New-York tribune., 1919-07-05
By Haywood Broun

Vicente Blasco Ibanez is prohibitions
ist because he is revolutionist. He
sees in the subjection OF alcohol the first
steps toward Bolshevism. AS matter
of fact LA Bodega" (E. P. Dutton &
Coz was written in 1903 before any
single word had been evolved to cover
all shades of radical opinion, but it can
mot be said that the Spaniard is old
fashioned in his views. His novel quail
ies him for a place in the extreme left
wing of the Socialist party.
And yet his book cuts both ways
While he is anxious for social up
heaval he deplores i'll considered and
irrational uprisings which lead to moth
ing but to bloodshed and reprisals. The
peasants Of Jerez who march upon the
town accomplish only the death of few
poor passersby and when their revolt
has been stamped out the condition of
labor has not improved a whit. Even
in their blind lashing out Ibanez does
not deny his sympathy to the workers,
and his book ends with tribute to the
revolution which shall come when "the
disinherited of the city" shall have
Joined hands with the farm laborers
under the leadership of "the angel of
light who was once called Lucifer, and
is now called Revolution Social
Revolution.'
The subject of ola Bodega" is distinct
IL that of q realist since it concerns the
life OF peasants who live under condi-
tons of the utmost squalor, and yet the
book has nothing of pinched quality
1banez writes of his poor peasants with
all the gusto of man spinning tale
of knights and ladies. 1t is not, how
ever. the sentimental approach of a
Thovas Burke, for instance, with his
and the beauties of filth. 1t is rather
that Ibanez sees things in the large. He
sees not so much the laborer as Labor,
and he makes the figure towering and
majestic for all its burdens. He draws
it with a sweep such as we might find
in the cartoon of some brilliant radical
artist like Boardman Robinson.
ola Bodega" tells story only inter
mittentlv. although when it does come
TO incident it is rich in rape and wine
and knife thrusts. For the most part
it is the story of a countryside and
sometimes of country. The book
seemed to us magnificent and en-
thraling piece of writing, richer by, Tar
in color than anything we get IN modern
English literature. The Spanlard, how
ever has not the same genius for char
acter drawing as the best of our own
novelists. He can do a good deal with
a few strokes as. "Whereupon there
entered lad below medium height,
advancing cautiously, with his back to
the wall as if he feared to scrape IT.
In his submission he seemed to beg
nardon in advance for anything he
might do" Often, however, he is con-
tent to sketch a figure in rapidly IN
this manner without completing the de-
tail Single figures are too small Tor
him to bother with greatly, although
an exception might perhaps be made
for the hero of the book, the old revo-
utionary Salvatierra.
Wine, Ibanez sees as force whicn IS
holdino hack the strong men of the
lower classes and the upper as Wen rom
all successful efforts to conquer power
tx. He writes fiercelv about wine and
wasters and yet there is such evident
relish in his descriptions of orgies tnal
one sometimes wonders if he has not
DESTROYED the value of his propaganda
nv the very richness of his writing
Sometimes the text is directed in favor
of the prohibitionst but the substance
must also give a certain satlstactiol
to the epicurean, as IN the following
passage:
"He adored wine with the enthusiasm
of country folk who know little foot
beside brown bread. the bread of tn
gaZpachos or the hot garlic sauce; com
PEELED to wash down with water this
tasteless meal, containing no other ia
than the ill-smelling oil of the season
ing, they dream of wine, beholding II
it the strength of their existence. the
delight of their thoughts. The poor
long for this blood of the soil with all
the vehemence of anemic bodies. The
glass of wine stills hunger, and with
its fire for moment gladdens life; 1t
is a veritable sunbeam entering the
stomach"
Christopher Morley's novel, "The
Haunted Bookshop" doubleday, Page)
promises highly in its early chapters
with much rambling and interesting
talk of books and some little sugges-
ton of character drawing, but the story
is of entirely secondary interest. The
plot is hackneyed German spy theme
and Morley has hardly freshened it by
the simple expedent of making the plot
take the form of an intrigue against
the life of President Wilson, carried or
after the signing of the armistce. The
fling with which the book is richly
endowed s excellent The structure is
not.
We feel comparatively certain that
y. n. P. Barbellion's "The Journal OF
a Disappointed Man" (Doran) is not
the work of H. G. Wells, but we are
doubtful whether it is a genuine diary
Particularly the early entries, supposed
TO have been made by d boy, gave u!