Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-02
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

heart, her final abnormality and the
sad scenes that 90 with 1t.
Using the sensitive French language.
he begins TO put his words together,
and when he Is done he sends It to a
publisher, who agrees with him that he
has done q good job of fairy building.
The public agrees with the publisher,
to such an extent that the book is done
over into English blocks (words) and
sent to America.
So We had The Closed Garden" by
Julian Green. published several months
ago. The average reader. picking 1t
up no doubt exclaimed, "Oh. another
one of those dismal French things"
He might have found himself disinclined
to read 1t, perhaps swayed by several
rather flip reviews which branded 1t as
"A book one Is supposed to read"
tDamning with faint praise.)
Yet there is scarcely any doubt that
any reader who went to the trouble
% read the first chapter read through
to the last word Of the last chapter in
that fine fever a reader raises when he
is engaged In reading good book.
Now one hears only favorable comment
Of The Closed Garden" It is more
French than the French, and that is
ssying great deal.
Take Alfred Neumann's THE Devil"
4 historical story based on the life Of
Louis XI OF France and his chamber
pleasure of loaning this volume to sew
eral very critical persons, to find in
each case that he or she agreed that
1t was sterling piece of work, Like
any good story. The Devil" builds up
an atmosphere of It's own, one that
carries the reader along with 1t. trans
ports him TO foreign lands, and keeps
him there safely for the duration of
che tale.
THE Green Murder Case" by S. 8.
Van Dyne "a pseudOnym}. Is another
instance We began this story in n very
critical mood. We were tired of detec-
tive stories. for the time being, and reso-
lutely told ourself that We couldn't be
entertained in that way at that time.
We sat down in the middle of the aftn--
noon with the book. telling ourself that
We would read only few chapters
and before we knew 1t we were busily
constructing just such mental pictures
as the clever author had intended that
we should construct. It is as II an au-
thor says, Stick along with me, and do
as tell you, and will show you some
excitement"
The latest book to affect us in this
pleasing manner is Ben Hecht's play,
THE Front Page" Ordinarily we don'G
like plays, especially modern ones They
bore u.s. But we sat reading THE Front
Page" in busy ONCE. with people talk
ing. typewriters clacking, and for three
acts we forgot everything In the world
except the drama unfolded in our mind $
eye. When we finally laid the book
down. It was like coming out of a strange
world into very ordinary one, after ell.
We caution any reader not to be Of
Tended at the unnecessarily crude Ian
gusge used in The Front Page" 1t
would be just as good a play without
such words, but the author and his CO..
laborator 1--WE have forgotten the nsrne,
but rather image he handled the stage
end of it--and did fine iob)-Hecht
and his co-author chose to put them
In, and maybe they did right, We don't
know. All we know is that it is a cork.
ing play.
Such Is the effect upon reader Of a
good book. Such story or play has a
way all Of It's own. It wins approval
because the honest and discriminating
cannot but approve when approval Is
necessary. An interesting test might be
made with an apparatus which takes
the blood pressure while man Is reao-
ing THE Front Page" We have no
doubt that our own went up to I'M
imaginable heights, and that our return
to earth was simply a cooling down
process. 1t is the effect Of good BOOK.