The Washington herald., 1922-05-28
DAWSON PRODUCES
MELODRAMA WITH
BRITISH COLORINC
Vanishing Point" Tells
Adventures of American
In European Upheaval.

A meiodrama--aecUmpanied by
the venerable. hoakum endeared to
the heart OF the American public,
borrowed for the occasion and
couched In the idiom and accent of
Its English author--Such 10 the be-
ginning OF coningspy Dawson's
Vanishing Point"
For space there Is a series Of
episodes with a SCu.se-You-Jack
Dalton" flavor which threaten to
obscure and carry its titulsr sig
n.hcance far beyond the physicar
limits OF the book.
Dawson's volume is story for
an evenings entertainment. peopled
with the figures of sensational. war
l time journalism-Mati-H -Hari. Ker-
ensky and Hortey tunde- non de
ceiving nom-de -plumes). enlivened
by Dawson's iege ndings as to their
respective fates. There are also a
stock heroine and vampire (via-
| iainess seems to be out OF the
model. a staple British intelligence
officer and finally an American hero.
in this case seasoned by steady
campaign before the Insistent pub
lie, crusading merrily for a woman's
honor.
Analysis Of Times.
Fortunately, Mr. Dawson emerges
from an unhappy entangiement
with nesrly-middie- e-ased phi
landerer in romance to engage him
self. with but occasional lapses. In
d somewhat earnest, fairly pene-
trating analysis of the social VOL
canos of the aforementioned coun-
| tries
The book, while not dull. certain
! ly no more than passively attaches
I ones interest through the police
| lodging incidents OF the first por-
tion. Mr.. Dawson may have had
a conscientious urge to give his
readers a thrill. but his British
birthright must have triumphed
over his American residence. ana
caused certain mo-ibund at
mosphere In his dramatic situations.
None of the people are very en-
tertainine or very credible. possibly
because their introspective teHden-
cies are, with the exception of
Philip Hindwood. somewhat retsrd :
ed. Possibly they lack conviction
because they are apparently fash
ioned from hearssy. public opinion.
| and the press. rather than from d.
rect contact. Nevertheless. they are
innocuous without being altogether
dull.
! Mr.. Dawson forcibIy injects phil
| osophic and economic abstracts. and
becomes so absorbed that the story
! Ieappears only occasionally, there
| by beguil.ng the devotee OF adven-
tu.ous fiction 10 further Indulgence,
Last IL Best.
The latter portion of the volume
saves the whole by its digest OF the
difficulties of the countries beyond
the allied borders.
| Although the book is dominated
by a somewhat trite melodrams at
first. II gradually rises to a nice
earnestness and compactness OF
thought which is marred only oc-
casionally by a story dragged In
| by the heels. taking as its text:
When you gaze up a railroad
track" said Varensky. there's al
ways a point in the infinite distance
where. just before they vanish, the
parallel rails seem to join. II a
train were ever TO reach that point
II would mean death.
"Life's like that "A track along
which we travel on the parallel
rails of possibility and desire. The
lure of the idealist is to overtake
the illusion. where possibility and
desire seem to merge and the safety
of the journey ends"
E. T. Q.