International studio (23.1904)

Book Reviews

nities and of rights is the foundation principle upon
which any enduring republic must rest.”
The illustrations scattered throughout the text
are the work of the author, and there is an intro-
duction by Louis F. Post.
The Woodcarver of ’Lympus. By M. E. Waller.
i2mo. Pages 311. Boston: Little, Brown, &
Co. $1.50.
The narrative carries us to the rural districts of
New England, known to the inhabitants as the
Green Mountain Country, or, more commonly,
’Lympus, — a peaceful, sequestered- corner of the
world that Time seems to have overlooked, where
the old stage-coach is still in existence and the hum
of the spinning-wheel is heard. In this remote
corner of the earth there occurs one of life’s trage-
dies. In the prime of youth, at the very outset of
his college career, when life seems about to offer
everything that is worth having, the hero of the tale
is stricken down, crippled for life, and his prospects
blighted. The story of the first days of his over-
whelming despair, the wild spirit of rebellion that
at times prompted him to take the life that seemed
so useless, the sudden discovery of a talent that
transformed the repining cripple into the wood-
carver of ’Lympus, — all this is admirably told, so
that from first to last our sympathy and interest are

sustained. It is a story of self-sacrifice, of great
affliction nobly borne, of inestimable blessing
wrought by patience and fortitude. The frontis-
piece, representing the stage-coach of ’Lympus, is
from a drawing by C. C. Emerson.
Nami-Ko : A Realistic Novel. Translated from
the Japanese of Kenjiro-Tokutomi by Sakae
Shioya and E. F. Edgett. i2mo. Pages 314.
Boston : Herbert B. Turner & Co. $1.50.
“Nami-ko” is a story of modern Japan. The
scene is laid during the time of the war with China
in 1894; and we have blended together in these
pages vivid descriptions of battle scenes with the
contrasting picture of Japanese home life. The
book deals with the divorce customs of Japan as
they exist to-day, and sets forth in a most realistic
manner the religious and social opinions of the
people. The story is founded upon actual events,
and its characters drawn from life. It was first
published in Japan in 1900, and is particularly
interesting as claiming to be the first translation of
a novel from Japanese into English. The author
has, in many instances, given us glimpses of some
traits of Japanese character not hitherto much
touched upon, and we get all through the pages of
the volume a pleasing insight into the charming
ways of the daily life of “the Yankees of the East.”

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