6 THE MICHiCAN DAILY MAGAZINE SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 1922
Great American Weekly, but which in 1908, now reprinted by Little,
has never been published in book Brown & Co. Its title is taken from
Soform) since "Linda Condon," which that old bromide, "Once aboard the
/j" appeared over two years ago, his ad- lugger and the girl is mine"-not an
mirers had a right to expect some- unattractive title, though one must
JOSEPH HERGESHEIMEt'S NEW She loves Lee no less strongly than thing superior to "Cytherea." As it rather study the book to find its par-
NOVEL does his wife, but hers is a blind, un- is, this book will add hardly anything ticular application to the "History of
(A Review by R. D. S.) reasoning love that knows only one to his reputation. George and Mary," as the author sub-
During the past few years Joseph fulfillment-complete possession. She titles his novel.
removes her mask of aristocratic im- A FIRST NOVEL REPUBLISHED I believe that I have used, in a de-
Hergesheimer has been gaining some- peccability, and her unrestrained pas- (A Review by S. T. B.) scription of first novels in general, the
what of a reputation as a stylist. He sion wins Lee. First novels are always interesting phrase "immaturely mature." Its ap-
has been regarded, in fact, as one of Throughout all this the painted doll, documents, incorporating, as they do, plication to "Once Aboard the Lugger"
the principal contemporary stylists of Cytherea, stands on the Randon man- the early enthusiasms, likes and dis- is apparent from almost the first line
this country. His ability in this line tlepiece ,a symbol of the "mysterious likes of the hopeful, and often imma- of the author's preface to the work.
became more apparent as his succed- goddess of love, Venus, of the prie- turely mature, aspiring literati who Mr. Hutchinson is trying, oh, so hard,
ing ooks were published, approach- p of life stirrg i conceive them. To one who reads for to be the mature, though genial, phi-
plants and men." the pure interest of an author's ac- losopher of Victorian days, obtruding
ing perfection in the voluptuous splen- Hergesheimer handles his charac- quaintance-who loves to seek here himself consistently into his work.
dor of "San Cristobal de la Habana," ters wit hthe hand of an experienced and there for evidences of his person- This habit, I feel sure, will damn him
a book of pure sensuous beauty which writer. The gradual disintegration of ality, peeping at him from behind the utterly with certain worthy critics-
combined the, exquisite diction of the Randons' married life and the es- often stern and forbidding character- and yet it does not appeal to me in
George Moore with the warmth of tablishment of the relationship be- izations of heroes and heroines, first that wise. For the author is so much
tween Lee and Savina are splendidly novels can never be anything but a interested in it all. His enthusiasm
color and the acuteness of sound of done. The final separation lapses just joy. Later, the author may become runs high throughout the work and
the Danish Jacobsen. Mr. Hergesheim- far enough from restraint to escape drab, uninteresting, static; in his first never does it ebb. I can imagine him
er is primarily a sensualist, and in the melodramatic. novel he is never anything but a re- writing the book with the keenest en-
this book he gave himself over com- It is hardly thetechnique that is at freshing personality, still unsullied by joyment, and regarding it, upon its
fault. Rather is it the superficiality his brushes with a conventional and completion, as his most cherished pos-
pletely to a pagan joy in fine wines, of the entire story and the poor man- dreary world. session, for it is easy to see that in
expensive tobaccos, and rare per- ner in which it is written. "Cytherea" It is interesting in this spirit, and "Once Aboard the Lugger" are incor-
fumes. is bad, chiefly, in comparison to Her- in the light of the enthusiasm with porated all the unconscious acquire-
Coming after "San Cristobal," "Cy- gesheimer's earlier books. It is far which "If Winter Comes" has. been ments of style which Mr. Hutchinson
therea" (Knopf) is a distinct disap- inferior to "San Cristobal" and several received in this country, to follow the has gained as a result of an extensive
pointment. In only a few isolated pas- shades lower than "Linda Condon." fortunes of George and Mary through- reading knowledge of Victorian nov-
sages does he approximate the glow- Since Mr. Hergesheimer has published out the pages of "Once Aboard the els. More, he lives Victorian novels.
ing beauty of his previous book, be- no novel (with the exception of Lugger," A. S. M. Hutchinson's first I am sure that George Meredith is
side which "Cytherea" is cold and pal- "Steel," which ran serially in the novel, originally given to the public one of his favorites, just as I can
lid. His style becomes restrained.
There is no longer a joyous flow of _
words. His sparsely adorned sen-
tences jerk awkwardly through a clut-
ter of ' commas and semi-colons. The
following extract is fairly typical, al-
though by no means the worst that
might be quoted: "She was, he told
himself, with her face positively ani-
mated, sparkling, from talk, unusu-
ally attractive."
Such unnecessary extremes not only
detract from the story; they make it,
in parts, almost unreadable.
The characters in "Cytherea" are, Whether it be tuxedos or full dress we are fully
as in most of Mr. Hergesheimer's nov-
els, mature men and women. With prepared to give you the kind of clothes that you
the exception of Linda Condon, he has
has seldom dealt with adolescents. will be proud to wear - clothes that are correct
The present novel is 'principally con-
cerned with three people, Lee Randon, i ever detail
Fanny, his wife, and Savina Grove.
Other characters, members of a
"smart" young married set, shift in
the background; but the story settles In buying formal clothes it is very important that
down to the single issue of whether *
or not Lee Randon shall leave his wife you put yourself in the hands of competent tail-
and go to Savina Grove.
Randon, possessed of more leisure ors in order that you be sure of getting the high-
time than he knows how to occupy,
becomes rather self-analytical and cu- est qualities in workmanship and materials. Re-
rious about the devious course of love
and life. At one of the numerous member wll your c c t e s
dances he asks Mina Raff, a motion m you wear formal c o t s
pictureactress,"What do women dress more than one year so it will pay you to invest a
for? Is it to make themselves seduc-
tive tomen or to have the other wom-
en admire and envy them?" little extra in style and workmanship.
"Both," she answers, "but mostly it's
a sort of competition, with men for
the prize. I'll tell you something
about us if you like-we are not made
of sugar and spice and other pleasant
bits, but only of two: prostitute and L' ' -
mother. Not, of course, separately or
in equal parts; some of us have more
of one, others more of the other."
Fanny Randon is all the mother. A
strong Puritanic strain holds back her
approval of the dimly-lit dances, the
stolen kisses, and the inevitable cock-
tails that constitute the evening's en-
tertainment for her friends.
She loves her husband desperately,
yet she does not know how to hold
him. In the desperation of her affec-
tion she becomes hysterically jealous, 604 E. LIBERTY - FIRST BLOCK OFF FROM STATE
suspicious, petty, until she unwittingly
hastens the threatening breach be-
tween them and drives her husband
into the arms of Savina Grove, herself
a married woman, but possessed of
pent-up fires of amazing intensity.