Good Books

The following estimates of books much in the public eye were made after careful consideration of the trend of critical opinion:

CHILDREN OF THE AGE--Knut Ham-sun-- Knopf ($2.50). Lieutenant Wil-latz Holmsen is the third one of that name to be lord of Segelfoss Manor. His grandfather had founded the estate and his father had maintained it. But Lieutenant Willatz Holmsen has none of the qualities to continue this work. He is proud, for one thing. If a tenant does not pay his rent, he will not ask for it. People might think he needed the money. If a demand is made upon him, he will accede to it rather than admit even to himself that he cannot afford it. Then, too, he has a German wife who does not know that money is not plentiful, and an only and expensive son. Things are in this state when Holmengraa arrives at Se-gelfoss, wearing a fur coat and a heavy gold chain. Holmengraa is known as "King Tobias." He has been to Mexico, and has made money. But now he wishes to live in the Nordland where he was born. All that he asks of the Lieutenant is some land for a cottage, and half the river, so that he can run a mill. But Holmengraa has not been "King Tobias" for nothing. Enterprise flourishes where he establishes himself. Presently he has acquired the whole river and a mortgage on the whole estate. Like Buddenbrooks (see the adjacent column), it is a study of the decay of the old order. Its style is more sophisticated than that of the German novel. Shorter and dealing with fewer characters, it is more dramatic. But it is less great and less comprehending. Of the two books, it is the lesser one.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE -- Arthur Sy-mons--Bobbs, Merrill ($2.00). A book of essays on such subjects as Conrad, Emily Bronte, the Decadent Movement in Literature, On French and English Fiction, Leonardo da Vinci, that are distinguished more by a mild charm of manner than by any signs of hard thinking or remarkable critical skill.