26 DECEMBER 1908, Page 26

The Green Parrot. By Bernard Capes. (Smith, Elder, and Co.

6s.)—" John Wisdom" writes so well that the critics cannot appreciate him, and, not unnaturally annoyed, he throws up his occupation, and meets with the adventures here described. As the public, "critic-influenced;' "wanted neither art nor stories," he would not attempt any more to force those unwelcome products on them. What is a critic to say to this ? First, to go back to an earlier accusation, that he most emphatically does not demand of fiction "a greatly didactic mission"; next, that lie does his best to appreciate "art"; thirdly, that he most decidedly likes a" story "; and, to come to the point, that while he is sure that Mr. Capes has the root of the matter in him, and is quite capable of giving art and a story, there is actually something fatiguing in his novels.