Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-26
REVIEWS OF WINTER BOOKS
Volume of Special Local nterest-New Fiction From the
Publshers-Bookplates and Their
Collectors
from Matthew Arnold's portrait OF

from Matthew Arnold's portrait Of
the poet who,
Beholding the absurdity of men
Their vaunts. their feats-let saroonic
For one short moment wander DER his lips,
That smile was Helne.
This is the record of the pilgrimage
Of Heine, body and soul, through a
world of many illusions and bitter dis
appointments. EIiven by his own
spirit of restless seeking, this modern
wandering Jew, like Ahasuerus or DID,
sought far and near for an answer
to the tormentiny riddle OF lie. from
his own home on the Rhine down into
italy over into France, always in want
and physical need, this story by Lud-
wig Diehl follows in a beauty or con-
ception and understanding that Is
bound to reach the heart of many a
reader. You will find joy in the land,
, scape here, in the Rhine of legend
and fairy tale, in the mountains and
vineyards of Italy, in the sophisticate
lure of France. Deep interest Will
come to you in the weary goings to
and fro Of Heine's spirit, out Of his
own Judaism into the religion OF
Jesus, always seeking room and free
dom for his own growth in life ana IN
letters, in thought and in motion. A
harassed spirit that gives some OF
its own restlessness out to readers
raising questions for them to answer
as we'll as questions for him to worry,
exciting sympathy and sorrow Tor TINS
strange man who, quite obviously.
found the world a strange and alien
place for him. A sad story but a very
beautiful one to the many who love
the lyric quality of this poets songs.
TENTACLES. BY Martha Kinross.
New York: Harper & Bros.
A DARING theme looks cautiously
out here from a thicket OF
reticence so dense as to give the
effect of a perfectly constructed and
carefully maintained conspiracy Of
truly pious intent. This is the story
of a mother and daughter. So, &C
cording to rule, this would be record
of selfless maternal devotion on the
one hand: of filial love and compliance
on the other. But this is truer story
than that. This Is the story that
almost everybody lies about. There Is
a reason, sourced deep, why mothers
are not always selfless toward their
daughters; why, in the nature OF
things. they cannot be. And by the
same token there are excellent reasons
why daughters sometimes do not
blindly love their mothers. A revolt
ing story, such a one would be to the
great majority of people. To get
across at all 1t would have to be told
with discretion, with an adroit
marshalling of plausible facts well
knit together into a convincing whole,
and all of the distasteful business
eased and lightened with bright ana
attractive surfaces. And that's just
what we find here. Once In whiie,
reading here, one catches a hint that
the author is herself bit daunted
by her own temerity. This Is wnen
the actual theme grows thin ano scat
tered or gets lost under Its coverings
of the Italian setting or the clever
and diverting social TODD going on In
the English colony at Florence. But,
in the main, the real story holds its
own, showing that which we all know,
but about which we are rfghteously
untruthful, OF the lack of sympathy
and understanding that 80 often exist
in the hearts Of mothers who spend
their lives tyrannizing over their
daughters in the name Of their own
good"
THE CoLFAx BOoK.PLATE. By
Agnes Miller. New York: The
Century Co.
Under the universal human in
- stinct Of pursuit there is no
finer quarry for a certain brand or
hunter than a scrap OF paper. An
old volume or autograph or DOCK
plate points the trail for him and
sharpens his wits as big game does
for the killer or as hidden treasure
does for the adventurer. The mys-
terry story In hand Is based upon the
search for rare book-plate, long lost
and keenly desired. The matter GEN.
ters in an old bookshop of lower New
York. Upon this spot various sorts
of keen interest focus. There Is the
commercial zeal Of the shopman and
the intellectual zest of the book col
lector. More to the point in this con-
nection, however. is the struggle be-
tween two members Of the same fam
ily for the secret hidden under the
genuine Colfax book-plate. It Is upon
the authenticity of this bit OF paper
that the whole bewildering business
rests. A trifiing thing, upon the sur.
face, to produce every appearance OF
crime and to unfold family feud OF
long and bitter duration. One goes
along, some of the time convinced and
interested, some Of the time, however,
reluctant to seem SO easily satisfied.
Still, there are good humor and fair
wit to cover the thinnest spots over
which the reader skates easily to the
nearby safety of consistent invention
and plausible incident. Upon the
whole 1t is the engaging manner Of
this tale rather than its actual sub.
stance that warrants It for a good
half hour Of amusement and diversion.