The Unknown Quantity

by Henry Van Dyke

Black hardbound reprint of the 1912 edition, metallic print. Subtitled on title page, "A Book of Romance And Some Half-Told Tales by Henry Van Dyke", illustrated.

Genres: Short Stories

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, educator, and author. He graduated from Princeton in 1873, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1874. He was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City (1883-99), professor of English literature at Princeton (1899-1923), and U.S. minister to the Netherlands (1913-16).

Among his popular inspirational writings is the Christmas story The Other Wise Man (1896). As President Wilson's ambassador to the Netherlands from 1913, Van Dyke was a first-hand witness to the outbreak of World War I and its progress, and was a key player in the President's diplomatic efforts to keep the U.S. out of the conflict.

Not to be confused with his father, Henry J. Van Dyke (1822-1891).

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/van-dyke...

Reviews

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's like this creepy song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGa... except for the chorus. The man of course is far too strong and long-suffering and MANLY DAMMIT to have something like a "poor heart" that might "break". He is just faithful and watchful to the end and beyond.

Oh dear! I thought it was going to be funny, at first it was sort of funny and quaint but it got worse and worse. I guess the main moral of it is that so long as you have been rich and popular once (albeit from dishonestly gained money) you ill ever after be better than any other underprivileged person even if you lose it all.

Our heroine Jeanette is wealthy and beloved. She has scores of admirers and doesn't give a fig about any of them. She adores her father and wants nothing more than to be with him forever (shades of Sigmund). All women want to pay homage to her superiority and be little mousy followers in her train even though she hogs all the attention of all the men. The man she gives the least care-factor about is called Buck (they all have great names like Skittles....Bandy....awesome names. That was partly why I expected to giggle and snort with laughter throughout). Buck is not hansome, rich, or popular. He is boring and good and very very faithful. He is sort of like a stalker but more like a useful wooden piece of furniture that follows her around letting her use him and not asking for anything (useful). One of her issues with him (and with Lord Conister, her fiance) is she wants a man to "take what he wants" from her rather than respecting her "no".

Sigh.

Then later on there are bad, creepy rapey men who she knows at first sight are bad because they are jews (this is hinted rather than stated). They are also bad because they were not born rich but used business to get rich. Even though she acknowledges here that her father the dishonest banker is sort of in the same category, somehow they are still beneath her because they are jews and she is beautiful...except she is not beautiful. Lady Varleigh sets the score straight on that one: "Not that you are beautiful, my dear. Nothing so conventional and commonplace. You are mysterious, fascinating, wonderful; but they have only the one ordinary term to express it all, poor things." (p56)

The language is all sort of romantic and fanciful and I do realise this was written almost 100 years ago so maybe that is more normal for the time but it seems pretentious and not well written even so (I do read old books sometimes). She doesn't want to lie down for example she "fain would lie down". That sort of thing. More medieval than twenties isn't it?

There's a fair bit of God in there. She starts off not very religious but slowly becomes more and more so. The religion she believes in is very conservative/reactionary even for its time. She is so wonderful because she is harsh and abusive to an invalid in her care and every man in the book (possibly even her father) is in love with her. She has no desire or sexual feeling whatsoever but wants a man for the domesticity and rightness before God of it (sort of like a career only more essentialised). Buck being a good man also does not have any sexual feeling but merely loves her with a dog-like (this metaphor is made much of in the book) devotion.

It surprises me that since the internet was invented some people have read this book and given it many stars. I guess they must be reactionary religious types like the preacher who pretty much converts Jeanette. As soon as she stops being so darn feminist and independent and gets on her knees to pray and get married there is suddenly a way for her to be rich again (of course). I can't honestly recommend this even for the crap factor. The crap is waist (waste) deep and turgid.

[Mark Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to call this a book of fables. As with Aesop (whom I read much too long ago to remember much) each has something of a lesson or moral in it, and they are all just a little magical--no powerful wizardry, but nothing less than a very fortuitous coincidence, and sometimes the involvement of something more. They were all enjoyable, and were set variously in such places as early twentieth century New York, the wilds of Canada, a medieval castle, and the plains outside Bethlehem. There is something of a Roman Catholic flavor to some of it, but not strongly so. Also, something about the writing brought to mind the few O'Henry stories I read decades back, but I can't quite put my finger on it; it may be no more than a similar period in literature. It does not in general have the kinds of twists for which O'Henry is known, although there are some surprises in the stories.

There is also an optimism inherent in the tales. Even the story of the sad shepherd, who tells how his life went from failure to failure, ends in hope.

I am somewhat puzzled, though. The book was a gift, a used copy dated from the mid 1920s with a previous owner's name inscribed on the flyleaf. I do not know how it came to me, or through how many sets of hands it passed. However, it sometimes happened with old books that pages would be uncut--that is, four pages would be printed on each side of one sheet, folded in half, then in half again, and inserted, and the fold to the outside would half to be cut to be able to read the two pages to the inside. What puzzles me is that there were perhaps a dozen such pages that had not been cut by the publisher and had not since been cut by any previous reader--which means that those pages had not been seen since the book was printed. I cut them; I found the stories interesting and wanted to read those pages. I wonder, though, whether previous owners never tried to read the book, gave up before they reached those pages (they were all in the latter perhaps third of the book), or thought that cutting them would deface it. That introduces the possibility that none of the previous owners of the book read it, or finished reading it, or cared enough about what was written on those pages to cut them. So perhaps my enjoyment is irregular.

Henry van Dyke is a name I have heard, but I probably would not have been able to tell you he was an author. This book was good enough to make me wonder why no one had mentioned his writings before.

[Stephanie Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written short stories discussing many themes related to quality of life, relationships with others, and the weird ways life works. Semi religious at times, sometimes difficult to understand for those of us not well versed in late 1800s/early 1900s English, and very western / white. But overall, beautiful observations and philosophy on life.

[Magda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet moving stories. Stories of life, adventure, loss, love, written in a straightforward, sometimes witty, sometimes serious fashion. Curious characters and unfinished récits. Some interweave morals ; all interweave life lessons. And that’s just really what they are. They’re stories, and delightful, plain and simple.