Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-22
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G.. M.
BEYOND LIFE. James Branch Cab
ell. The Modern Library.


ell. The Modern Library.
Not a new book" according to any
pinch-penny mode of reckoning. Clear
ly new, however. in the broad assur-
ance that 20 and 40 years hence Be
yond Life" will still set up fresh
connection in the thoughts and feel
ings and acceptances of readers equal
to that which it so vigorously stirs to-
day. Here is one of the little company
Of books that move forward, persist
emily vital. permanently new.
Not one in q thousand among writ
ers can set out thoughts in such fine
array as Mr.. Cabell does. A power.
this, that exists by virtue of the fact
that the man is possessed of a deep
reverence for writing as creative art
to be sedulously pursued. possessed as
well of an ardent passion for getting
all the lovely words together just
right as he sometimes puts it. But
1t is not entirely, nor even in greater
part, upon these deity interknit ele-
ments of art that Beyond Life" de
ponds for it's distinction. for it's quail
tiles of permanence. For behind this
beautiful frontage of approach and so
licitation stands a sturdy body of
thought, mother-naked of the usual
multitudnous verbal swaddlings that
serve either u niue the DOuy NitiliI
them or to conceal the truth that there
is no body there, just wrappings in
stead.
The whirling turmoil of the present
is not friendly to mental exercise. Man
is pretty generally as reiterative. re-
pet1t1ve, monotonouS as any other
modern manifold mechanism. There
fore, 1t gives the tingling shock of an
ice-cold plunge to come upon some
one. like this writer, who does actually
think with independence, with orig
inality, with a degree of daring that
defies the common timid recoil from
the dangers and discomforts of indi-
vidual thinking.
X X X +
Here is big theme. one that con-
Germs every mothers son of us, not
the artist alone, not merely the max
ers Of literature even. At bottom the
question is nothing less than that of
self-preservation, that of continuing
the individual beyond the short-term
time loan granted to him. Not a ques-
ton of heaven or hell, not matter of
religion at alias importunate though
as if it were, and with an even deeper
secret appeal. What can man do, any
man, to prolong this brief term so as
not to relinquish the beloved and hat
ed things that constitute the cherished
sum of himself, so as not to be lost to
his fellow menu, To this dread ques-
ton the artist applies his art for self
perpetuation by way of his achieve
ments. But the common man, with no
such means of possible perpetuity at
hand, hides himself away behind high
wells of picayune activity, making use
of his in1aginings and other modes of
make believe to still the thousand
anxious cravings Of the human heart
X y X X
In order to project his personal
ideas and convictions about means of
meeting this universal urge, about
ways of satisfying it in a measure.
Mr.. Cabell takes possession of his
own field of creative writing. BE
yond Life" therefore, sums to a dis
cussion of those essentials of literature
that are calculated to meet this
desirable end OF life after life is done,
sums to discussion Of certain writer's
in their outlook and aim and literary
achievement. But as basis for this
appraisal. as a foundation for his
judgment, Mr.. Cabell goes outside of
literature, goes back to every mans
supreme need of looking upon his own
life, not as 1t is, but as 1t ought to be.
To even the lowliest, to even the least
and dullest of men, life would not be
livable were it not eased and bright
ened by imaginings and dreams Of
better things that are sure to come,
or that he can make himself believe
are actually with him. And this Ia
romance, which, after all, exists as a
definite and inseparable part of every
human that lives. Such is the great
est. the most nearly universal, of the
bonds between literature and life it.
self. And so John Charteris-the
party of the second part in this con-
versation-here talks about the power
of romance, about the "demiurge"
calling this "a world-shaping and
principle" with much
to say, besides, concerning the "dy-
manic illusions" evolved by romance
alone.
In sum, therefore, Beyond Life"
Is argument in behalf of romance as
the source of literature that Is
calculated to reach the universal
heart of man in ameliorations and
promises and satisfactions which at
the same time set the writer's Of great
stroying reach of time, securing to
them an existence that reaches far
beyond life" itself. Mr.. Cabell here
moves through English and Ameri-
can literature, taking toll along the
way in support of his claim Here
is amazing talk about woman-wor-
ship, what it means, what it looks
like in the present, how it shaped
the novels Of gallantry annd chivalry,
even those of adventure. A point
about the way of this man is that he
is constantly stepping outside quite
scholarly argument to point out be-
fore ones eyes some truth that is
as active now as 1T was when Mar
lowe and Wycherly and Shakespeare
made such impressive use Of it, In
deed, he as a rule has one foot out
of his book for the sake of reaching
some contributory example along
the ways of daily life. You should
read what he has to say about
well. about everything that he
touches here-the Economist in
making, and the reaction
airy" and the "mountebank" and all
the rest of it. For no one, or hardly |
any one, has a better stock of real |
craft than has Mr.. Cabell, or about !
the use Of any really important meth
DDS of analysis. And no one at all |
so completely eliminates dogmatism |
and the dictum of the professional |
critic as does this man who goes |
his way in a bland and innocent |
subtlety of satire that is clearly |
unique, the only one of It's kind. |
Reading here, ones mind reverts to |
'Jurgen" and 1.-THE Silver Stallion" |
both of which came under the re- |
proach of naughtiness from certain |
good people. Beyond Life throws |
these books into a high light which |
makes, it perfectly clear that Mr.. |
Cabell is not talking about what |
these careful people are thinking |
about. So. probably from their point |
Of view. the reproach is a fair one.
But having read Beyond Life" you