Fiction
THE BRIEF HOUR. By H. du Coudray. (Philip Allan. 7s. 6d.)—It is not really part of a reviewer's business to beg the reader's patience on behalf of an author, but Miss du Coudray's novel is so involved and, at the same time, so good as to justify a plea and a warning. She follows the example of those moderns who crowd the emotions of a lifetime into the tale of a day, and demands a great deal of concen- tration from her public. All the same, the effort of reading her book brings its own reward, for she views life from unexpected angles. We are introduced to her hero on the morning when he is to give his farewell lecture in a French university from which he has just been dismissed. The book ends with the end of his lecture, and describes his thoughts from the moment of waking until the time when he gathers his papers together and steps out into the street. Miss du Coudray's novel moves as swiftly as the thoughts of her hero : she allows us to know through the medium of his mind a great number of rather extraordinary people— professors, actresses and intellectuals. The book is a curious mixture of economy and diffusiveness : interest is perpetually being switched from one subject to another, and the frequent use of parenthesis is rather irritating. Yet, in a way, its failure to conform to the novel-formula is a triumph, since it owes so much more to life than to art. The Brief Hour may be recommended to those who have more than an hour to spend on reading it.
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