Evening star., 1928-11-04

SIlbStancG-U LTlaL WIldL you NdLit
Interesting. Bercovici himself. Like
every other considerable writer, ne is
better than any one or more OF his
books could possibly be. Coming to
America in 1916, and not able to speak
English, he played that he was mute.
In the meantime he did prodigies OF
work with English speech and other
tongue as we'll He looks much like
a lirguist now, If that matters. He
speaks German, French, and so on and
so on. But the outstanding fact con-
cernino him is that he is writer OF
feeling, of originality. of power and
distinct carrying force.
X X x X
THE HERETO OF SOANA. By Ger
hart Hauptmann. Introduction by
Harry Salpeter New York: The
Modern Library.
A DISTINGUISHED and beautiful
"A Hauptmann story whose course
serves to state a vital problem, leaving
its solution to the reader as it must be
left since its answer rests with the in
diyidual. There are two roads to life
one the path of resignation, the other
the wav of realization Which? The
agent of the one is repression, that OF
the other is expansion. The answer Is
withheld. Instead, the story OF the
priest of Soana is unfolded. Young,
devout. schooled to the inhibitions OF
his vocation, the young priest without
question follows the footsteps OF the
long procession of devout men VINO nave
glorified his religion saint, the peas
ant folks call him, and so l suppose ne
is. Jealous to save, he discovers Iar up
on the mountain family ABOUT Wnlcn,
upon inquiry down below, he learns tne
shocking truth that has made them
outcast. Yet, he is not able TO TURN
away from them and he cites to his
heart greater than he who loved the
sinner to the measure OF his wrong
doing. So, to the mountains the young
priest went to reclaim the sinful man
and woman and their children, for
when they came down into the village
they were stoned by the people.
daughter of the pair, a young girl, SIM
pie and very beautiful, opened the heart
of the priest to life, to the beauty OF the
world, to the warmth of the sun, to the
refreshment of flowing streams, to the
call of the birds, to all of that which
he, hitherto, with eyes fastened upon
the ground had not seen. The boy was
in love with the girl-the old story. 1t
is given here. Such is the "heretic, y
THE Heretic Of Soana." The story and
the question both stand here in pro-
found conception, one. that Is true to
life, human life, and that is most beau
| tiful in its projection. A poem OF lyric
sound, and human appeal. But, you
still have the question to answer for
yourself Going along with this lovely
competent survey of the genius of
Hauptmann by Harry Sa1peter, a
critical outlook that is calculated to
place the reader before Hauptmann in a
greater advantage than he could secure
without such sincere and capable and
waywise assistance.
\ * y X
WHAT EVERYBODY WANTED. BY
Elsie Singmaster. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company.
THERE are. three of them to be sup
I piled here--three women to be
supplied with what they wanted. And
that statement gives the whole matter
away, in effect For, just naturally.
each wanted a husband. That, is the
way it has always been in life and
there is no good reason to assume that
any change has taken place in this
immemorial want" A mother and
two daughters. They are placed in a
delightful corner of Maryland. And IT
locality that Elsie Singmaster scores
be something like good housekeeping
To provide three men as husbands for
the attractive and still soliciting mother
and the two girls is the first move in
this piece of master management. On
paper this Is not such a hard thing
to do as it might prove to be in actu-
ality. But, the men rounded up, there
Is deal Of placing and replacing OF
one and another in the game In order
to secure any effect at all. But the
writer is energetic and reSourceful. The
women Of the first part are also inde-
| fatigable, either openly or secretly, as
every woman is bound to be under the
! elementary natural need to find place
| for herself in the sun of some mans
marital iitention. A lot of good hurnor
and gay hun1or itself go along with Elsie
| Singnaster as she drifts back and forth
between something like real love at one
point and clear bit of expediency at
another. Good entertainment at any
rate and rather nearer to being at
it Is to romanticism.
X X X *
SING SING NIGHTS. BY Harry
Stephen Keeler, author Of Find
the Clock" etc. New York: E. p
Dutton & Co.
RY ingenuity of general plan this au-
thor sets competition in story
| telling among three men waiting in a
prison cell for their execution on the
| following morning. At the last mo-
guilty of the charge. but which is the
innocent mani Is not Known. Not ex-
actly plausible situation, to assign
such competition of invention, under
such condition-but, it serves. Not
altogether in the. interest of justice
either But criminal is not the only
one who occasionally saves his life at
the last minute. A story teller often
does it. This one does, saves not only
the lives of all three but, in measure,
redeems himself from sheer inconsis-
tency. However, here are the three
tales. Good in adventure. plausible in
| the element of surprise and mystery,
swift-moving and sudden-turning, the
three march along in a quite proper
energy and precipitation, since each
is designed as a life saver. I know
exactly which man I'd let go free by
virtue Of the excellence of this, his
last gasp, so to speak. And the real
point of enjoyment here is sure to
hinge with the reader upon what he
also, judges to be the best of the
stories and which of the men by Vir-
tue of this fact earns his freedom.
Here is something almost good enough
for q contest-or would be If there were
not on hand at the moment a contest
Of gigantic proportions and exclusive
absorption right at its height.