The Washington times., 1922-10-15
"ONE or OURS
|LIBERATES A
~ s.
SOUL
Villa Gathers Novel Releases
..cIauds Wheeler From Drudg-
cry to Glorious Liberty lof
Trenches Of France.

l0Iy " Stottoeo ~
Trenches Of France.
BY AMEs KENDRICK.
WILLA GATHER established
herself SO firmly In the
ssteern Of discriminating read
ers with MY Antonia" and
youth and the Bright Medusa"
that 1t is with considerable shock
we observe the division Of opin-
ION about her latest novel "one
Of Ours" KnopD. This story Of
the Nebraksa farmer boy who
went to the war as the Knights
Of King Arthur went to battle.
with q song on his lips. a lady's
guerdon in his keeping. and a
mean punch in the good right
srm. has been subjected to the
attack of the Parthian hordes
of critics. y.
q First came the redoubtable
pfumed knight Of Baltimore,
Henry Mencken. waving his vari.
colored saraband or whatever It
was the Parthians waved to at
tract attention to themselves.
wheeling ana curveting to the
attack with . challenge for some
champion to stand forth and de-
fsnd the chapters Of the book
dealing with the war. It IL his
oontention that all war stories
must be told in terms Of ''Three
goldiers," and he denounces
Claude Wheeler's adventures Mt
the front AZ 30 much Hollywood
posturing.
II And then along came another
Of considerably less renown than
iNenclxen, to be sure, who ad-.
vances his banner and looses q
flight Of critical arrows, crying
aloud to all and sundry that the
book should properly have ended
with the episode Of Claude's wed.
ding journey. Thus ragged the bat.
tie. and our faith In our own i'm
peccable judgment was nomen-
tarily shaken. Rekiring to bur
cave in the wilderness. we spent
the night in fasting and prayer.
emerging in the morning stead
fast in the purpose Of defending
the cause Of "One Of Ours" to the
bitter end.
We do not wish to detract from
the excellence Of Dos Passos' book
mo doubt many soldiers may
have felt about the war as did
his warped and strabismic three,
but from our. own observation
many more boys went across to
whom the affair was a crusade
In u a righteous cause. Also.
to still others, It was q way Of
escape from conditions that
weighed heavily on the soul. We
are of opinion that to Claude
Wheeler It came both as an es-
cape and as a crusade.
This Claude Wheeler enters the
story a discontented farmer boy.
hating the drudgery to which he
has been condemned by the father
he secretly despises. He has lit.
tie in common with his brothers.
and later on, still less with the
girl he marries. His mother. q for.
iner school teacher, possessing the
rndiments Of civilization, IL the only
member Of the Wheeler family who
has the faintest conception Of what
goes on inside Claude's blond
head.
The neighbors are equally hope.
less. Their only concern Is with
the price Of hogs. accumulation Of
land, and the amount Of corn to
the acre. They are stanch Repub-
lfcans politically. and devotees Of
. religion peculiarly devastating
to idealism Of any kind. And the
boy has ideals.
=, One half the book IL spent by
Mrs. Gather in building UP the case
for Claude. There Ii no writer in
the land can approach her in pic
turing life in small towns and on
the farm. and in "one Of Ours"
she does her work 90 well that It
70 with relief the reader beholds
Claude embarked on the transport
for France. 1t 10 to him. indeed,
m adventure and an escape.
:" That Claude meets death in bat:
tle seems 80 inevitable as to soften
Hf kLXI<