Tue Ast or Harrouss—By John Cowper Powys, The Bodiey Head, Mr. J.C. Powys is the author of} 1 brace of novels that have not only been praised by that happy band of quasi-literateurs that finds a master-Diece once a week In the columns nauseating "Autobiography" and a Quite unreadable book called "In Defence of Sensuality.
If human existence has an object, that object is so clearly happiness, that a book entitled "The Art of Happiness" is likely to have a great appeal. "Many people, wishful of a fuller happiness than' that promised by Dr, Johnson's two sayings—"The happiest part of a man's life is what he: passes lying awake in bed in the morning" and "Man is never happy for the present, but when he drunk"—and relying on Mr. Powys Teputation asa novelist, will probably hope for something from "The Art of Happiness." They will be disappointed: this book "is of the type of "In Defence of Sensuality."
"The Art of Happiness" isthe product of a mesozoic mind and Swampy soul and is a compound of latitude, muddied thinking and bad writing—"mere pretentious gabble," in. short, as the author himself says.
"The book consists of 226 pages, uberally "sprinkled with _ftalies (scarcely a dozen pages are without Italies) and divided. into five chap ers: The root of the matter; Let conscience spee) Woman with man: Man with woman and Works and unpleasant looking into the soul and mind of such a man as Mr.j Pewss, so we will not try to discuss hig suggestion, but merely give typl>, cal extracts from his book. i 'The first extract describes the tehthian Act" something to which he gives much importance in the first chapter:....-.-.what I am trying to Indicate by' what T all the "ichthian" act is a resolute motion of subjective energy within the ego means of which our spirit rises up from the depths of our being and shaking off both physical lethargy fand mental discomfort plunges into} the mystery of life, considered as tone great stream, and into the my-! tery of death, considered as a positive element' surrounding it"
"The second extract comes from the chapter "Women with man," which seems to be an amplification of Mr. Powys! revulsion at being an elderly woman kissing her husband's bald) head: "....my profane spirit shuddered to" behold it, as you would shudder to behold an animal dis-pearing into the skin, the skin's mouth cozy with voluptuous foam, lof_a possession-drugged python."
The publishers, having published the "book, have done their best to make amends by attention to the mechanical side, and the printing, Paper and binding are as comely as, may bec.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.