Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-21
Mrs. Gibbons Writes Of Paris
andMme. Duclaux on Mod
ern French Authors

Madame Duclaux admits she disap-
points those who look for the names OF
the illustrious spirits with whom readers
of French literature during the last
quarter of a century have been familiar
,l-Pierre Lott. Paul Bourget, Anatole
France. for example. But her Reviews
and "reminiscences. "as she subtitlos her
chapters. bring forward the thought that
even in 1914 new generation and dis
pensation in French literature was de-
veloping Madame Duclaux ia pioneer
IN estimating and evaluating the new
! figures and the new voices. She says
There is, / believe, one of the South
American republics which possesses a
couple of capitals. one to be used when
the Liberals are in power and the other
lone for the Conservatives. France also
has double set of everything. includ-
ing celebrities; those admired by the
bien pensant and those peculiar to the
intellectuels. You may be illustrious in
one group and barely heard of in the
other. Those who adore Anatole France
and praise Romaine ROLAND. smile sar-
castically at the name Of Maurice Barres
and have never opened book by Paul
Claudel. And, of course. ii is the same
the other way around-only more SO. |
have done my best to hold the balance
even; to group on the right my secmly
goats, in flocks of appropriate number"
Her discussions are marked by orig
inality Of observation. sympathetic COM
prehension of the actuating motives Of
different schools and individualites.
penetrating insight into temperaments
and personalities and fine catholicity of
approach and attitude.
Among the authors Of contemporary
| Citp1 Frppph litarafura ,rbn,,, hn Dis
cusses are ROLAND. Rostand. Rarrps.
Duhamel. Barbusse. Claudel, Francis
Jammes, Countess de Noailles. Madamc
Tinayre, Madame Colette, Mile. Marie
Leneru, Andre Glide. Rene Boylpsvc and
Charles Pcguy. OF these ROLAND.
Rostand. BarrPs and Madame Tinayre
were virtually the only ones who had a
transatlantic acquaintance before the
war, and Of this group only Rostand
was known generally and widely among
Americans. Duhamel and Barbusse
have especially come forward into great
international prominence over the war
years. But some of the others are Of
decided Importance and their ideals and
achievements are worthy Of study by all
persons interested in literature
Madame Duclaux. in a post war pref
ace. gives rapid summary of what
some Of the writer's have done since the
war and characterizes few more
significant names which have come for
ward since she wrote her original
chapters. She also gives as n vague
outlook toward the future: "What will
the morrow bring fOrth--the violent
; realism of Barbusse. the dithyrainbs Of
Claudel. the infinitely delicate divaga
tion Of Marfel Proust. or something
. wholly new or unforeseen? With the
IL
era and there will be new writer's.
doubtless to greet the twentieth year Of
the twentieth century.
, Ultima Cumaei VENT jam carminis
! aetas
2 Magnus ab iutegro saeculorum nascitur
ordO.
? Which ant quotation. applicable to
| more than literature, may be Englished {:
"NOw dawnS the last age Of the Sybil' 5
sooth,
And 10. the world transforms. renewS
its YOUTH
q "Paris Nistas" is delightful view
v down long aislcs of memory of the City
of Light. Helen Davenport Gibbons. the
author. knows her city well. and what
r is more important, she has the capacity
d Of vivid communication of what she
feels. sees and senses Her book will bc
a delightful stimulus to the memory Ni
those who have known Paris over the
last three dpcadeS-and very many
Americans learned to know it. stricken
r but valiant. in the hard urgencies and
poignant stresses Of wartime. For those
to whom Paris is not memory but Il
. hope and aspiration. Mrs. Gibbons
:, books will show the city through eye,
| II
:. is revealed as seen by the author as 4
! girl noting only those things that passrc
the censorship of dutiful governcss
as seen by her ms young lady inter
y prcting the world indcpcndcntly as seer
~ as young wife living in tho Intir
h quarter and az seen during the foul
4 years of war when. with her husban,
n and family Of four children she WORKED
for the cause Of France and freedom.
p Mrs Gibbons. in "a Little Gray
n Homo in France" succeeded in mirror,
ing the American doughboy. his happy
philosophy and his courage. In "Pari
Vistas" she has captured the warmth
and vigor of Paris, its laughter, it
IL heroic gestures. its color and movemcn
~ ~ and just n glimpse of its tears.
= II is written in tho same unaffected
10 style and with the same feeling tha
tc characterized Mrs, Glbb0nS'S "A Iittl
:. Gray Home in France" II is illus
in .tratPd with sixteen full mage cxQuisit
,s sketches done in Paris by Lester G
49, Hornby. especially for this book.
NJ Mrs. Gibbons is tho wife of Hcrbrr
,o Adams Gibbons, of this city noted rs
= writer on International questions
The invaluable Contemporary Dram
Series" edited by that notable schola
n" and poet, Richard Burton of the Uni
IN verSity of Minnesota. has diStinguishc
II addition in The Contemporary Dram
re Of France" by Frank w. Chandlcr
n dean in the University of Cincinnati
0i who presents both survey and in
~ tprprctation of the course Of Frcnc
"S play writing and play production fc
o. three decades from the opening of tn
d, Theatre Librc Of Antoine to the con
%. illusion Of the world war. 1t will thu
be seen that Dean Chandler has cOverc
a most significant period of Frcnc
dramaturgy, significant. ii not fc
=, sterling quality. Of uniform grade.
mad " substance. then for its contemporancouS
:" f" ness and its immcdiacy to the ideals an
u reactions Of our own times, Also it
ins significant period in its qucsting {,
w. new characteristics. for it's freQuPn
~, if often futile. experimentation in form
a and formulas and abandOnmPnts of cor
rTu ventional or traditional formularies.
tly Two hundred and thirty authors a,