Life, 1924-03-06 · page 26 of 42
Life — March 6, 1924 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page reviews contemporary novels, critiquing their literary merit and social commentary. The illustration shows a man walking past a large tree—likely accompanying a review of Percy Marks's *The Plastic Age*, which exposes moral decay at American colleges. The reviewer argues that conditions described in Marks's novel are so scandalous that missionary work should focus on domestic college campuses rather than foreign "heathen." References to "pocket flasks" and permissive student behavior reflect post-Prohibition era concerns about youth morality. The comparison to F. Scott Fitzgerald's earlier campus novel suggests *The Plastic Age* goes further in depicting depravity. Reviews also cover May Sinclair's *A Cure of Souls* and Princess Bibesco's *The Fir and the Palm*. The tone is literary-critical rather than political, offering middlebrow cultural commentary typical of Life's audience during the Jazz Age.
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ACK in the ‘nineties, the appearance of a novel by Mrs. Humphry Ward was regarded in En, European event, according to Miss Rose Macaulay in “Told by an Idiot.” t almost scems as if the same attitude should hold to-day for Miss May Sin- clair. Her literary progres- as a sion as the years have passed has been obvious to the most indifferent observer, and now she has achieved a medium which is flawless. Clarity of vision and economy of ex- pression—what could the angels. mor In her new and bz lly titled novel, “A Cure of Souls’ (Macmitlan), Miss has made a second excursion nelair along the alleys of egotism This time she subjects a mem ber of the clerg alysis as she ma tiless to as ana of a member of the landed gentry in “Mr. Waddington of Wyck.” But in “A Cure of Souls” the research is more concentrated and intens: nd for that reason the book is not so interesting—except for its method—as its forerun- ner. The author has done her work so well that after about ten pages of the selfish Canon Chamberlain, who wanted nothing in the world beyond his own peace and comfort, I wanted to put him out of my life forever by flinging the hook across the room. He was too un- pleasant A Cure of Souls” is a one-man novel, but it contains a characteri tion of a female religious fanatic which deserves a good place in the Sinclair gallery. F conditions among the undergradu- ates in our colleges and universities are anything like those revealed by Percy Marks in “The Pla (Century), then we should imme stop sending forcign missionaries to civilize the heathen and turn our at- tention to ademic here at home. onditions right In the pages of this arts novel, the ivied walls so celebrated in song and story cover not only a multi tude of sins, but an incon lomerate ¢ and disgusting conver Marks is a realist, because if he were not, mass of profa sation. I assume that M he Plastic Age” would have no raison SIGNS OF SPRING THE FIRST “BIRDIE” détre. Nothing is more boring than the philosophical animadversions of youth Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald gave us our first glimpse behind the scenes on the modern campus, and he must have resolved many a stern parent to start Freddie right in at the factory the minute h ished high school. But his revelations seem tame to me compared low with the lowness of tone which pre- vails at Mr. Marks’s “Sanford.” We are all accustomed by this time to adolescents with pocket flasks and we know that the “sweet sixteen and never been kissed” belongs back in the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle. But it was a decided shock to find youths from. civilized families talking and reacting as the Sanford students talk and react. The quotation of Wordsworth’s Ode in the midst of such material seemed almost sacrilegious. All this sounds, of course, like John S. Sumner, but that isn’t the way it is meant. My quarrel is not. with Mr Marks. In fact, I am inclined to believe that he has dis- guised a tract as a novel, and is inviting us all over to Macedonia IF the Princess Bibesco has any enemies, they will be delighted with her latest ef- fort, “The Fir and the Palm” (Putnam), which — doesn’t quite come off, in spite of the fact that Professor Gilbert Murray has contributed to it a special translation of the Heine poem containing its theme. I myself am exceed- ingly sorry, because when the Princess gave us “Balloons,” I came out with the admission that I was willing to let her do all the writing in’ the Asquith family. The troub I think, that she has been too ambitious in attempting a novel. She should stick to the shorter form wherein her special talent does not overleap itself She has an epigrammatic twist and a realization of what g on behind monocles and under ti These assets are not the stuff of which plots are made The Fir and the Palm” centers about a lovely young woman transplanted by a great match from poverty to one of the finest houses in England. A large number of — glitter ing people move through its pages, affording the Prin- cess frequent opportunities for her brilliant flashes of insight and dia- logue. It can never be said that she does not know the world whereof she speaks. In conclusion, a sample epi- gram: “A faint touch of disdain is born, not made.” Diana Warwick. comicbooks.com