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THE PINEHURST OUTLOOK
under different circumstances, "Whether
it is worth while to go through so much
to learn so little is a matter of doubt."'
The Speculations of John Steole.
In "The Speculations of John Steele,"
by Robert Barr (Frederick A. Stokes &
Co.,) there are some graphic descriptive
passages, one of the best being found in
the first chapter. There the picture is so
vividly drawn we seem to stand ourselves
on the station platform, one train safely
sidetracked, while the late express thun
ders by, a terrible collision averted by
less than a minute of time. Likewise
the scene at the end of the line where all
are keyed up expecting word of the acci
dent, is a good bit of writing.
We grow fond of young John Steele as
he rushes about hatless in his energetic,
boyish manner and decidedly enjoy his
contact with Manager Blair. His conse
quent dismissal from the great railroad
company owned by "Mr. Roekervelt" (a
transparent disguise) his remarkable in
terview with that gentleman in the stolen
train all carry us along with a rush.
Then the author seems to lose his grip of
his hero.
When John is defrauded of his money
by Blair, and leaves for Europe declaring
that "the utter folly of hard work, faith
ful service and honesty has been brought
home"' to him, we expect developments
but he returns with all his old eagerness
save that now he devotes himself to spec
ulations, having lost his zest for hard
work. He enters into various projects,
on one occasion coming out victor in a
conflict with the Roekervelt system.
At last he finds himself opposed by a
power compared with which Mr. llocker
velt is child's play. Is "Peter Berring
ton" a creation of the author's made
from well-founded prophecies that such
a man will yet exist? The latter part of
the story seems feeble. The women aie
colorless throughout and the conclusion
flat.
When Copper Warn King:.
"When Copper was King," by James
North Wright, (Small, Maynard & Co.,)
is a book of historical value as well as
absorbing interest, recording incidents
of the early mining days in the Lake Su
perior country as they have never before
been recorded. To be sure a love story
is interwoven, but in the main the story
is a graphic picture of the experiences of
the pioneers in this industry, their rough
but heroic life, dealing with real charac
ters and the humor and tragedy of their
everyday life, with little coloring or ex
aggeration. Jt is a book which every
American should read.
The Joys of friendship.
"The Joys of Friendship," edited by
Mary Allette Ayer, . (Lee & Shepard,) is
a compilation of appropriate quotations
of prose and verse upon the joys of
friendship, dealing with the subject un
der the headings of the love, companion
ship, sympathy, influence, and immortal
ity in a way which show wide research
and keen sympathy on the part of its
author.
The lloune of fflUrth.
"The House of Mirth" by Edith Whar
ton, (Charles Scribner's Sons) undoubt
edly excites the most discussion of any
book of the season. Mrs. Wharton oc
cupies a position among novelists which
is purely her own. Her knowledge of
society, and especially of that peculiar
type known as New York society is ob
tained first hand. If therefore the pic
tures which she paints in "The House of
Mirth" are true portraits, (and it is
scarcely denied, that they are,) we may
be sure that recent revelations of cor
ruption in high places in the business
and financial world are only counterparts
of what the social life could reveal.
"The House of Mirth" cannot be con
sidered in the same way as novels which
are written merely to amuse. Beneath
the glitter of the lights of society,4 the
glimmer of its jewels, the flash of its wit
and the splendor of its luxury, we can
see the onward march of the action of a
tragedy as certain in its outcome as that
of the "Oedipus." Given a character like
that of Lily Bart and the environment jn
which she is placed, and any other end
ing than the one Mrs. Wharton gives
would be weak and futile. The fact that
in spite of her many weaknesses, Miss
Bart is guiltless of any real wickedness,
only serves to lender the result more
tragical, but cannot in any way avert it.
The persistence of her pursuit by Neme
sis, the constant undertone of the rustle
of the Furies' wings, the gradual descent
in the social scale of the beautiful para
site, the constant triumph of her mean
and unscrupulous friends who use her
for their own advantage, and relentlessly
cast her aside when she is no longer use
ful, her final struggle only to be over
whelmed, all produce, a picture of the
greatest strength and force. And the
air of trifling carelessness, the constant
pursuit of pleasure as an end in itself, the
entire absence, in fact, of all the heroics
of tragedy, only serve to bring into bolder
relief the inevitable doom which is im
pending. Those who wish to read a book which
will leave them with a comfortable feel
ing that wickedness has been properly
punished and that virtue has received its
due reward, should leave this book se
verely alone ; but for him who wishes
strength in the treatment of the subject,
faithful following of the effects which
given causes must produce, and unerring
fidelity to the rules of tragedy as dis
tinguished from melodrama in literature,
no better book . has appeared in recent
times than "The House of Mirth.'?
-1
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