Evening star., 1928-06-05
THIS AND THAT @9
BY CHARLES Il. TRACEW ELL.

stalked through the Greek dramas walks
! here. From the beginning to the end
the reader Is moved ahead by the power
of the man who has story to tell
No theories, no private views, no lee
lures given from the mouths Of charac-
! ters. but human beings talking as such
human beings would talk and acting
just as they would act. A dark neces-
sity underlies this pitiful tale. handled
with uncanny restraint. SO that, while
overwhelming II does not disgust the
reader. II a Russian had been writing
this story, there would have been a
seduction I'm 1t; that would have been
more than reader could have stood.
Green makes no such mistake. His
is story which any one may read,
because 1t does that first thing novel
must do--tells story, and tells 1t we'll.
| The dark necessity which makes these
] characters do as they do Is solidly
! planted In the human mind When
Adrienne finally goes mad the reader
knows that 1t Is inevitable. In her
shoes he would go crazy, too.
The tragic power Of loneliness to de-
Stroy the human spirit Is brought out
finely. Adrienne Mesurat (the original
title, and by far the bestl might have
been happy, healthy woman II she
had not been held down by circum-
stances. II she had not succumbed TO
the corroding influences of monotony.
Some can lead such lives, being con-
stitutionally fitted for It, but Adrienne
was not the type to stand up under It,.
From the very first, so well Is the story
told, the reader Is aware Of this. He
must go on, however: he must read; he
must get through with 1t.
The reaction from reading THE
Closed Garden Is not only a teSti-
monial to the power of the author; 1t
proves beyond any possible doubt that
such somber stories fill needed place
In literature.
Understand, of course, that Green
did not intend to preach any lesson;
he simply told story. The inevitable
result. however, of finishing this tale
Is relief-relief that such characters are
the exception, after all.
This book will give him new re-
spect for average normality or nor
malcy, as the late President Harding
insisted on calling It, He will thank
God that most of the men he knows are
not like Mesurat;. that most of the
women are unlike poor Adrienne.
He will come to his daily tasks with
more humanity, WIN a Dettcr feallZa-
tion of the obstacles confronted by
struggling human nature. He will have
more charity as the result of reading
this book.
Let 1t be said again that no such in
tention clouded the mind OF Julian
Green when he penned this intense tale.
He had story he wanted to get off
his chest" as some young persons say.
He felt the impelling urge of the born
story teller
In an era crammed with psychology
cal studies" in prose THE Closed Gar
den comes as a refreshing return TO
the better methods of the elder French
school. wherein what human beings
said and did was held to be enough. To
those who like a keen-cut. ineisive
story this novel Is TO be highly COM
mended.
While its theme is sad. the vitali2ing
power of life makes this story some
thing to treasure. 1t Is the sort of
novel one would Ike to loan to his
friends and discuss with then after
ward IL he did not know before ne
started on such reckless course that
he would never see the book again.
And 1t is the sort OF volume one wants
to keep.