Evening star., 1923-07-08


University. New York: Harper &
Brothers.
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cord among peoples? Or
will you have war-a war inconceiv-
ably more terrible than the last so
terrible one? Such the alternative
that Irving Fisher offers in this
study. An already travelled road, this.
but with a vital difference, however.
The choice presented here is To the
people-to you and to me, unway-
wise to the subtle and intricate by
paths of political analysis. And. for
our helping, the by-paths of discus
sion are abandoned, this author keep
ing to the open road of a few funda-
mental outstanding points. More
than that. these are so set out that
even he who runs may read. 1t is
this obviousness of fact and effect
that set the high value of the study
this. coupled with the authentic
character of these facts and the
straight logic of their sequences. In
ltereSting, most interesting, and SIM
pie. too. Is man fighting animal?
And here we are taken back to our
biological beginnings and historical
onConlingS for answer. Certain peace
groups are studied-the family. the
community, the state, states feder
ated-why not the world federated
law replacing war as a mode of set
tlement where differences arise in
the world family? A dream? Why.
we have secured il all, save the last
step-no vision. but the clearest of
logic. this. WHY wars occur'-as
clear as day in our present political
organization. The league is here
discussed. simply and directly, as
means of reaching the necessity of
"A" league. And So on the author
goes on his straight way-setting out
this and that in a manner to catch
the mind of the average man and
woman-to that era of altruism to-
ward which we are journeying-
sfowly-when by the honest and con-
certed effort of all of US war will
nave become as extinct as thousand
other outmoded ways of human life
study for everybody from an un-
commonly authoritative source.
THE LAST OF THE VIKINGS. By
Johan Bojer. author of THE Great
Hunger" etc. Translated by Jessie
Muir. illustrated by Sigurd Skou
New York: The Century Company
As vivid as reality itself is this
story of the fishermen's life on the
Lofoten Islands, off the northwest
coast of Norway. Causes-two of
them-for this striking immediacy of
effect. AS a young fellow Johan Bojer
himself sailed away with the Lofoten
fishing boats, feeling in his own body
the sting of cold and storm, the thrill
of danger. the pull of young muscles
on packed nets. the short respite of
rest and food, the quick lift of spirits
II n NJ INT lou H. Il
flare of anger, with it's prompt appeal
to the ordeal of battle. All this was a
part of his own youth. One of the two
causes that here turns the story into
cause is not so much experience as
training-skill to assemble meaty
words and to bind them together in a
close jointing Not a shread of waste
tissue here. Record and event become
one. barely distinguishable each from
tive partaking here. going about
among the islands, seeing them for
the first time; as a matter of fact,
realizing the beauty of this wild out
post for the first time and marveling
at the kind of man that chooses this
of amazing beauty-austere, un-
friendly, exacting. A people of the
clean simplicity of the land itself.
The story runs on single thread
that of the mother of family labor
ing in a subtle persistency to wean
sea, which she fears and hates. The
father is of the sea. He is the sea
In his wild and dauntless oneness
with 1t. A substantial and straight
moving line of action this. But it is
the islands and the sea in their
beauty and in their inevitable effects
on the islanders themselves that make
the splendid sum of this great story.
Merely reading it is an adventure in
itself And reading it again, and
thrill of ones first experience with it,
KAI LUNGS GOLDEN HOURS. By
Ernest Bramah, author of "The
Wallet of Kai Lung" New York:
George H. Doran Company.
A prince of vagabonds. Kai Lung
yagrant feet set to wayside adventure,
mind and heart keeping step with
these, and tongue tipped off to the
tune of all three. The hours of Kai
Lung are truly golden. filled with
shining encounters that overflow here
in words of wisdom and tales of many
meanings. Strange events, often
dangerous ones, wait upon the steps
of Kai Lung. Sinister influences
threaten him. Enemies lie in wait.
Powers and principalitfes turn mind
full eyes upon this unknown wander
ing philosopher. And Kai Lung has
no weapon Of defense-save only that
of subtle and disturbing speech. This
he weaves into strange tales with
which to confute his adversaries. And
a story by kai Lung is most mean
ingful and potent thing. Near him
now. dancing in front, now beside him,
now tagging at his heels-is the
Golden Mouse, maiden of witchery and
guile who foresees the various forms
of menace around Kai Lung and helps
him to provide against them. And
these situations, one after another,
bring out the stories in a shining
thread of pure delight. Grave and
courteous in the ceremonial of the
east, the stately Kai Lung talks him.
self out from one danger and another
in the smooth imagery of the orient.
Humor-soft, indulgent, subtle-bub-
bles spontaneously from the union
here of the age-old convention of
Chinese thought and attitude with the
vernacular of the English tongue.
And, under the humor. lies the clear
identity of all human nature of what
ever time or place. A perfectly de-
Iicious and joyous thing-as original
in design as it is perfect in finished
production. A book to own for happy
browsinGs at frequent odd moments.