Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-16
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookLoUer.

sumption curing the small hours OF
November night in the year 1909"
In this way Llewelyn Powys begins
| his small volume Skin for Skin, :"
which Is his biography during Two
! terrible years. When he made this
| discovery he was at his home in Dor
set, one of the loveliest portions of the
i English countryside when the sun
/ shines and the air is mild and warm.
/ But on this November night never
| for a single moment had the rain
| ceased from lashing against the win
dow panes of my bedroom, never for
a moment had the wind ceased from
beating against the walls OF the
| house" The picture is dismal one.
! He continues, "All through that
! Autumn l had been troubled by a bad
cold. by a cold of that particularly
virulent kind, persisting week after
| week. which is common enough in an
! English countryside where for months
on end people inhale mists, move
about in chilled rooms. and sleep be
! tween damp Sheets sudden
hemorrhase in the night revealed to
! him his serious condition. Then fol-
! lowed medical consultations and rel
egdtion to bed in a room where the
! windows had been removed from their
| frames. pending sufficient recovery of
! strength so that he could travel TO II
I - iSo s>dISlol1ufn- IL Is llilpO5SlDlS TO
! believe that even when his prospect
| Of life was at this low ebb AIR. Powys
/ lost his sense of humor or his feeling
J TOR the dramatic and poetic in life. SO
! humorouSlY, dramatically and poeti-
! caliy does he write of his thoughts
! ana observations at this period. Vari-
| Gus members of his family and
/ friends came to see him and he in.
! terested himself in studying the at.
! ttude of each visitor. MY father
! came to see me and prayed at nv
bedside, his head white as the silver
belly of minnow. white AS a dove s
| wing against thunder-cloud" His
| mother brought him flowers from the
garden. little button chrysanthemums
and spray Of arbutus berries from
! the tree in the laurel bushes leading
! down TO the terrace walk" Though
she was kind and gentle. his heart was
! nara toward her, for he knew that she
resented my going TO SwitzerIan nd and
would have had me instead return
! quietly TO Mon'acute to die peacefully
! mere cHnSinE To the Christian hope -
! HIS brother Theodore sat close by the
| open window when he came and his
| thlei preoccupation seemed TO be lest
/ ne himself should catch nv com.
paint. An old stone-mason, q family
] friend came and sat by the bed
ana SAID, You have = churchyard
! cough.
r inailH he was sufficiently better 10
! pe taken to spacious white sana
torium at Davos Platz. above tho
I frauenkirch Valley. Here his DAYS
! were passed In monotonous resting.
restn s-always resting. The scene
/ was beautiful-the snow mOuntains
] N
village Struggled in the valley below
| or the moon rising high above the
Frauenkirch Valley. "frail and lumi.
nous as the circular leaf Of d silver pop
| lar Ills mind turned continually 10
stevenson, VINO spent many similar
inVaild months at Davos Platz. and he
read NirSinibus Puerisque." written
there 80 wears before. At first. for fear
] or irrlta ting his lungs he dared not ia IL,
10 MS companions at the Sanatorium all
i there Tor the same drear rea SON Then
as improvement grew steady he he.
! came acquainted with a philosophic
, iunsarian and with Wilbraham. a
| Fhoiar and a gentleman" With the
! Spring came rela pse. Before the doc.
! tors recognized IL. he knew he wa
| wors". All the horrors returned upon
| him-the rising temperature the
| clammy sweats. the HstIessness and
/
during sleep. and that insuffera Die
bubbling sensati ton in his chest which
, preceded a hemerrha ge. Another
| Winter at Davos Platz. renewed i'm.
proVement and the arrest of the dis
! ease, Summer and a Winter in Eng.
land, then Spring al Arosa in the En-.
| eadine To avoid the damp English
! spring. Here he presumed too far on
| his health. climbed over the Furka
I 7
F: snow. to visit Davos Platz Al the
| Inn. where he went TO bed with wildly
! Dalpitating heart and high fever.
he was gain laid low in the night hy.
| 4 henorrhace, and in the morning
| was removed in covered sleigh 10
! the sana forum. the greatest fool in
, all that dolorous citadel Here the
! books ends. Once more" he saws II
! lay on my back. perfectly motionless
! like a ra bhit who freezes in a thicker
J OF thorns. in the hope that he will not
! he seen. in the hope that the de niger
/ that threatens him will pass by
Readers of Mr.. Powys' other books.
Ebony and Ivory and Black Laugh.
ter" can enjoy the poignant beauty
of Skin for Skin" without too great
apprehension. for they know that the
author won his fight with death and
! found in South Africa A climate where
he has been able to live an active
! even a vigorous life. and 10 write
books telling Of the charm Africa
holds for him.
Cora. which is the title of the
recent novel of RahinGra nath Tacore
is the diminutive name of the princi-
Dal character of the story. Il Hindoo
boy of the Brahmin caste, who boasts
the stately full name Gourmoha n
Babu. The novel is - purposeful one
whose ideal is unified India. Cora
is religious and political fanatic
working for this local. The interest
of the story is shared. however. by
Gora'S foster-brotner, Binoy Babu
who falls in love with girl of lower
caste. and thus also falls into a good
deal of trouble. The average reader
will probably be more interested il,
Binoy's love affairs. for there are
really two. than in Gora's religious
and political activities. The literary
! value of the novel consists in the in
sight it gives into the subtle distinc.
| tons of Oriental life and its rreat
| divergence from Occidental lite.
The romance of old Spain in the
| New World is suggested. described in.
| terpreted by William McFee in sun
! light in New Grana da.'' His own
ramblinSs in Central America gave
! the author the material for this book,
In the foreword he explains that his
point OF view is not that of the ordi.
nary tourist. but that of the seamta
ashore. Il have seen things others
have not seen, and / have striven TO
breathe life, not only into the figures
as they pass over the pages, but into
the landscapes. the great river. the