The Ruling Passion
(Scribner's, 1901)
Henry Van Dyke is one of the great craftsmen of the American short story. Although he only produced five or six collections during his lifetime, many of the tales contained therein are classics of their kind. Van Dyke was better known as an essayist and theological writer. Surprisingly, many of his works are still in print, and quite popular among Christian readers. His profound thinking and lucid style have secured him an unfailing audience, and we don't wonder why. Indeed, there seems to be an 'undying' element in most of his work. But his short stories, excepting such classics as "The Other Wise Man" and "The Lost Word," are generally less known to readers. Let us amend this, and see if we can't bring out some of their merits in a series of reviews.
The subtitle of the present collection is "Tales of Nature and Human Nature." The book's theme is stated in the author's preface. "In every life worth writing about there is a ruling passion, -- 'the very pulse of the machine.' Unless you touch that you are groping around outside of reality.' It is Van Dyke's intention to discover these ruling passions in various individuals-- to explore the inner motives and impulses that give color and zest to life. Most of the tales-- there are eight of them-- take place in Canada, among simple and rugged folk. After all, it is the men and women of every day that appealed to Van Dyke. In reading of these individuals, we feel that they are not so removed from ourselves as externals would suggest.
"A Lover of Music" concerns a man who flees from a Canadian village after committing some crime. He finds solace in his music, and cheers despondent hearts with the strains of his violin. After all is said and done, he is forgiven by his old foe (now a village priest) at the bed of his death. "The Reward of Virtue" centers around a Canadian fishing guide who tries to forgo smoking tobacco, in order to save enough money for himself and wife to visit the orphanage in Quebec. He later finds out that an occasional smoke may bring solace to the wounded heart-- despite the tenets of crotchety reformers. This tale illustrates the fact that Van Dyke, though evangelical, was never a 'fundamentalist.' The simple pleasures of life may always be used in moderation.
"A Brave Heart" introduces us to a pugnacious French-Canadian who longs to fight his old friend over a petty cause. The fight ends up blinding his friend, though all turns out well in the end. "The Gentle Life" is a fishing story! Our friend the angler falls asleep under a tree while waiting for chum; and who should stroll by but old Ike Walton, to give forth some of his views on, well, the gentler life. All this is dream-stuff, of course. The story is followed by "A Friend of Justice," one of the better animal stories we've read in a while, and which predates Jack London's Call of the Wild. A nice little tale which illustrates nobility in the animal kingdom. "The White Blot", set on Long Island, contains marginal mystery elements, and concerns the hunt for the locale of a deceased artist's painting. This was one of my favorite selections.
"A Year of Nobility" takes us back to Canada, where an impoverished fishing-guide is imposed on by a swindler who tries to sell him a patent of nobility. The last tale, "The Keeper of the Light," is one in which the determination to keep a defunct lighthouse in order causes a girl to spend the best years of her life. The motto for this tale might aptly have been 'the passion of duty.' It shows us how duty sometimes prevails over self-interest. All-in-all, the whole collection is a nice little package. All of the stories fit together closely, and illustrate, from various angles, the theme of existence driven by an inner purpose. Although we haven't gotten into all the psychological, or even spiritual, aspects of these stories, we feel that we'll be re-visiting them sometime soon. The first gleaning is never perfect, anyhow.
Would we recommend this book to others? With the greatest confidence. Although this is not among those titles currently in print, there are enough of the old Scribner's editions still making the rounds. One shouldn't have to pay more than $10-$15 for a used copy. And that's a fair-market price. This early edition is admirably illustrated by W. Appleton Clark. Although I recently purchased a whole set of Van Dyke's works (the 1921 edition) most of the interior illustrations are absent. This is always the one drawback of collected editions. However, in Van Dyke's case, the tales themselves are vivid enough without the pictures. For Christmas this year, we can think of few better gifts to give a loved one than The Ruling Passion.
--B.A.S.
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