Anthony Hope, página 3 de 8

It is easy to be enthusiastic about the story. It is psychologicbut with a difference, the difference being the bright and compelling interest of Mr. Hopes dialogue, and the smiling sanity of his spirit. Imagine much that is best in Meredith or James, and all that is best in Anthony Hope, and you have a fair idea of A Servant of the Public. It is not the conventional story of the stage, with glib talk of the greenroom, and intimate glimpses behind the footlights. It is the story of an actress off, rather than on, the stagean analysis of the theatrical, perhaps artistic temperament.

Although among his more recent writings, the author of The Dolly Dialogues has done some rather serious and careful work, there is no exaggeration in saying that in literarv technique and human interest and the various other qualities that go to make good fiction The Great Miss Driver is easily the biggest, best rounded, and altogether worthiest story he has ever written, and yet, the first thing you are apt to think of is that the germ idea of the story goes straight back to the Dolly Dialogues; that in a superficial way, yes and perhaps in a deeper way, too, there is a certain rather absurd similarity between them; just as though the author, having once made a pleasant little comedy out of a certain situation, had ever since been turning over in his mind the possibility of using it in a bigger and more serious way, until eventually he evolved the present volume. Not that Jennie Driver, heiress to Breysgate Priory, bears any close resemblance to Lady Mickleham beyond the very feminine desire for conquest,any more than the Air. Austin of the one story is a close relative of Mr. Carter in the other. The resemblance lies in this, that both stories are told in the first person by the man who in his secret heart loves the woman of whom he writes, but knows that because he is poor, because he has the natural instinct of an old bachelor, because, also, she has given her heart elsewhere he must remain content to look upon her joys and sorrows in the capacity of a friend, and not that of a lover.

For clever dialogue and spirited situations Anthony Hope is eminently satisfactory. "Helenas Path" contains both these characteristics, and much beside; a keen appreciation of humorous values and a delightful emotional restraint. Helenas path is the bone of contention between Helena and the English earl whose estate joins hers. It is a sparkling comedy from cover to cover. Helenas beauty and the earls wit make a good combination when it comes to open war, as it does.

Mr. Anthony Hope is finding out his enviable position. Do what he will, he has the power to please most people. Whatever be his moods, and whatever the quality of his performance, he is never awkward, and elegance of form in any literary matter popularly interesting is so uncommon that gratitude and admiration are widespread and intense in proportion. Now that he is finding this out, it is not surprising that he should take advantage of it, and give pleasure to his numerous admirers as frequently and with as little trouble to himself as possible. It is impertinent to pry into the state of Mr. Hopes soul to see if it is growing demoralised by easy triumphs, but it is quite justifiable to say that a little more effort than is to be found in this book is wanted to keep to the estimate which some sincere but discreet admirers have formed of his powers. The stories here are entertaining, and the youth of fourteen who should disapprove of them would do so from mere dulness. But there are features in it that would lead one to believe they were not written for lads in their early teens. Yet it is not exactly a book for men and women, to whom the tales, excellent in imagining as many of them are, must be spoilt by the artificiality of the mechanism, and the conventionality of all the motives, feelings, and expressions, of the human beings concerned. Mr. Hope is a novelist of power, and he gives us an unimpeachable gift-book of a quality equalled by a dozen boys story writers any Christmas. His Antonio he calls an outlaw ; but he is the outlaw of a maiden-aunts or a schoolmasters imaginationcompounded of demi-god and family pastor. True, he appears to us through the narrative of a holy father, but Mr. Hope chose that medium, and if it was unsuitable for the rough record of the wild men who took to the hills, he is responsible.

The scene of this story of mystery and romance is laid in the little town of Inkston, near London, shortly after the world war. Interest centers in three characters: the "puzzling unaccounted-for Mr Beaumaroy," recently of the British army overseas, now companion to an eccentric old man; the old man himself, Aloyslus William Saffron, lonely and crazed by the war, who lives in Tower cottage; and Dr Mary Arkroyd, who attends Mr Saffron in his last illness and who changes her mind about Hector Beaumaroy.

Here is a rattling good story. Mr. Hope has often furnished us with tales answering that description before, but they were performances of a different order. Whereas his previous successes have been stories of incident, this is a novel of character. The vein of Zenda can easily be worked out, but the success of "Tristram of Blent" can be repeated indefinitely to a satisfied audience. It is the kind of story Anthony Trollope might write if he were abridged, reincarnated, brought up to date, and given a touch of the divine fire to vivify the carefully shaped clay of his puppets. Both in plot and workmanship the story is much better than any of Mr. Hopes former attempts in the same line. It seems to mark his achievement of mastery in this kind, and holds out the promise of an indefinite number of clever novels of social life to accompany the present generation on its way down the shady side of life.

The Hon. Gerald Neston, the on of Lord Tottlebuiy, agrees with his noble father, that the dignity of the title as well as his own comfort, make a rich marriage incumbent upon him. So he seeks out Mr. Witts widow, a lady of great wealth and no family, and is accepted by her. But at the dinner given in honor of the lady by Lord Tottlebury, a young lawyer, who belongs also to the house of Neston, recognizes in Mrs. Witte the young thief who had been his first "case."The fascinations of Mr. Witts widow are "harmonious contrasts." chief among which are dark eyes and golden hair. She is about to take as second husband Gerald Neston, an Englishman of good position, when his cousin, a young lawyer. Is struck with the resemblance of Neaera Witt to Nelly Gale, a girl he had defended seven years before on a charge of theft. The story relates his efforts to trace her identity, and leaves the readers mind in suspense until the unexpected denouement.

"The Indiscretion of the Duchess" may be classed with "The Prisoner of Zenda," and shares with that story the unabated interest from first page to last, and the superb handling of the romantic and adventurous. Even if this book had been published anonymously, a mistake as to its authors identity would have been impossible: Mr. Hopes touch as we have learned to know it is here on every page, almost in every line, and a successful touch it is, indeed. The book furnishes pleasant reading; it is one of those rare boonsa story that will rest and refresh the brain of any person whose occupation involves continuous and serious mental work.

Everything is ready for the fashionable London wedding of the heroine and the son of a famous old diplomat. But the bride has simply disappeared. Circumstantial evidence points to the fact that an Italian is connected with the girls disappearance. The outbreak of war just at this time postpones the chase for years.This novel by the author of "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "Dolly Dialogues" is much more closely related to reality in life and character than most other books. One feels that Mr. Hope is now writing to please his own ideals of the art of fiction rather than to amuse the crowd.

After his kingdom of Ruritania had been invaded by a score or more of imitators, Mr. Anthony Hope came back to England to sing of a man sans arms, whose victories are as remarkable, if not so renowned, as those of Rudolph Rassendyll. Alexander Quisante becomes a power in the house of commons and a ruler in that realm of finance known in London as "the city," all by the grace of a ready tongue, an adjustable conscience, and the stupidity of his fellow men. His equipment for a hero is very meager. In the first place he was "not quite a gentleman," not merely in the English acceptance of that term, but even in our more democratic diction. The fact that nothing was known of his antecedents beyond the rumor that his father had grown wine in Spain might be overlooked, but not the defects in his manners and morals. On public occasions and in regard to public audiences he possessed a tact and a power of understanding the feelings of his company which entirely and conspicuously failed him in private life. He was ill-bred, but he was not mean; he was a vaunter, but not a coward; he demanded adherence and did not beg alms. This was the attitude of his mind, so strongly contradicted by the cringing of his body and the wheedling of his tongue ...

Kravonia is a principality to be sought on the map somewhere in the vicinity of Zenda, and is, like most of the states of the mythical group to which it belongs, the sport of diplomatic intrigue. Its prince is sorely beset by enemies, but when he acquires a princess, in the shape of a beautiful English maiden-transformed from a lowly maid-servant into a captivating adventuress his fortunes change, and he gives his foes a run for their money. Unhappily, he is killed just when triumph is at hand, and his princess goes into exile cherishing the memory of the glorious weeks of the conict. Mr. Hopes hand has lost little of its cunning since the days when he invented Zenda, and his "Sophy of Kravonia" is a capital story.

The story of The God in the Car is of a very special character. Here we find the large canvas of serious life brushed over with a firm hand, relentless in general outlines and detailstelling the tragedy of a womans love and the price that ambition pays for its own gratification. It is said that a certain English colonial statesman suggested the character of Rushton; we do not know, nor do we care. What we do know, however, is that in this story we meet not one or two, but several, characters that are worth knowing, and whom we will remember for many a day. Juggernaut, "The God in the Car," is the incarnation of all the qualities and shortcomings of what the French are pleased to call the strugforlifer, and under the wheels of his rolling throne he crushes the woman that loves him, relentless of the ruin and misery he leaves behind. Mr. Hope has shown that quantity is not always detrimental to quality.

In "Mrs. Maxon Protests" Hope has presented with his usual brilliancy a study of the false position incurred by a thoroughly good woman when she defies fundamental conventionalities. Mrs. Maxons marriage is a failure, so is her attempt to find satisfaction outside the marriage tie. And, as she exclaims, "If both orthodoxy and unorthodoxy go wrong, what is a poor human woman to do?" Mr. Hawkins answer to this provides an interesting examination of the complexities of the divorce and separation question, and although he attempts no definite solution, his discussion exploits many suggestive theories of social philosophy. He touches a fundamental factor for solution when one of his characters remarks: "Thats to some extent like the woman questionare we to change the law or the people first? Hope a better law will make better people, or tell the people they cant have a better law till theyre better themselves?" The two quotations are inevitably two questionsbecause the book itself is precisely a long and brilliantly expressed question.

Anthony Hope has written two kinds of stories; one interesting for the civilized detail, the other for the situation and plot. When we read the first kind we do not care about the result, and we dont get excited. If we have plenty of leisure and care for little turns of expression, feeling, and thought, and care a great deal for clean and pleasant society, we are content with books like "The Dolly Dialogues." The mixture of tolerance, urbanity, and cynicism is just right for the idle person of refinement who does not want to do anything very difficult; even to feeling and thinking. The other kind of book vein that Mr. Hope has done well is the romantic story of adventure: as " The Prisoner of Zenda," where we are hurried along by a string of exciting impossibilities. "The Intrusions of Peggy" is a mixture of these two manners. It has the Hope quality in the detailsthe indirect, civilized suggestiveness, the lightness, the touch of the mere stylist. One could make pertinent quotations ad infinitum. It has the other element, too, like intrigue and some excitement.

?El diablo embotellado: La historia de amor se salva por la codicia de los hombres. Aquel que posea la botella tendrá cuanto desee, pero no podrá morir en su posesión, pues perdería el alma. Para deshacerse de la diabolica botella tendra que venderla por un precio inferior al que pago por ella.

This series of Bookworms offers younger readers the chance to enjoy lively and accessible adaptations of the best classic and modern fiction. Each title is highly illustrated to engage the reader in the world of the book and help with specific vocabulary. Accompanying exercises make all these titles suitable for use in class or at home.

HIS Business Ambassador was the title which my old chief, Ezekiel Coldston, used to give me. I daresay that it served as well as any other to describe with a pleasant mixture of dignity and playfulness, the sort of glorified bag-man or drummer that I was. It was my job to go into all quarters of the earth where the old man had scented a concession or a contractand what a nose he had for them!and make it appear to powerful persons that the Coldston firm would pay more for the concession (more in the long run, at all events) or ask less for the contract (less in the first instance, at all events) than any other responsible firm, company, or corporation in the world. Sir Ezekiel (as in due course he became) took me from a very low rung of the regular diplomatic ladder into his service on the recommendation of my uncle, Sir Paget Rillington, who was then at the top of that same ladder. My employer was good enough to tell me more than once that I had justified the recommendation.