The Nation 1908-12-31: Vol 87 Iss 2270

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SE ST > VOL. LXXXVII—NO. 2270. THURSDAY, ‘DECEMBER 3, 1908, PRICE TEN CENTSs. ENERAL L LIBRARY, ‘The N at LOD Satoyy ATX 99 Under this pseudonym there has suddenly appeared a writer, whose name is unknown to his publishers, whose style bears no resemblance to that of any living author, and who has instantly aroused the curiosity of the highest criticism by applying to modern business, politics, and social life in the in- comparable “Adventures of a Nice Young Man a style of early Georgian purity. The story is one of present day social and business adventure, with brief comments on life, manners, business, and public questions. The humor and arrangement resemble Fielding, the sentences Goldsmith, and the didactic passages Bolingbroke; though in all the abuse that many of the author’s opinions have received, he has never incurred the reproach of artificiality. Preserved by style and humor this novel is the one that seems destined to hand down to a later generation a faithful picture of contemporary manners. The author immediately challenges a place in American literature not below that of Washington Irving. That this is not conventional publishers’ praise is shown by the following comments from letters received to be forwarded to the author. Mr. Gamaliel Bradford, Jr., says, addressing “Aix” | ing that style in a degree that I did not think was pos- through his publisher: “How did you manage to write sible. “— : , 2 about modern New York in the style of Goldsmith and Mr. H. C. Chatfield-Taylor, the biographer of Moliére, a i ger y se Slee says, “To me the story has a peculiar charm, caused, I Fielding? For it is the style of Goldsmith and Fielding should say, by your picaresque rem your hero being a even to the broad words, which some prudery will sniff at. | Lazarillo de Tormes or a Gil Blas in modern dress.” You have caught it—the little twists and turns, the ad- Horatio S. Krans, the well-known New York critic, and mirable self-restraint of touch. I enjoyed it exceedingly.” the author of the critical biography of Goldsmith that in- é s : a te troduces the Putnam edition of the works of Goldsmith, Professor Walter Morris Hart, of the University of says, “It is an extraordinarily presentable work and most ‘ 9 ——*6 ‘ ’ . —. . e se ec ley 2 +4 _ California, Aix,’ whoever he may be, is surely a lineal pleasantly reminiscent of the tone, temper, and manner of descendant of Fielding, for he has succeeded in reproduc- | the eighteenth century novelist.” FROM THE GENERAL PRESS WE CULL THE FOLLOWING: “It has the picaresque quality which makes Gil Blas a “The staid and simple phrasing of Addison’s ‘Essays’ Pp iG suupe 8 ; a joy forever. . . . His comments on life and man-_| Ot Goldsmith’s “Vicar of Wakefield’ . . . whimsical ° : _* humor.”—The Bookman. ners with which the book abounds are a rare combination ; roa : : ” ope “Curious to read such language in the time of t C- of seriousness and lightness.”—Chicago Inter-Ocean. . whe oa 4 euage s he elec tric light."-—The Sun. “An unusually fine style, a delicate choice of words, “The literary manners of the eighteenth century brought on — = reading a pleasure to be lingered over.”— | yp to date, and it is great fun, too.”—Chicago Tribune. ston (stove. “That homely style of narrative which is the essence of “A story written after the manner of Gil Blas . . . | literary art. . . . The old time style combined with deserves to be widely popular.”—Salt Lake Tribune. a modern setting.”—Evening Wisconsin. “A reminder of Goldsmith, though not in the sense of “The new author has literary gifts of no common kind.” imitation . . Comes close to being real literature | —S!. Louis Globe-Democrat. . May ‘be picked up at any time and opened any- “An air of Roderick Random . . . directness, force, where.”—Denver Republican. occasional irony.”—Hartford Courant.