Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17
BY IDA GILBERT MYERS.

THE second generation of foreign
speaking immigrants presents to
the onlooker an impressive and
4 touching drama. 1t points back
ward. toward the parentS-dumb
before a strange speech, confused In
the whirl of unfamiliar ways. homesick
for the dear face and the beloved GUS
toms of the fatherland. A tragic turn
to the drama, this. But, the chief con-
Germ of the drama is with the present,
with the young ones, the children OF
these bewildered aliens. In love with
this new and shining world are they,
disdainful of the speech of their IA
Tiers, rejecting it in a glib seizure of
American words and ways, setting up
barriers between parents and children
in this young zest for adventure for
daring, doing, neutrality-suspicious.. Ex-
citing and full of promise is this part
of the drama of Americanization. Such
is "Peder Victorious" the story of Per
Kansas son, and a sequel to that splen
did novel of Scandinavian settlement in
the Middle Northwest of the United
States, Giants in the Earth" In
spirit a pioneer like his father. is. Peder
Young, bold, outspoken. An imagi-
native lad. withal. making himself
thereby a puzzle and often a vexation
to the family and companions round
about. The novel runs level course
1t would. Nothing to do but to carry
on In the way of Per HanSa, now gone,
for the sake of the sowings and har-
vestings. for the sake OF turning the
miles of prairie grass into the now
famous wheat lands OF the Dakotas.
Just blowing with his hands and feet,
iust feeding the stock and such like.
But the mind Of Peder was, through
these dull doings, off and away, or
holding deep communion with the fields
and the sun and with God. In those
early days Peder was on most friendly
and intimate terms with God, talking to
Him, counting Him as part Of his
simplest acts. But there came a change
when Per. Hansa was found dead out
on the prairie. That was unfair, clear
ly-his father such good man. And
soon Peder became doubter and a
secret rebel. But the days were lived
in many other kinds of emotion so that,
in fact, the youngster could hardly De
counted present at any time. Filled,
packed rather, with the homely Incl
dents of farm life in this Norwegian
settlement, the story does not lift SO
high as it goes deep down into the feel
ings and wonderings of these sober
close with Peder, very young still, but
in love for the first time and daZed with
the miracle that is holding him. 1t Is
important to know more about Peder,
and hope we shall.
The manner of the story Is direct
blunt, everyday In clipped phrases. and
curfously effective vernacular. Under
this manner is a clear poetry OF feeling
that comes out In some beautiful picture
that no one has read before anywhere
Mr.. Rolvaag has a poetry OF his own
unmistakable and beautiful. An inter-
esting man, this Rolvaag, coming to
America and crossing out to Minnesota
He might have stayed in Norway, where
he would most certainly have become
the captain Of fishing boat in time
But, no. nothing but the United States
would do and, so here he Is, up at st
Professor Of Norwegian literature In
that institution. The first seizure to
take him upon his arrival here was that
of learning things, of studying, getting
an education Professor now, In a col
lege, too-but better than that even Is
the fact that he Is writing surprisingly
fine and substantial novels on the real
business Of the Viking spirit IN America.
HUMDRUM HOUSE. BY Jeanette
Phillips Gibbs, author Of "Portta
Marries." Boston: Little, Brown 81
Co.
TNNUMERABLE counterparts Of the
l. house, humdrum, provide bed and
board for half the families Of Christen-
dom-more than half. Once inside this
particular "Humdrum House." there
fore, every woman Is at home and
deeply interested in the situation OF
Margaret Underhill, its MISTRESS wife
and mother and caretaker. Efficient
routine and boredom of spirit are In
full possession. And this Is, in effect,
the story of Margaret Underhill's revolt.
No, she didn't run away. She didn't
fall in love with another man. She did
nothing scandalous, though. OF course,
the neighbors thought her behaviors
queer and upon the whole to be con-
demned. They would. What she did
! do was to take the frank stand before
her domestic problem that she would
have taken before any other deeply
! momentous business. Then she went
away-not to run away" but to get
out and far enough, off for a better
seizure Of the situation. She worked
worked with children and other needy
ones. In time, naturally, she reailzeo
the possession Of children Of her own.
needy, too. And so, finally, her mind
cleared and her purpose set straight.
she returned to her home to throw
herself into the real interests of the
! town where she had always lived.
| Sounds reprehensible, doesn't 1t? One
can hear the censure Of good mothers
over such an experiment. But following
along with this woman brings its own
justification. For. you see, Mrs. Gibbs
has written story whose main point
is to state the case Of great majority
of women in the home. This she has
done without a single remove from the
decencies of life. The novel is as far
from sensationalism as Pilgrims
Progress" 1t Is the record OF an intel.
ligent woman's accounting with herself
for the loss of her husbands interest
She admits to herself that she isn't
| interesting. Therefore 1t Is important
|