Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Old Series, Vol. 36 New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885 by Various
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Various >> Lippincott\'s Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Old Series, Vol. 36 New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885
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"The Duchess Emilia" is one of those stories which ought to be withdrawn
from the province of criticism by the fact of their being the delight of
the reader, thrilling him with their weirdness and firing his imagination
by their splendid audacity. If the attention is so feebly grasped as to
permit one to reason about an impossible situation, it becomes at once
extravagant and absurd. One would require to be considerably carried away
by illusion to be moved by Mr. Wendell's story. The hero is a
New-Englander, born of mad parents (they met while both were patients in
an insane asylum); and this inherited curse would seem to be enough for
any hero to totter under. It becomes unimportant, however, when we
discover that he has furthermore been taken possession of at birth by the
spirit of a wicked and fascinating Italian duchess, who wishes to expiate
her crimes before leaving this mundane sphere. One might readily expect
some startling effects from the development of a plot thus removed from
the haven of probabilities and set afloat in a sea of the wildest romance.
The Duchess Emilia's repentance, however, seems to have ended the interest
of her career, and her good deeds are appallingly dull; in fact, her whole
personality thins away into insignificance.
"Across the Chasm" opens with fair promise, and our introduction to
Virginia life and a talkative old negro "somewhar up in de nineties" is
one which we should be glad to follow up by further acquaintance. This
serves, however, merely as preamble, and in the next chapter we are
transported to a city called Washington, although for characteristic
flavor it might as well be any other place, and we enter upon the events
attending a young lady's entrance into society. This might all be very
pretty and pleasant, except for the deadly seriousness of the author. It
is entirely frivolous and unimportant, but frivolity may be made charming
and full of suggestion. Points of etiquette and behavior engage the minds,
hearts, and passions of the personages of the story. It is a sort of
animated illustration of the little book called "Don't." For example,
"_Don't_ leave your overcoat and rubbers in the hall when you go to make a
call on a lady for the first time," receives practical exemplification
when Major King, a high-toned Southerner, with unbuttoned frock-coat and
baggy trousers, pays a visit to the heroine. He not only takes off his
overcoat and rubbers, but tilts his chair, stays till midnight, and in
every way calls down the wrath of that accomplished prig Mr. Louis Gaston,
who is a high-toned Northerner. This yawning gulf between the generous
faults of the South and the fastidious Phariseeism of the North is the
problem of the book. The story is slight, wholly conventional, and rather
commonplace, but it is gracefully told, and the conversations are not
without interest.
Mr. Howard Pyle's "Within the Capes" belongs to a widely different
category from the pretty feminine Southern sketch, and is quite equal to
the most insatiable requirements, containing half a dozen successful kinds
of fiction in itself. As a love-story, it is charming; as a sea- and
shipwreck- and treasure-finding-story, it offers a fair challenge not only
to Russell, but to Stevenson himself; while as a detective-story it is as
good as most. The adventures are related by the hero, one Captain Tom
Granger, who toward the end of his long life feels a desire to have his
strange history live in his own version, and not in the fables of the
gossips. A characteristic quaintness of expression gives validity to the
narrative, with plenty of homely enforcement of Tom Granger's wit and
wisdom.
"One of the Duanes" offers a vivid picture of the life which goes on among
the officers and officers' wives and daughters who make up a little world
within a world at our army and naval stations. Mrs. Hamilton has depicted
the interests and excitements, the gossip and the scandals, in a way which
impresses the reader as being faithful and without exaggeration. The story
is interesting, and the book is thoroughly readable and enjoyable.
Two or three little volumes containing the best short stories that have
been published ought to be a desirable addition to any library-table, to
be picked up by a chance caller or read aloud on a rainy evening. And
"Tales from all Sources" fairly well answer one's requirements of what
such collections should contain, being grave and gay, bizarre and
frivolous, to suit the various tastes. We should be glad to see Bulwer's
"The Haunted and the Haunters" (called in some editions "The House and the
Brain") reproduced in such a collection. The fault of this series, if it
be a fault, is that most of the stories are well within the recollection
of any one who has read the English magazines for the past few years,
--"The Black Poodle," for example, and "The Pavilion on the Links," being
matters of yesterday. However, both are sufficiently good to command a
second reading.
END
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