THE WANDERER (Le Grand Meaulnes). By Alain- Fournier. Translated from
the French by Francoise Delisle (Constable. 7s. 6d.)—Madame Delisle's translation of Le Grand Meaulnes will be a great joy to those who have not read that very wonderful book. Here we have a great romance, and the remoteness of its style will make romanticists the more eager to make the book their own. For this is not a work to be grasped in an instant : it is as tantalizing as a flower in a high hedge, as elusive as a dream. In essence it is the story of a great quest, the quest of a French school- boy for a girl he has seen for only a few moments. Yvonne appears and reappears like a will-o'-the-wisp : she is scarcely described at all, and yet not for one instant are we allowed to forget her supreme importance. She is seen for a night ; she vanishes for years ; and in between her comings and goings events crowd in, whose significance is not understood until the last chapter. M. Alain-Fournier suggests very much more than he says : his style eludes as Conrad's does. Le Grand Meaulnes belongs to no place or age : it is universal, a book which will yield more and more treasure as it is read and grasped.
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