Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-12-23

cessor TO l,rnel Zangwill. In his st,
book * n bcst-seller in the non-fctior
the Jewish public on its Indifference
istry and Inestimablc value. ....
There was time when | wrote
book-roviews for living, but by the
grace of God and my publishers
hat time is long passed. 1t was, !
can now freely confess, a rather
tedious and narrowing occupation
or there were so many books to
'eview and so sadly few worth re-
'iewing. And if now I suddenly
evert to that occupation and seem
nee more to be writing criticism
'ou must understand thu. it is be-
ause | am more than ordinarily
moved. Actually this little article
S not intended to be n criticism at
Ill.
l imagine a fanfare Of praise, a
,lare of laudation, would better de-
cribe what | want this article to
&c. For quite frankly, l am just
low in blaring and fanfaring
mood. | have just read a novel, en-
tiled, Power" translated from the
ierman of Leon Feuchtwanger; and
feel more profoundly stirred, more
,xcited, more drunk with delight,
han have felt after finishing al
most any other book in half dozen
iears.
heard about this book when I
was In Germany few months ago.
| found all sorts Of people, most of
hem non-Jews, speaking of it as
1ne of the finest historical novels
produced in our generation. But /
| rad no time to read novels then;
merely made mental note of the
title and hoped might get down
o the book when | had more leisure.
When | returned to America about
I fortnight ago, was interested to
learn that the book had already
)een translated into English. l pro-
.ured the book as soon as l could,
md then put it near the lamp on
my night table. Four nights passed
without my so much as looking at
the first page, for on each OF those
nights | went to bed so tired that
no book was needed to put me to
ileep. But on the fifth night my
eyes would not close without per-
suasion, and so took up the bright
ly-bound volume and prepared to
read for half-hour or so.
] didn't fall of TO sleep until al
most four that morning. 1t was SIM
ply impossible. Not because my eyes
would not stay closed, for during
the last two waking hours it was
all could do to keep them even
half open. No, it was rather be-
cause my mind would not stay quiet.
That novel, so brilliantly conceived,
so magniticently developed, had
caught hold of my imagination. |
was as enthralled as ever l had
been when as a boy | pored over
the "Count of Monte Cristo" or the
"Three Musketeers." l suppose my
envy was aroused, too. / felt that
somehow God was not just to give
to one single man such bewilderlhg
gifts as the author revealed in this
book. | do not know anything about
Leon Feuchtwanger, save that he
writes in German and is jew. But
feel no hesitancy in saying that
now that Zangwill is gone, Feuch-
twanger deserves to mount the
throne in the temple of our litero-
ture.
Power" tells the story of the rise
and fall of one of the most fas-
cinatinR rascals in all of Jewish
history. It is the story of Josef
Susz Oppenheim, that brilliant IL
nancier and diplomat who, in a day
when the Jews were a parlah swarm,
poor, despised, hated and bounded,
somehow managed to make himself
one of the mightiest men in all
German. OF course, the story told
here is not precisely historical.
Feuchtwanger is an artist, not
podant. novelist, not chronicler.
He has made use Of the myriad
legends that have sprung up around
tho memory of that strange and
tragic scamp. and has woven them
together with free and generous
imagination. But that is just why
the novel is so tremendously power
full. II transcends mere factual ox-
actness and approaches ultimate
truth. It is more than history IL
is life.
There is an impression abroad in
the publishing houses that Jews do
not rcad books about themselves.
know am telling no secret when