighteenth century women letter
writers. One, forgets that her style
is fulT of artifice and wonderfully
elaborated; for she avoids all sag
gestion of affection. She has de
lightful candor, and after writing
a most intricate and highly-man
ered period, she will laugh with
the most delicious gayety at her
self. Not that she ever relaxes, 01
turns self-epnscious. She is always
the great lady, but a wry good
woman too. She is a work of art,
ami knows it, but she contrives t-o
pass through sophistication and
arrive at naivete again.
Where her earlier novels, Jenni
fer Lorn and The Venetian Glass
Nephew could at most inspire gal
Nephew, could at most inspire gal
new work, The Orphan Angel, can
not but touch his heart.
* # #
Minor Wylie has resurrected
Shelley from the waters of the Bay
! of Leghorn, throwing in a. dead
I sailor who providentially is Slid
lev s double. Shelley comes to
America on a Yankee clipper ship.
Accompanied by a Yankee sailor
from Down ftast, lie tramps west
to Kentucky and California in
fT WTHIT71!IT7ITU J1IH TTIH nut imr
'rmTT’Al
^ COMPLETE SHOW 1
1 STARTS HALF AN I
HOUR AFTER THE
GAME TONIGHT
TONIGHT!
You can hear
’em laugh
for blocks—
Listen—
Just
And—
The second of
THE COLLEGIANS’
MERRY MACKS
are going great
Monday comes
RAYMOND
GRIFFITH \
in
‘ YOU'D BE
SURPRISED"
search of the lost twin-sister of th<
dead sailor. A simple plot enough
granted the initial improbability.
But it is in hier treatment o'
the theme that the beauty of th<
book lies. Imagine Shelley address
ing the foc-s-1, “I beg of you no
to inconvenience yourself, for
know that you must be fatigued.’
Conjure up the delightful contrasti
between Shelley’s exalted style. anr
the versatile profanity of Kentucky
hill-billies. Elinor Wylie’s virtuo
sity in indecorous language sur
prised me, for one hardly expect:
the eighteenth century mannerec
stylist, with a command of brittli
and shell-like periods, to excel als<
at setting down Millingstabe. Bu
she is in truth a virtuoso and ha:
a wide range of effects at her com
mand.
• • •
I remember a phrase in he:
novel, The Venetian Glass Nephew
‘ ‘ The delicately divided silence. ’
This exactly described the effec
of her style on the ear. After tin
sound had died away, one wonder:
what overtones have made it sc
exquisite; and a sort of after imagi
of the sound follows.
How perfectly she has caugh
Shelley’s very accent, that liigl
and gallivanting idealism, the su
iperblv pedantic language, the po
otic cadenza of his prose, and th<
recondite subjects of his thought
Here is the very echo of his let
tors and of his essays. And Mis
Wylie, being a poet herself, ha:
even ventured to write a few line:
in Shelley’s manner, and interpers<
them in the book. The lines an
thoroughly Shelley an.
The several heroines of the stor;
are delicate, fragile lovely erea
tnres, who become enamored o
Shelley at sight. How differen
Elinor Wylie’s touch is fron
Mauroiswhen she cymes to dea
with Shelley’s devotion to high ro
mance. She is the idealist, and ye
she is the perfect woman of tin
world, candid, unsentimental, am
untroubled by tabus. But she cast;
the glamor of a poetic temper ovei
Shelley and over all the romantii
incidents. Hers is a real ehivalrj
which corresponds to Shelley ’i
temper. Shelley is a far better sub
.ject, for a novelist than for a bio
grapher, in any event. But, li<
could not have hoped to secure ii
the accidents of time, a spirit s<
sympathetic and so responsive ai
Elinor Wylie. She has far tran
seended the limits vhich a manner
ed style usually imposes on a writ
or: here is a real and moving ex
perience.
TABLOID REVIEWS
Norma n Douglas—Exepriments.
A collection of critiques, slior
stories, and travel sketches by th<
author of South Wind and Alone
The writer is one of the most whim
steal, personal and wholly delight
ful rambling anecdotalists now a
U. of 0. SHOE SHINE
Shoes Cleaned and Dyed
Hats Cleaned and Blocked
Corner 13th and Alder
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Why Send It
Home to
Mother?
Did you over have too
many clean clothes?
While you are waiting
for clothes to return
from home aren't you
always running short of
something? Think of the
time wasted while your
clothes are on the road
to and from your home.
Then too your mother
no doubt has enough to
do without being bother
ed by taking care of
your clothes.
We will remedy all these
difficulties, save you
time and energy—Try
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“Up to the Minute in
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NEW
SERVICE
LAUNDRY
Phone 825
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i work—-or rather at play. You really
, should see him touch up Elinor
Glyn.
G. K. Chesterton—Corbett.
A lively sketch of the hardest
hitter and greatest old ironbiter
among English journalists of the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth
century. Corbett was a man after
Chesterton’s own heart: a great lov
er of roast beef, good beer (he hands
down many recipes), old cheese, and
the English farm laborer. And
ntore, he was a master of abusive
language. Chesterton urges a res
toration of Oobbett and his contro
versial manner: only so can English
1 remain a living language.
' Erillat-Savarin — “Physiology of
Taste.” tr. (Doubleday.)
The epicure’s bible, by the most
accomplished gourmet ajnd diner
out who ever kept his breath after
wining and dining, sufficiently to
make himself articulate. This book
is a wonderful aid to the consumer
; of good cookery; it will make him
1 aware that there is a connoiseurship
1 of food and drink. Dining here be
1 comes one of the fine arts.
* # #
Max Beerbohm—“Observations.”
More cartoons of ithe unlucky
contemporaries of the incomparable
Max. The legends are as funny as
the pictures. Ever since I read “The
Works of Max Beerbohm,” with its
suggestion for veiling one memorial
statute in London on every holiday,
I have always pounced on Max’s
books. In this work, he rather un
veils than veils his subjects.
, Anonymous—“Great American Ass.”
Neither great nor American,—the
third time’s the charm. This reads
r like a bad fabrication for True
Confessions, written by a reader of
, the American Mercury who ^as not
tough-minded enough to stand up to
' the pounding of Mr. Mencken’s big
j bass drunv
* • *
Sherwood Anderson—“Ta”
Hamlin Garland—“Trail Blazers of
the Middle Border.”
Both significant documents in Am
“OUTWARD
BQUND”
Presented by i
Moroni Olsen Players
-
Monday, January 24,
8:15
Prices: $2, $1.50, $1, 75c
(No tax)
iajajaja/sysMai3iafsisf3i3i3jaiBi3iajaisi3iai3is
eriean social, artistic and personal
history. To be reviewed next time.
THE DECAY OF MORALS
Judge Ben Lindsay—“Revolt of
Modern Youth”—To be reviewed
shortly.
Eleanor Rowland Wembridge—“Oth
er People’s Daughters”—By the
former Dean of Women and Pro
fessor of Psychology at Reed
College. To be reviewed shortly.
Select List of Biographies, Auto
biographies and Letters
To be reviewed later.
H. Rider Haggard—Autobiography.
Richard Aldington—Voltaire.
Joseph Farington—Diaries, Vols. 5
and 6. 1808-1811.
Carl Sandburg—Abraham Lincoln.
The Prairie Years, 2 vols. (Har
court.)
Sir Walter Raleigh—Letters. 2 vols.
(MacMillan.)
Abraham Yarmolinski — Turgenev.
(Century.)
Prince D. S. Mirski—Pushkin. (Dut
ton.)
A. W. Nevinson—More Changes,
More Chances.
Joseph W. Krutch—Edgar Allen
Poe.
Charles Meneriff, tr—Letters of He
loise and Abelard.
Beatrice Webb—My Apprenticeship.
Ask Any
Doctor!
The physician
prescribes nourishing
foods and plenty of
sleep as the two im
portant factors t o
good health. And,
were you to ask him
for one other, he’d
say - - PURE MILK
and plenty of it!
For, Milk is the
greatest health-giving
tonic obtainable - - a
builder - - an energy
producer - - a streng
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you’ll never say “hel
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it’s
Clean - - Pure - - In
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Order From Us!
Phene 638
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FARMERS’
CREAMERY
EUGENE
Phone 638 568, Olive St.
I SJS/STfiiSiSiHMfirSMS
SPECIALS
For the Week End
The great buying power of the Owl Drug Co., makes possible
the passing on to the public, many items at a very substantial
saving. Being exclusive dealers for their line in Eugene, we
ane able to offer you this advantage. This week-end we are
offering:
Squibb Mineral Oil . 89c
Squibb Dental Cream .39c
20e Aspirin .15c
$1.00 Hath Alcohol .69c
50c Milk of Magnesia .39c
50c Bay Rum . 25c
One Pint Witch Hazel .40c
50c Silk Skin Lotion .„.39c
25c Talcum Powder .19c
10 lbs. Epsom Salts .69c
20c Glycerine and Rose Water .10c
25c Peroxide .*.10c
50c Peroxide .15c
75c Peroxide . 25c
50c Gillette Razor Blades .39c
$1.00 Gillette Razor Blades .79c
Crown Drug Co.
JAMES H. BAKER
Miner Bldg. Eugene, Ore. Phone 146
5. I. Fausset—Samuel Taylor Cole
ridge.
Barrett H. Clark—Eugene O’Neill.
Isaac Goldberg—The Man Mencken,
and Havelock Ellis, by the same
author.
Bameron Rogers—The Magnificent
Idler (this is Walt Whitman.)
Beorges Clemenceau—Demosthenes.
r. E. Welby—Arthur Symons, A
Critical Study.
Bill Nye—Hia Own Life Story.
RIALTO
Theatre
Junction City
Sunday
“The Blue
Eagle”
with
George O’Brien
Filmed with the coopera
tion of the U. S. Navy
Learn to Dance Well
Ballroom—Valencia—Ballet
—teachers—
| Katherine Stang & Milton George
j Feature daaices furnished
Phone 2279; Hours, 1 to 9 P. M.
STANG’3 DANCE STUDIO
90 E. 9th St. (upstairs)
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You don’t need to send j
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returned safely to you.
Send it to the—
[ Eugene
i Steam
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| Phone 123
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You Will Find Just
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ANTIQUE
BROOCHES and BUCKLES
A New Lot of
EAR DROPS
Como in and look them over
HOFFMAN’S
Jeweler and Optician
790 Willamette
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~ Also Pastel Felts—Gage and Madge Evans j
| In All the New Shades
j CALL AND SEE THEM
|
j McDonald Theatre Bldg, 1026 Will.
■
...
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