Evening star., 1926-10-19
NEW BOOKS ..
AT RANDOM
I. G. M.
GAIAAHAD. BY John Erskine. tn
Bobbs-Merrill Co.

GAAAf1AO. by JOuu CrshAho' A"o
Bobbs-Merrill Co.
He'd been at 1t a hundred years, or
so it seemed to him. And he was
tired-tired of the hopeless task OF
firing succeeding classes OF young
students at piles Of dead ashes'
burned out so long ago as to cast
doubts upon their having glowed ever
with warmth and life. He was tired
of the endless business Of parading
hosts of words, so chosen and strung
together and measured as to make
harmonies and symphonies-except 70
young hearts already filled WIN
glamourous tunes of their own, little
songs of the many-colored life rigns
at hand. Plainly, too, he was tlreu
Of skirting the real substance OF mosI
things accepted by education as parts
of its proper program.
Take as a single instance. he was
saying to himself, that familiar ana
honored school theme OF literature,
1.-THE Idyls Of the King" How lone
and faithfully he had str1ven WIN
that court Of Camelot, with It's KING
and queen and gallant knights! How
Il6 IIdu dP ShO
ter Of tournament and joust, the cere-
monial Of knighthood won, the long
outfarings Of gorgeous cavalcades IN
quest Of evil to be conquered-the
fiery dragon, the frightful monsters;
indeed, every other pattern ana de-
sign of wickedness! How fiat 1t had
all fallen! How unconvinced were ms
young students, how uninterested! He
knew the reason. 1t was just because
neither he nor any one else hao mao
the gumption to move those people or
Camelot up into the present, transla1, t.
ing them into the eternal human SUM
that would have made them recognlZ-
able, companionable, welcome. Ana
so this bored schoolman set himself
to the wholly enjoyable job OF a genu.
Inc recrudescence of Camelot. And
we were permitted to tune in on this
exciting experiment.
In no time at all the queen, Gulne-
we're, emerges as the focus OF concern
here. Not because Of her sins. which
have always been made SO consplcu-
GUS under an elaborate gesture. OF con-
cealment. Rather Is she the center
by virtue Of the fact that she was the
political brains of Camelot. Handi.
capped by her sex in any personal
achievement Of glory for the Kingdom,
NiulIl0VGT0 duOplCu 49,
her career. She made Arthur; she
made Lancelot; in SO far as he was
made at all, she made Galahad-that
is, she made King Arthur to the limit
Of his powers. This limit was soon
reached, for the Kings ambition for
conquest did not equal that OF the
Queen. And Arthur grew tired of
being continually stretched beyond
his uttermost. He wanted to sit down
now and then. So, not the fool he Is
commonly made out to be, he proba-
bly, gave way willingly to Lancelot.
Lancelot was q happy release Tor
himself. He was the new lump OF
clay in the hands Of this female
builder of men. In the course of time
Lancelot himself began to edge away
from the insistent urge Of the Queen
toward greater and greater heroisms.
Then came Galahad-young, beauti-
full. plastic. And Guinevere, fired
afresh, set to work with ardor to
make her greatest man Of all. But
the fatal truth is, that the queen
herself was getting older. And love
her great fashioning tool, changed
right in her hands. 1t became pro
tective, cautious, admonitory. In a
| word, it became mother love, timid
for its beloved effeminizing, frus
trating. The boy loved her beau
ty, he adored his conception OF
her purity. he listened to hei
| warnings and dreamed her dreams
But these were the timid dreams of
an aging and overfond woman, and
they diluted the pan-stuff in the boy
| That's what's the matter with Gala
| had-with all the Galahads.
| Out Of an altogether plausible situa'
| ton John Erskine creates in Gala
had" a charming comedy-a comedy
I Of surprise that such old and roman
| tic material could come alive at all
that it could as well turn squarely
upon modern life In full revelation OF
a not uncommon cause OF youths
| Illustration through oversolicitous sen
| timentalism. Not that one accuses
| John Erskine Of deliberately teaching
lesson here or of pointing a moral
He is clearly tired Of lessons. He is
| taking q rest from his labors. as he
explains the reputation of Galahad
| and shows why he is. after all, 8
rather uninteresting chap. A capti
waiting story, as joyously acceptable
| after its own fashion as was 1.-THE
Private Life of Helen of Troy" in it.
peculiarly inimitable way.
A**
GABRIELLE. BY w. b. Maxwell
| Dodd, Mead & Co.
w. B. Maxwell takes keen inter
est in the woman who has over
stepped the safety zone Of virtu
GUS behavior laid down for her in nea'
Enclosures of white paint by the hu
man male. "Spinster of This Parish
Is evidence of that interest. So II
Gabrielle" And, indeed. no othel
subject can make a greater pull upoI
the true explorer Of q woman's hear
than that of the girl who, having
| tossed her cap over the moon o
heaven.high convention walls, mus
needs make her lone way thereafter
in a stormy and pitiless world. Sc
crecy is the first refuge of such al
one, and this she searches out will
the instinct for safety that possesses
all little defenseless things in worlt
Of fangs and claws. Secrecy denlet
her, then indeed do her unavailint
powers struggle and fight Tor SOM
corner of safety, for some little par
rier against the contempt or all nlc'
neople. To get into the mind ant
heart of such a girl is to enter lant
of unspeakable horror and darkness
lust because good people have ere
ated that sort Of land for her ant
have confined her within 1t.
But to get back to Gabrielle. I
was the war. 1t was the parting day
of oyerwrought maid and youth tina
lowered Gabrielle with Lance, man
child, destitute of a father. Not al
uncommon theme for war time, but
tragic theme in any time. This fact
however, remains the long-sustaine'
secret Of this story-a secret tina
gives shadowy background to the rul
Of the romance itself, or that advance
in mysterious menace from time t
time. Gabrielle is beautiful ana hne-
a quiet girl. Intelligent, making ne
own way and that Of Lance. A some
| - a 4 ixanaasihla arnilX surrounds he