Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-10
PROSE EPIC OF A RACE
Aoraham Cahan's "Rise of David Levinsky" Is a
Remarkable Story of the Life of the
Russian Jew in America

HINHE Rise of David Levinksy" is an
l. epic OF race, a country. an industry
am man. " " one of tn mo Z 'mpor-
tant books that have come from the pub-
lshers IN number Of years, and IN Il Abra-
nam Cahan-pronounced with the accent
on the hrst syllable--has given us withou,
.ue suggestive aid Of n title more vivid
ana more powerful picture Of America the
henlng pot" than lid Israel 2anCwllI in
ms play of decade ago The author
Sketches mlnutelv and sympathetically tho
ne or a Jewish boy of the Russian ghetto
.rough his Talmudc training. his 're-
,r'h when he arrives an immigrant in
New York his early struggles for exist
M .M"oe ana finally HIS rise to paramount i'm.
porua'cc in the great cloak industry
nor" are manv David evin-kys" In the
h'ed Ntates-athough their names may
we smith kaplan, O'Brien or Giovanni
hsrE INDUSTRY can pont-and does with
~ 'ue--to some leader who has risen from
.ne shops to a powerful position But how
naily or these se'f-made men are as devoid
ni ni tne dealism which means happiness as
~ David ! evirsky Of Mr. Cahan's book?
WIN exquisite art the editor Of the leading
lddiSh paper in this country has wrought
',n tne NE ~ his hero tho atmosnN"rp %
Sohtude and desolation of soul amid thou
Its or frte"ds" and millions of dollars
win a fine feeling for the more subtle
manifestations of character he has drawn
MS David as passionatcly In love with
woman as he was thrilled by his own
prowcss. but as unrelenting and cold in his
treatment of the individual woman-Iove
as ne was OF the men and machines which
Were the stepping stones to his success
II Is difficult to recall another book that
so faithfully intcrpre.s and clarifies the
>iudish psychology as does David Levin
SKY There is none Of the chcap. senti-
mental cIaptrnp which character'zes the
average East Side volume Of short stories
instead of meeting the obvious ,,anifcsta-
lions of the jew. the read finds himself
'9ce to face With the processes which make
the idiosyncrasieS Of the Ehettean natural :
any other action would thereafter be re-
- hted as unfaithful If the average Amer
ican. suddenly endowed with the ability to
understand Yiddish should hear a mother
or the ghetto call down upon her child the
curse of fifteen years cholera plague for
having spilled the milk. stuhhed It's toe or
committed some other equally heinous sin,
surprise would probably give way to dis
gust and that in turn to wrath But any
less-powcrful oath in the mouth Of one of
Cahan's characters would he ineffective and
untrue to life, and instead Of being re-
volted at the nvectivc the reader Is made to
feel the naive Imagination of the Niddish
mother. who Immediately aftrr fondles her
best loved to her breast This is but one il
'ustration of many that might be chosen IN
which the author makes his characters live
their natural lives. but still makes them
Understandable to the stranger
Particularly effective is the description
of Davd's life in Russia-how. even after
his mother was killed in attempting to
wreak vengeance upon Gentle children who