most of his recent books, has been skill¬
fully translated by William A. Drake. In
substanlce it is the story of a déclassée,
of a woman who descended from suitors
to lovers and climbed from the parlor to
a room under the eaves, near ihe serv¬
ants. Her mother had been a baroness
and her father was an officer in the
army, but after Lieutenant Fabiani went
insane Theresa herself was left with
neither money nor position. She there¬
upon took two steps which determined
her whole life: she became the mistress
of a young officer and she applied for
work as a governess. Her life from that
time was a long succession of lovers and
pupils, complicated toward the end by
troubles with her illegitimate son, whio
had grown into a thief. You have no
luck, either, mother,“ he told her before
his arrest.
And, truly, she had no luck. Her real
tragedy, however, was her being endowed
with capacities for toil, devotion, sacri¬
fice, which she was given no opportunity
to express. Potentialities like these are
dangerous if they find no outlet; they
suppurate; they are like ulcers poison¬
ing the system. They left her, at forty.
an old woman without dreams or ambi¬
tions, “aware of nothing but her weari¬
ness.“ To all effects she was already
dead, and the murder with which the
story ends seems a futile crime, almost
theu mutilation of a corpse. Such, ab
least, is one’s attitude in certain moods,
At other moments Theresa's death by
her son seems an inevitable tragedy, pre¬
pafed witn patience by a master of
humble souls.
One could, as a matter of fact, write
two reviews of this unpretentious novel.
The first would be all praise—praise for
its simplicity and straightforwardness,
praise fer the reality of all its charac¬
ters, praisé for the pitiless march of
small events. One could congratulate
Schnitzler for deserting the facile ro¬
Therese
35.
M.
Ne.
M TAERRE
Argus Suisse et aternational de ia Prese . A.
23, Rue du Rhöne- GENEVE
Adt. télégr.: Coupures-Genéve — Tél. Stand 40.05
Bureau International de coupures de journanx.
Traductions de et en loutes langues.
##cmr
Correspondants dans toutes les grandes villes.
Extrait du Journal:
Adresse
aur gulio
Date:
1 OCT. 1928
T.
SCHNTTZER’S NOVEL.
Taxe d
THERFSPP' FOLLOWS
Tarif réduit
d’avance sa
ANCIENT FORMULA
de temps
New York Belongs in Well-known
On tralte à
Class, but Makes Strong
Appeal.
(Special Correspondence.)
BERLIN. — Arthur Schnitzler’s new
book belongs to the class of Clara Vie¬
big’s The Daily Bread, and George
Moore's Esther Waters,“ that is, it is
a story of the life of a woman in a
more or less servile position, and
threugh that life the lives and charac¬
#ters of her successive employers are
revealed. You have, through and
around your actual protagonist, such
humble life and material suffering as
always takes well' in fiction; you have
in addition, the chance of delineating
any number of persons and interiors
box 6/2
vou like from the outside—that is to
ay. through speech, gesture, action—
as observed by your protagonist ob¬
server. Nothing could be more effec¬
tive. The practiced and gifted novelist
can take this method and go on for
ever. There is no reason why. Thérese's
adventures should not have been inde¬
finitely multiplied. Nothing in the
form of the book forbade it. Schnitzler
was, of course, aware of this fact, and
by a number of unobtrusive devices
has given his story roundness and com¬
pleteness. It should be observed, in
addition, that Thérèse is a governess,
not a servant, and is of gentle birth.
Her gentler nature and finer sensibili¬
ties give even her most scabrous adven¬
tures that exquistely eiegiac tone
which Schnitzler loves. Nor is this all.
The story, as a whole, is an elegy,
enormously disguised, on the days of
Schnitzler's youth. This is the Vienna,
this the Salzburg of the days of the
empire. Life had a neo-Pagan ele¬
gance, an autumnal charm. The chill
winds of the harsh dawn of a new
world blow angrily about the aging
master. He remnembers his youth,
fully translated by William A. Drake. In
substanlce it is the story of a déclassée,
of a woman who descended from suitors
to lovers and climbed from the parlor to
a room under the eaves, near ihe serv¬
ants. Her mother had been a baroness
and her father was an officer in the
army, but after Lieutenant Fabiani went
insane Theresa herself was left with
neither money nor position. She there¬
upon took two steps which determined
her whole life: she became the mistress
of a young officer and she applied for
work as a governess. Her life from that
time was a long succession of lovers and
pupils, complicated toward the end by
troubles with her illegitimate son, whio
had grown into a thief. You have no
luck, either, mother,“ he told her before
his arrest.
And, truly, she had no luck. Her real
tragedy, however, was her being endowed
with capacities for toil, devotion, sacri¬
fice, which she was given no opportunity
to express. Potentialities like these are
dangerous if they find no outlet; they
suppurate; they are like ulcers poison¬
ing the system. They left her, at forty.
an old woman without dreams or ambi¬
tions, “aware of nothing but her weari¬
ness.“ To all effects she was already
dead, and the murder with which the
story ends seems a futile crime, almost
theu mutilation of a corpse. Such, ab
least, is one’s attitude in certain moods,
At other moments Theresa's death by
her son seems an inevitable tragedy, pre¬
pafed witn patience by a master of
humble souls.
One could, as a matter of fact, write
two reviews of this unpretentious novel.
The first would be all praise—praise for
its simplicity and straightforwardness,
praise fer the reality of all its charac¬
ters, praisé for the pitiless march of
small events. One could congratulate
Schnitzler for deserting the facile ro¬
Therese
35.
M.
Ne.
M TAERRE
Argus Suisse et aternational de ia Prese . A.
23, Rue du Rhöne- GENEVE
Adt. télégr.: Coupures-Genéve — Tél. Stand 40.05
Bureau International de coupures de journanx.
Traductions de et en loutes langues.
##cmr
Correspondants dans toutes les grandes villes.
Extrait du Journal:
Adresse
aur gulio
Date:
1 OCT. 1928
T.
SCHNTTZER’S NOVEL.
Taxe d
THERFSPP' FOLLOWS
Tarif réduit
d’avance sa
ANCIENT FORMULA
de temps
New York Belongs in Well-known
On tralte à
Class, but Makes Strong
Appeal.
(Special Correspondence.)
BERLIN. — Arthur Schnitzler’s new
book belongs to the class of Clara Vie¬
big’s The Daily Bread, and George
Moore's Esther Waters,“ that is, it is
a story of the life of a woman in a
more or less servile position, and
threugh that life the lives and charac¬
#ters of her successive employers are
revealed. You have, through and
around your actual protagonist, such
humble life and material suffering as
always takes well' in fiction; you have
in addition, the chance of delineating
any number of persons and interiors
box 6/2
vou like from the outside—that is to
ay. through speech, gesture, action—
as observed by your protagonist ob¬
server. Nothing could be more effec¬
tive. The practiced and gifted novelist
can take this method and go on for
ever. There is no reason why. Thérese's
adventures should not have been inde¬
finitely multiplied. Nothing in the
form of the book forbade it. Schnitzler
was, of course, aware of this fact, and
by a number of unobtrusive devices
has given his story roundness and com¬
pleteness. It should be observed, in
addition, that Thérèse is a governess,
not a servant, and is of gentle birth.
Her gentler nature and finer sensibili¬
ties give even her most scabrous adven¬
tures that exquistely eiegiac tone
which Schnitzler loves. Nor is this all.
The story, as a whole, is an elegy,
enormously disguised, on the days of
Schnitzler's youth. This is the Vienna,
this the Salzburg of the days of the
empire. Life had a neo-Pagan ele¬
gance, an autumnal charm. The chill
winds of the harsh dawn of a new
world blow angrily about the aging
master. He remnembers his youth,