Evening star., 1925-03-28
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY THE BoOKLOyER.

question in his novel, Tho Great
Hunger" He replies that 1t Is the
longing to know the answer to the
questions Whence? whittier? Why?
as regard human life. Science gives
no answer to these questions. The
Christian religion attempts an an
swer-the answer of faith; but what
Of the man who is unable to accept
this? Bojer says: I'VE are flung by
the different law of the universe into
life that we cannot order as we
would; We are ravaged by injustice,
by sickness and sorrow, by fire and
blood. Even the happiest must die.
In his own home he Is but on a visit.
He never knows but that he may be
gone tomorrow. And yet man smiles
and laughs in the face of his tragic
fate" He smiles either because he
deliberately closes his mind to
thought or because of an optimism
which will not be defeated even when
sorrow leads us farther and farther
out on the promontory of existence"
to the outermost point where there is
no more. 80 marvellous art thou, o
spirit Of man, So godlike in thy
and in return thou sowest the dream
of everlasting life. In revenge for
thine evil fate thou dost fill the uni
verse with an all-loving God"
X X X *
Peer Holm begins life as an illegiti-
mate child, cared for by q Norwegian
peasant couple in the little fishing
village of Troen. His father. grand
gentltman," a lieutenant colonel liv-
ing in Christiania, pays his expenses
and is known as his "benefactor." At
the benefactor's death 1t is found that
he has left a small savings bank ac-
count to be used for the benefit Of
this unrecognized son. Peer has al
ways had a vision of himself as
bishop, one who might even rise so
high that "he could go down into
the place Of torment where his
mother lay, and bring her up again,
up to salvation"-for Peer knows
what his mothers life has been. His
dreams OF his high spiritual mission
are shattered when he learns how lit
tie money he has and how much
money clerical education would cost.
But another dream, a more material
one, succeeds the first. While working
his way through the technical school
he dreams of becoming a great en-
gineer. This dream comes true. At
40 he is the engineer of the great Nile
Barrage, rich, retired, a landed pro-
prietor, married and the father of
children. He exults in his prosperity
owns land and has home and a fam
lily belonging to him. Then success
falls away from him and he expert
ences to the utmost ethe whips and
scorns OF time"
In a blacksmith's cabin up in a Sc
cluded valley surrounded by mountain
ranges Peer feels more poignantly than
ever the great hunger" which has al
4. l. G--l-a
OF his success, to know the meaning of
life-if it has any meaning. II saw a
man rush out into the night, shaking
his fist at heaven and earth; a mad
man who refused to play his part in the
farce any more, and so rushed down
toward the river. But l myself sat
there still" When finally he and his
heroic wife have made the supreme sac
rif1ce, the sacrifice of their bitterness,
he finds peace and a dawning of light
on his haunting question. Mankind
must arise, and be better than the blind
powers that order its ways; in the midst
of its sorrows it must take heed that
the godlike does not die. The spark of
eternity was once more aglow in me,
and said: Let there be light. And more
and more 1t came home to me that it Is
man himself that must create the divine
in heaven and on earth-that that is
his triumph over the dead omnipotence
Of the universe. Therefore I went out
and sowed the corn in my enemy's field,
that God might exist"
Thomas Mann, author of "Budden-
brooks" and one of the leading present
day noyelists of Germany, has written
trio of somber, powerful stories, re-
Gently translated by Kenneth Burk, un-
der the title, Death in Venice and
Other Stories" In the title story
middle aged author, overcome by nos
talgia for more sensuous life, leaves
his quiet existence in Munich for Ven
ice. ages old in intrigue; but Venice is
plague-smitten, and there he meets
death. Another story portrays life in a
sanatorium. The third, Tonic Kroger,"
again snalyzes middle-aged author,
who is driven from place to place by a
gadf1y OF morbidezza. To him the mel
low, almost rotten south has become
sickening, and he turns back TO his
German home, only to find himself for
gotten and his old home made over into
a public library
Under the title Of eConvalescent
'Children's Literature" Montrose ].
Moses says some sharp things In the
March North America Review about
what ''children's literature has had to
suffer at the hands of educators" He
urges the leaders of public instruction
to Join the library in a more persist
ent crusade for the better book" in
order thus to ''vivify all instruction by
using the real book rather than the
cut-and dried text book" He has
found from a recent poll of certain
grammar grades as to what books chill
dren like best when left to themselves.
with the only criterion of Judgment
whether things interest them or not.
that they liked not stories of radio and
aeroplane adventures, or books pub
iished in endless series, but such old
favorites as Little Women" alice In
Wonderland" "Uncle Remus," "The
Jungle Book" "Toby Tyler and "Huc-
kleberry Finn" all published from 80 to
80 years ago. These preferences he at
tributes to the persistent campaigns Of
the librarians. who have given long
years of unfiagging devotion to the best
books written for children in all ages.
Through their efforts the publishers are
more and more turning from the cheap
and tawdry to the publication Of bet
ter books for children, and especially
to the republication of beautifully
printed and illustrated editions Of the
classics Mr.. Moses calls on the school
ito help and not hinder toward a rem
aissance which will liven the imagina
tion OF the child. and give him more to
cling to when practical necessities of
life crowd in upon him.
y x
Readers who wish to take up the
study Of history, either the whole
course Of human history or the his
tory of some particular period, are
often deferred from doing so for lack
of guide who will select for them
out OF the vast mass of books those
that are at once interesting and
trustworthy. That lack has now been
met by a little book, How to Read