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EXPERIMENTS—Norman Douglas— McBride ($2.50). The author of several unusual books of wanderings and two extraordinary novels (South Wind, They Went) has here had collected for him what he describes as "mouldering remains"— several brief stories, one poem, a number of more or less literary essays and several book reviews. What could be deader? Answer: the same sort of collection of any other writer's literary remainders. Mr. Douglas has a way of saying whatever he thinks and saying it well, which gives an extraordinary relish to even such a melange. The old book reviews one would expect to be deadest. Instead they are among the most entertaining— infinitely better than most of the books themselves. He deals damnation with zest. One review of three books by Victoria Cross, by Florence L. Barclay, by Elinor Glyn, must, even at this late day, cause those ladies to blush in their literary boudoirs. Excerpt: "On p. 46 the pair are beginning to be naughty; on p. 60 Guinevere learns from her sensible sister the proper definition of what stupid people call sin; on p. 99 she discovers that 'one is not always master of oneself in supreme moments' (a great step forward); on p. 127 Sir Hugh's voice gets suspiciously hoarse; on p. 143 'I must,' says he, 'I will hold you in my arms'; on p. 152 he kisses her lips. Thank God he has got as far as the lips at last; up to this point it was only her hand, gloved or au naturel. And soon enough he gets a good deal further."
Tour d'Explosion
KRAKATIT — Karel Capek — Macmillan ($2.50). For about the first 50 pages the hero, Prokop, is in intermittent delirium, but his story percolates to the reader's mind. He is an expert in destructive chemistry—explosives—and he has discovered something unparalleled. A pinch of it is as powerful as 100 pounds of TNT, and its name is Krakatit. These explosive syllables are the motif of the novel. Gradually the author unfolds the theme of its terrible destructive power, of its mysterious habit of exploding unaided on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:30 p.m. Prokop, the strange destructive genius, follows the will-o-the-wisp memory of a girl he meets in his delirium, follows it in madness and sanity, follows it to the castle of Balltin where he is imprisoned for the sake of Krakatit, follows it through an adventure with the fierce Princess who dwells at Balltin, follows it to an eerie end. Incidentally the book is an adventure story, a fantastic mystery tale; but fundamentally it is a tour de force, the literary representation of the idea of explosion. And the tour de force is so aptly carried out that, although the story is entirely impossible, it remains completely plausible. Only the author of The World We Live In and R. U. R. could have written it.
Rollos