Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-27
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G.. M.
re. George Moore. D. Appleton &

AVE. George Moore. D. Appleton &
Co.
Neither new book nor one chosen
at random, yet AVE" is not SO clearly
an intruder here as appearances indi-
cate. BY common consent the fact
stands that George Moore is perennial
| ly new and fresh. Therefore, his en-
trance at this particular point bears
at least a colorado legitimacy. That
| Ave" is not chosen at random sets
| special purpose for the moment above
| the casual choice regularly implied by
the column caption. Now, the proper
| excuse having been madO at each
4 point OF apparent error, let US move
on toward the reason for such a
throwback away from the immediate
literary surroundings.
summer vacation is a seasonal topic
or unfatltng interest, whose approach
| begins in the anxious calculations of
late Winter and early Spring. Where
to go and with whom? To Europe
with the Smiths? To Egypt with Tom
| Brown? Over into Asia with the
Greens, or to see America first in the
| good company of Bill Jones? These
are the unvarying lines along which
| speculation runs, demonstrating that
In its essentials the vacation is a mat
ter OF change, matter of place and
| companionship. Supplementary to
| these essentials, however, must be
counted veritable scourge of accom-
paniments. Hurry and crowds and
weather insure unhappiness of body
and mind. Then there are the tantaliz-
Ing half views caught in the rush of
passing by, the jumbled history, the
scrambled art, the swiftly seized and
unintelliglble present, the whole q
medley Of impressions fondly assumed
j to be cultural and therefore desirable.
Is there no way out of it? Is there no
| way of eating the cake of vacation
and having 1t, too, without these IA
miliar harassments that so beset it?
Thinking 1t over, and having had
mere touch OF the reality, / invented a
vacation of which / am tremendously
proud, as every inventor and dis
coverer Is rightfully proud of his
achievement. At this moment I'm on
vacation, though nobody knows 1t but
me. I'm In evidence as usual, and the
| copy goes in without interruption. I'm
on vacation, nevertheless. I'm seeing
all sorts OF places the world over. I'm
in the best of company, not company
thrust upon me by the misadventure
OF necessity, but, instead, company Sc
| lected with great care and discretion.
1t is here that George Moore comes in.
I have learned to take vacations as a
rule with George Moore and a few
others, q very few others.
Wouldn't you like to see how my
vacation works? Well. as early as
this late July I have motored all
through France with Mr.. e. V. Lucas,
a scholarly man. who is also a most
companionable one. Not a common
combination, this, as scholarship is
likely to shut it's possessor up within
its own exclusive belongings and
mediations. Not so with Mr.. Lucas.
In such leisure and freedom of will
as the motor provides he becomes a
great hunter and a great companion.
| Wherever rare picture or other
work of art has abiding place in
France there he turns his wheel, talk
ing all the time in the simple way
that a man uses when he speaks OF
the things he sincerely loves. A beau
tiful journey. this one, lifting up from
the widespread landscape of France
an illuminated aerial layer of art.
| which, shining through every period
of French history, glorifies the coun-
try and contributes to the happiness
of people everywhere. No hurry. no
confusion in this Summer wayfaring.
out before me. Some other time I'll
see other parts and phases Of France
with some other inspired companion.
But there's no hurry.
Again, I've been to Spain this Sum
mer with a poet. Oh, he'd been there
many a time before, so many times
that certain spirit of the country
had moved into him ard taken COM
plete possession. Wandering up and
down the land for many years he had,
under the tutelage of this spirit, come
into the state where he translated
the whole of Spain into the terms of
it's virginia. powers of soil and sun
combined. The history OF Spain was
to him but the offspring of these two.
Iberian and Moor and Greek and
Roman and Vis1goth were but diff
ferent moods of virgin Spain, of its
mountains and plains and deserts. OF
it's rivers and skies and atmospheres,
all translated into these successfully
conquering tribes and peoples. If you
want to go to Spain for a Summer
vacation go with Waldo Frank.
Sometimes 1 vary this vacation by
just sitting, cool and shaded, with a
good friend in talk. George Moore is
the one who so commonly beguiles
| these Summer days into ways OF
4 ment of keen enjoyment and appre-
citation, such as George Moore is
likely to stir up in a prodigious show
of innocence and simplicity. Any one
of his other books would have done as
well as ave" 1t just CHANGED to
be this one that came along in re-
Spouse to my rather idle out-reach-
ing. I'd read no more than a page
or two here when, greatly surprised
and touched, / found myself in the
company of a really pathetic George
Moore. A strange role for this par
ticular man, but his own for the mo-
ment at least, since his Irishman
from Mayo is least of all poseur,
least of all any approach to hypo-
critic. Here l came upon the modest
man. And it seemed to me that so
rare a phenomenon ought to be set
out before us all. In his surprise over
the success of Esther Waters"
Moore talks little about himself:
"For 1t is difficult for me to be-
lieve any good of myself. With
in the oftentimes bombastic and
truculent appearance that I present
to the world trembleS heart shy as
| a wren in the hedgerow or a mouse
along the wainscoating. Then in a
touching manner he goes back to the
source Of such timidity. And here
is something for the parents of chill
dren to think about. This inveter-
ate distrust of myself goes back to
the years when my father and mother
used to tell me that I would certainly
marry an old woman, Honor King,
who used to come to the door beg
ging. This joke did not wear out:
it lasted through my childhood; and