just some book talk
February 01, 2012

I liked "The Tracer of Lost Persons," (1906) by Robert W. Chambers. Didn't love it, but liked it quite a lot. It was an episodic story; I think perhaps the stories were magazine installments or episodes that were strung together into a novel. There were some supernatural bits I didn't care much for, and all in all, it was silly fluff. But it was pretty darned GOOD silly fluff!

Almost finished with �The Idyl Of Twin Fires� (1914), by Walter Prichard Eaton. I find myself charmed by this story--it isn't hugely comic or eventful, so far--just sweet and peaceful, with a LOT of gardening details in it that I quite enjoy. I am hoping it just keeps on that way to the end, too. The dictionary definition of an idyll (to use the conventional spelling) is this: a poem or prose composition, usually describing pastoral scenes or events or any charmingly simple episode, appealing incident, or the like. That perfectly describes this book (so far), so I'd hate it if there was anything "big" looming. It's the story of a college instructor with a modest amount of savings who gets spring fever, buys a run-down New England farm, and proceeds to transorm it, even as it transforms him. He also meets a lovely young woman (who happens, most awesomely, to be a PhD in philology!) who shares his passions in life.

And I have started "The Younger Set" (1907), also by Robert W. Chambers. This one seems to be a straight novel; the story of a military officer whose sense of honor compels him to make it easy for his faithless wife by allowing her to sue him for divorce--which ends up costing him his army career and casts a shadow over him socially. The main character strikes me as a pain in the tuchas--he is enough of an egomaniac to assume that his wife's unfaithfulness is somehow his fault. But I rather like his sister and her family; they are quite modern in their outlook on life and child-rearing. And they really seem to love each other in their family. That's something I always enjoy in a novel; an easygoing and affectionate, loving relationship between family members. (Can you tell what's missing from my upbringing?)

Also in the pipeline: Another R. W. Chambers: "The Gay Rebellion" from 1913. And three by David Graham Phillips: "The Second Generation" (1906), "The Fashionable Adventures of Joshua Craig" (1909) and "The Price She Paid" (1912) . The last was published posthumously, as Phillips was murdered in January 1911. (check out the Wikipedia link below for more on that!)