Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. C. M.
PEARY: The Man Who Refused to
Fail, BY Fitzhugh Green. 9. +.

Putnam's Sons.
IL am an Eskimo woman. / live in
q snow igloo which the slanting
southern sun turns sometimes to shin
ing silver, sometimes to glittering dfa-
monds Just outside my hut the fierce
Frost Demon stands, waiting to seize
me and to freeze me should I dare to
venture forth" In some such strain,
to some such tune. runs the litany
which in these seorching days serves
the auto-suggestive purpose of shut
ting off many degrees of surplus heat,
Of turning the body into an automatic,
plant, of bringing illusion
to the service of utility. The good
gift of Imagination. led by the great
potency of suggestion, is by all odds
the best of assets for the hot Sum-
mertinle.
And into this happy, selfprotective
state Of illusion there last week
drifted a book of most timely appear
anee. Here Is a true story of that
very North into which | had re-
treated for succor. Here Is the story
Of a great struggle with Ice and snow
and whirling storm that not for a
minute let go their grip months on
end. Here is the face-to.face story Of
a fierce region whose annals are
chiefly those of human life sacrificed
to Arctic cold.
A much deeper fitness, however.
lies In this story of Robert Peary than
that of merely helping to ameliorate
excesses of Summer heat for imagi-
native people. Just now the North
Pole has again swung into an excited,
general interest. A brief while ago
another adventurer actually flew like
some huge bird straight over this i'm
memorial goal and then few back
again the way he came. And still
another one few from Europe quite
across the Pole and on even to Amer
lea itself. These achievements not
only bring this region into a new
but they re-emphasize
Peary, the discoverer Of this long
sought point, as the last OF the land
pioneers in Arctic exploration and
Peary marks the end of
period; Amundsen and Byrd the be-
ginning of a new one.
And there is, besides, another rea
son why it is good for this story 10
appear just now. OF late there have
been a few grumblings against the
authenticity Of the Peary
and triumph. A grumbler
in Europe and at least one other in
America. The source of these dis.
sents lies deep in human nature it
self, but they are none the less I'M
fortunate, for all that-unfortunate
for the critics themselves, of course.
And it is good for this complete and
story to come just now TO
the attention Of readers all over the
world.
That 1t is the story of a remarkable
man is the ou1stan ding fact that is
sues from the study itself. Independ-
ent of the particular issue at stake,
the record of such tenacity of purpose
Is an inspiration to every reader. 1t
is an Indictment to stick to his own
goal, no matter what the goal may be
under whose urge the reader Is striV-
ing. Forgetting defeat time and time
again, Robert Peary each time ad-
upon his purpose in virgin
freshness of enthusiasm that could
not entertain permanent failure. Yet
this heroic undertaking carries with
1t nothing of the appearance OF hero
les. 1t is plain attack, grinding hard
work, unspeakable hardship, over and
over again, till at last the great tri-
umph came-as, one thinks, 1t would
come to any enterprise into which so
much of human stuff has been put.
That is one of the queer effects OF
this great story. There are no more
polar points to be discovered. The
number of unique achievements of
heroic size is dwindling. So this
record does not stir one to such en-
deavor. 1t is not that. The urge that
comes here is to put into ones own
vision the qualities that went into
Peary's great dream. What / am try
ing to say is that here is a record of
work that easily fits any sort of con-
siderable aim. 1t is one of the great
counts for the book. 1t Is everybody
book in its human qualities OF great
worth.
A glorious story, and an infinitely
pathetic one. So many odds against
success, so little of material resource,
so little Of general sympathy and sup.
port. Nobody is to be blamed, of
course. The world is too busy with
its own affairs to bother with wild
young men who crafty cry for the
North Pole. Might as well cry for
the moon and have done with it. So
the makeshifts to which the explorer
was reduced merely add still more to
the count of his uncomfortable spirit.
"It is always interesting '-Fftzhugh
Green talking-'to see a young man
with a new idea go out and try it.
But for him to prove that he has the
right idea when millions might have
thought it out ahead of him, but
didn't, makes thrilling tale" That's
Just the kind of tale that Fitzhugh
Green makes of this one. Robert
Peary couldn't have found better
man to tell his story than Green is.
The spirit of the record lies in the
subtitle Of the book, THE Man Who
Refused to Fail" That is the core of
Robert Peary; that is the point which
every page of this account brings into
the open.
There Is no formal biography here.
There is better than that in the au-
thor's exclusive search for the sources
of the real Robert Peary--for his es-
sential spirit. The rest Of him, that
which all Of us possess in common,
receives no attention here, and should
not. The revelation Of the man lies in
certain OF his qualities, and to these
the author devotes his work. Com
pletely in sympathy with the theme,
indefatigable in hunting out the truth
to it's utmost point, wholly fair in his
findings and judgments, Mr.. Green
adds to these gifts of the investigator
the art of the story-teller. And that
Is as it should be. A pity to submit
so grand an adventure of a mans
spirit, and body, too, to the laborious
jottings of an unimaginative student.
However. there is nothing of this sort
here. The story fits the facts in every
respect. One reads here of the jour-
ney to the Far North, of Mrs. Peary's
participation in the actual hardships,
of the birth of the little girl, of the
dealings with the Eskimo people, of
faithful friends made, of valuable as