Evening star., 1928-02-07
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G.. NJ.


not really, though they seemed to be.
This was because the rest OF the big
company was massed away from them
at the far C>,d of the great hall. The
occasion was one of those familiar bits
Of Babbittry, the getting together" for
comradely exchanges OF every sort OF
confraternal intent---league, guild, so
ciety, club, gang, Whatnot. 1t Is the
great body of American novelists, now
writing, that Is assembled for profess
sional contacts and accountings. The
stamp is clearly that OF very nign quail
ity Nevertheless, upon its surface. the
meeting Is like all meetings At the
door you arc met by the murmur OF In
Vulnerable mOnologueS. simultaneously
rising in din beside which that fate
full day Of Babel was pure simplicity
and complete clarity. However, by dint
Of sharp hearing and keen sight and
the gift of disentangling deep con-
fusions, you come upon the important
fact that, despite so many diVersities
Of purpose and power and achievement,
these are all bound together in single
bond OF literary fellowship Every one
Of them Is absorbed in skimming off
the top OF things as these Oddmcnts
Of life 60 floating by. Their common
inspiration Is external. Realist and
romanticiSt alike arc bent to the sole
business Of picturjng a hit-or-miss
world. This novelist may be an expert
cameraman. swapping the soul and
body and exact setting of this one or
that one In world of chance. A
realist. That writer may be an adept
with the colors and shadings and drifts
Of events. A romanticist But in
neither-splendid as their output may
be and often ISIS there any sign Of a
personal coSmic consciousness.
These two standing over there? James
Branch Cabcli and John Erskine. The
link between them Is "a single one. but
1t Is vital. Eacft from somewhere with
in his birth and nature and upbringing.
has acquired philosophy OF life that
serves also as the handspring Of his
art, that exists as the source OF his
novels, that shapes the projection of
these, that defines their spirit and OBJ
icctifles their purpose. Not Identical
philosophers. those possessed by these
two noyelists. Not at all. That Is un-
important. The point Is that each has
come upon a guiding power OF human
evaluation that serves invariably as the
foundation of literary effort.
"Jurgen.' the adventures Of Dom
Manuel. and better still. Beyond Life
give the substance Of Cabells philoso-
ply and of MS amazing art as we'll.
Helen of Troy" "Galahad' and
Adam and Eve" perform equal serv-
Ice for John Erskine. Cabell purSueS
romance as the only means OF making
life livable. Erskne pursucS the quest
OF that beauty which shows itself only
in bits Of flying loveliness that can
never be captured as tantalizing frag-
ment here or there. With John Erskine
beauty docs not exist apart from in
telligence. It's greatly vitalizing element.
So out of the past he has moved re-
mote and mythical characters into the
present. endOwing them with the in
herent powers OF all human nature 10
meet life according to the instincts
and impulses OF the human In every age.
One reads them ali--Helen. Galahad.
Adam and Eve-first. as delightful
comedy which makes enjoyable and ac-
ceptabie companionship out of old and
futile mythfolkS. Then he reads them
again. and again. in a growth OF melan-
choly and ycarning for longer, for a
more complete view Of the fast-fying
vision OF human worth and sincerity
and beauty The comedy ceases to be
such. since in sincerity the matter par
takes OF tragedy In its errancies ana
ultimate unfulfillments.
Adam and Eve is not comedy.
Rather Is 1t an epic of loneliness In a
peopled world. God made man, like
Himself. lonely" So the story Of Adam
sets out. So the story Of every man sets
out. Thereafter. the purpose of both
Adam and you Is to dispel lonesomenesS
by way Of companionship Adam lonely.
did the natural and sensible thing He
busted himself with the things round-
about~~the animals and the fields.
With these he made many discoveries,
all Of them interesting. some of them
useful. some Of them disturbing. But
a man can't forever keep loneliness
away through an association with the
cat and the dog. the horse and the COW.
So. In no very long time. Adam was TOO
low III spirits for any kindergarten va
riety OF entertainment TO help him
much. Eut In the day of Adam. just
as In this day. there was all overlooking
Providence. And at the moment when
Adam was Mt his last gasp 81 TO speak.
right before him stood I.ilith No. |
know we don't count I.ilith. but she
Is important III this case. and We have
to accept her. Adam and Eve. alone.
could never have made go OF Ii. any
more than one man and one woman
could today. The triangle is much
ridiculed AS modern invention to give
society license and the novelist lat.-
tlde. But the triangle II not All inven-
ton, not device. Rather Is IL u
prime essential In the development of
human relations and the art founded
upon these. At any rate. In short
time here We find Adam. pulled hither
and yon by the perfectly Just claims
of both itlith and Eve Every man.
worth mentioning, Is more than one
man. Every woman too. but that Is
another story Lilith knew nothing OF
Ewes man and cared less Eve did
have suspicious OF iiliths Adam, She
raised the very devil about him.
Eve would. And. in the long run,
SHE proved herself 10 be right. For
Adam. despite the 1ov he had In the
fine intelligence Of t.ilith iii her good
sense coupled with most seductive
sympathy for his every mood stirred
as he Was In their fun meeting OF
mind and thought. entfanerd as he
was by the beauty of her body and
soul Adam was, after all man, And
u man must be foremost III the affairs
around him What would have hap
pened II Adam had let out single
indication nf the power of lilith over
hint Or OF the larger fact that She
should have had such power by virtue
ot her superior intelligence That
would never do~never In the world,
Resides, l.,lith was careless about no
end ot things appearances and such,
Unconventional We would call her to-
day And that frightened Adam. for. IN
fact. Adam WAS slave Ia things as
they are, And right then Eve came
along IN very ENe~ish attitude over
the bad behavior OF i.ilith, And. art
lessiy. Eve shifted attention to mother
hood and womanly conduct aud the rest
Of the things that men want ot Their
Women, All over with tilith~~one can
see that at a glance even though Adam
did not know II for quite long time,
lie was lust afraid afraid that lllith