Evening star., 1923-09-30

THE MAN HIMSELF. BY Roinn
Lynde Hartt. author of COMES
sions of a Clergyman etc. new
York: Doubleday, Page d co.
fH EGINNING at the beginning
and keeping on uninterrupted
u ly to the very end, | have been
reading a heretical book. IL
upsets theologies. 1t demolishes creeds.
1t sweeps away tradition with a reck-
lessness altogether amazing. 1t is called
the Bible.". BY this complete and un-
broken seizure of the Bible alone Is
one able, accordiny to Mr.. Hartt, TO
gather it's nature, its purpose. its mean
ing. 1t then requires no interpreter
save the open mind. And toward the
end of this reading "a sublime figure
energies, a figure so incomparably ma
jestic that not even the admixtures of
legend and metaphysics in his biogra-
phies can hide his greatness. This is
the figure of the Nazarene." strange
personality he will seem at first, so
little are we accustomed to hear any
thing believable about him. anything
understandable, anything that can
bring him at all close to us. And
strange personality He was. Much that
He believed no living man believes
Yet, simply by reading the Bible all
through uninterruptedly, one. comes to
by this mode of approach one comes TO
see that the Man Himself takes on
grandeur that no theology has ever
succeeded in giving him. Mr.. Hartt Is
himself student of theology. former
pastor, a writer scholar. This study
of Jesus through His own racial his.
tory alone, stripped of all the load of
dogma that has been put upon Him by
theologians, is a study of amazing in
sight and acumen and scholarship. A
study, of wonder and delight and rare
illumination for the reader.
FOMBoMBo. BY T. S. srtibling, au-
thor of "Birthright," etc. New
York: The Century Company.
Conquerors and writer's of romance
share the exclusive privilege of set
ting up states and pulling them down.
In the role of the latter Mr.. Stribling
betakes himself to one of the special
ly unstable corners of Latin America,
where he organizes revolution and
puts it through, sets up a new die
tator and promptly clears the ground
for another revolution and another
dictator. That is the formula to
which he holds himself in the clear
spirit of comic invention. At the
moment of ones arriving Gen. Adri-
ano Fombombo is the new dictator,
of perfecting a purely idealistic state
provided he is given time. Time Is
Just the thing that is not allowed in
this locality. Coronel Saturnino
stands, for the moment. as Fombom-
bo's second Self-master of informa-
tion and detail. Clearly the next die
tator. this Saturnino. But that is
running ahead of the situation. Right
here is the place for Thomas Straw
bridge, New York drummer for
hardware concern. the hardware in
cluding rifles. Sonora Fombombo, for
romance, and Lubito. bullfghter.
for the next to the next dictators. and
Father Benicio for a perfect blend of
piety and worldliness-these are the
prime factors in comedy that rests
upon an exceedingly artful blend of
fact and invention. The basis of this
delightful foolery is fact. The region
itself is set in true picture of its
common life. above which rise the
high points of it's tempestuous his
tory. The temperamental people.
pure idealism everybody's claim and
nobodys possession. move about In
exactly the right degree of exag-
Eeration to meet the comic spirit
here. Thomas !Strawbridge, just a
plain selling machine for hardware
from the L. ). A.. is triumph in
himself and prodigiously effective as
sheer contrast. Conscientious, even In
play. this romance. When he is
fighting out revolution he creates
q battle that you know to be- the real
thing. for you go into 1t yourself,
so you know. Throughout delightful
And in no time at all, one is sure,
people will be looking at this story
and calling-well just one of the best
of the pictures.
THE LENGTHENED SHADOW. Will
liam ]. Locke, author of THE Be-
loved NagabOnd," etc. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
With nine out of ten the first ques-
tton that comes to the top upon a
meeting with William ]. Locke-after.
of course, finding out how he himself
is getting along and how the folks
are-is one concerning the wherea-
bouts of Aristide Pujol. Is Pujol
likely to be around this way again
soon? Locke seldom gives positive
yes or no to the question However,
II one goes along in his company, the
two are sure, sooner or later, to come
upon, not Aristide the beloved fell
low himself, but upon some member
of his "vagabond' family. So turns
out with the adventure in hand. Tim
othy Swayne is. at most. not further
off from Aristide than second cousin.
And while in this matter Timothy is.
officially, but half of the guardian of
high handed young woman. he~is,
nevertheless, the censor of ones
somewhat anxious affections. He
would be. He is made that way, like
-Aristide himself. Two guardians are
no more than enough for Suzanne.
But both promptly add to their le-
gally defined duties toward the girl
the entirely unofficial one of falling
IN lOVe WIN Iler. Peter MOOrd1uS, the
other half of the complete guardian
is fascinating scamp, a gambler
completely concealed under the tog-
gerry of modern business. Women
love villains-till they get them-so
suzanne loves this one. Such Is the
an-round situation that finally cuts
llt Timothys real job for him-the
Ultimate rescue of Suzanne. The viii
lainy of Peter Moordius, coupled with
that of Joseph Grabbiter, the rich
old sinner from whom Suzanne had
inherited, gives to the romance many
touches reminiscent of an earlier
generation in fiction. The outstand-
Ing. effect is. however, redeemed to
the immediate present by the
-to-the moment qualities of Su-
zanne herself, and the ever-young
personality of Timothy. To be sure,
the people and the events are all
of William j. Locke, but Timothy
and his anxious preOccupatioris in
this matter stand, far and away,
ahead of everything else-just as
If the whole had been arranged to
project Timothy Swayne, which was
not the case at all.
THE BLACK GANG. By Cyril Nc
Nellie, author of Bulldog Drum
mond," etc. New York: George H.
Doran Company.
Cyril McNeile's black gang" is
another one of the tra-legal. self
appointed bodies that every now and
then throughout history have gone
out after a Righteousness that the
London story, this. Its action is di-
rected against the powerful and
subtle agencies that are operating to
undermine industry through an in