. The Argonaut . llan Company;$ ^ A Literary Melange. Just what to call F. Hopkinson Smiths The Wood Fire in No. 3, is a puzzlingquestion. The book can not be classi-fied as a novel, a volume of short stories, bio-graphy, history, essays,-meditations, or any-thing but the private conversations, observa-tions, and stories of the artists who gatheredabout the woodfire in Alexander MacWhirt-ers studio. The book is strongly reminiscent of thatbrave Bohemia which has seaports, romance,and a history written by some known, andmany forgotten, men. The spirit is at timesthe spirit of Henri Murger,
. The Argonaut . llan Company;$ ^ A Literary Melange. Just what to call F. Hopkinson Smiths The Wood Fire in No. 3, is a puzzlingquestion. The book can not be classi-fied as a novel, a volume of short stories, bio-graphy, history, essays,-meditations, or any-thing but the private conversations, observa-tions, and stories of the artists who gatheredabout the woodfire in Alexander MacWhirt-ers studio. The book is strongly reminiscent of thatbrave Bohemia which has seaports, romance,and a history written by some known, andmany forgotten, men. The spirit is at timesthe spirit of Henri Murger, but the hand isalways that of Hopkinson Smith. There are two or three excellent storiestold before MacWhirters fireplace. Thereare no dull pages in the whole book, exceptthat for realisms sake the writer has inter-jected an undue amount of somewhat flatconversation and chaff between his char-acters. There is a certain amount of fill-ing in every conversation, just as menlive, not continuously, but by hours. Even. F. Hopkinson Smith, author of The Wood Fire i No. 3. Published by Charles Scribners Sons. the ease with which this is brought in doesnot give it interest. The book is most interesting because of itsthoroughly wholesome view of life, it? gen-iality, its genuineness. It is something thatone will read leisurely, with pauses of medi-tation, and will go back to for certain pages,as one goes back to an open fire occasionallyto warm the hands. ?F. Hopkinson Smithfreely confesses that he has sometimes takenfagots from the public woods to put on TheWood Fire in No. 3. But there is no placewhere an old story is more acceptable thanin a companionable crowd before an openfire. Published by Charles Scribners Sons;$ Captains All. The humor of W. W. Jacobs has longtickled the sides of a large audience. In Captains All there are ten stories of thesame water-side life that has given his stage. The title-story is as amus-ing as appetite could expect, and among theother n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectjournal, bookyear1877
