REMINISCENT OF DOSTOIEVSKY
WOOD AND STONE
A ROMANCE
By JOHN COWPER POWYS
12mo, 722 pages, $1.50 net
This is an epoch marking novel by an author "who is dramatic as is no other now writing."—Oakland Enquirer.
In this startling and original romance, the author turns aside from the track of his contemporaries and reverts to models drawn from races which have bolder and less conventional views of literature than the Anglo-Saxon race. Following the lead of the Great Russian Dostoievsky, he proceeds boldly to lay bare the secret passions, the unacknowledged motives and impulses, which lurk below the placid-seeming surface of ordinary human nature.
It has been reviewed favorably by all of America's principal newspapers, as the following extracts from press notices will indicate:
BOSTON TRANSCRIPT: "His mastery of language, his knowledge of human impulses, his interpretation of the forces of nature and of the power of inanimate objects over human beings, all pronounce him a writer of no mean rank…. He can express philosophy in terms of narrative without prostituting his art; he can suggest an answer without drawing a moral; with a clearer vision he could stand among the masters in literary achievement."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "Psychologically speaking, it is one of the most remarkable pieces of fiction ever written…. I do not hesitate to say that a new novelist of power has appeared upon the scene."
EVENING SUN, New York: "Mr. Powys, master essayist, comes forward with a first novel which is brilliant in style, absorbing in plot, deep and thoughtful in its purpose."
PHILADELPHIA PRESS: "It undoubtedly will set a new mark in literature of the contemporary period…. Mr. Powys' style is the style of Thomas Hardy."
PHILADELPHIA RECORD: "Every page is a joy, every chapter a fresh proof of Powys' genius."
N.Y. EVENING POST: "The best novel one reviewer has read in a good while."
NEW YORK TIMES: "Mr. Powys is evidently a keen observer of life and responsive to all its phases."
N.Y. TRIBUNE: "A good story well told."
N.Y. HERALD: "Here is a novel worth reading."
THE NATION: "A book of distinctive flavor."
REVIEW OF REVIEWS: "An exceptional novel … a brilliant intellectual piece of work."
PHILADELPHIA NORTH AMERICAN: "A notable achievement in fictitious literature."
SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN: "This is a book which will have more than the ephemeral existence of the average novel."
NEW HAVEN COURIER JOURNAL: "One of the most notable and important novels that has appeared in the last twelve months."
HARTFORD COURANT: "The book is very interesting, provokingly interesting."
DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, ROCHESTER: "Among the few works of fiction that stand out in the very forefront of this season's production."