Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-26
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
l. C.. NJ.

erton. Horace LlVerlgnt.
To meet the matter in hand move
backward into the Athens of $500
years ago. A city that in its immediate
effect is curiously modern and alive.
At the moment its streets are filled
with excited men, all talking. The
street corners are crowded with still
more highly excited men, everybody
talking and nobody listening. The tur-
MOL, it turns out, Is over the unright-
eous settlement of the recent war be-
tween Athens and Sparta for preced-
ence and power. Politics is at white
heat. Barring certain external differ
ences, it looks and sounds much like a
political campaign in some city of the
United States of America-Say, Chicago
or New York.
Over there in that fairly open space
is an odd group, a much quieter group
of three. Speaking earnestly is a big
ungainly man, feet bare and dusty,
tunic rumpled and not clean-but, no
matter, since what he has to say is
making a deep impression upon the
handsome and richly turned out. The
big fellow is Socrates. The other two
are Plato and Alcibiades.
Here is the point at which we catch
up with Mrs. Atherton, for her new
novel is about this Alcibiades, young
Athenian of $500 years ago. Mrs. Ath-
erton has already proved more than
once that she has gift for the heroic
man out of some far or near past. No,
her novels on this theme are not his
torical novels, not at any rate when
measured by the traditional pattern of
such. 1t is the human quality rather
than the historic element that counts
with this writer. In her literary econ
omy the latter serves the subordinate
Office of atmosphere, picture, drama,
color, glamour The former becomes
her chief preoccupation. To meet her
purpose she selects the man, the wom-
an, whose qualities and powers are for
ever cotemporaneous, the one who
continues modern regardless of the date
OF his actual existence. And this
sapient choice is based upon plain
appreciation of the fact that human
nature is about the most constant, the
most unchanging element in all life.
Having chosen under such substantial
guidance, Mrs. Atherton then promptly
becomes the student, serious and pains
taking, probing the history, the time
and place and circumstances Of the
hero, or heroine, of her proposed in
vention. I think you will agree that
in every one of her novels Of historic
content there is evidence of thorough
study on her part of the period in
volved. There is much evidence in
THE Jealous Gods" This done, how
ever, this pursuit of historic truth, then
the author turns artist, molding the
material into a coherent, a dramatic
and colorful medium for the pro-
lection of the central figure.
Under such inspiration and effort the
story of AlcibiadeS moves out into gen.
eral interest. modern man-yet he
lived more than 1000 years ago. Young,
beautiful, brilliant. ambitious, none too
scrupulous as to means for the coveted
outcome, military leader, persuasive
politician, favored by women, feared by
men--no wonder that the gods took
hand against this audacious youth OF old
Athens. And so they did-but that IS
for you to read about. Meanwhile you
will enter pretty fully into the scheme
of life in Athens, in all Greece as well.
There is the domestic life to come into
the open. The place of the woman in a
young mans wooing, the circumstances
of their wedding itself, the place OF the
wife in the household, her companions
and pursuits. No, it would never do to-
day-just mothering and spinning with
only occasional visits from beautiful
and magniflcently CARRIED roung man,
who seemed quite willing to go away
again upon some great adventure Of his
own, leading armies, maybe, or heading
the state, perhaps, or giving the light
of his countenance to other ladieS-new-
err and more beautiful than the one at
home, Just mothering and spinning and
looking after the hand-maidens. The
status of the woman-of the legal wife
and the others-comeS out here in an
incidental touch upon the household of
AlcibiadeS, which was no different from
the rest of the domestic life of Athens.
Another romance, if this first may be
called a romance, goes along with the
other interests Of this hero. A strange
woman, Egyptian, moves into the story
beautiful in a weird way, masterful after
the fashion Of the woman rulers Of
Egypt in that time. And it Is with her
that the fortunes Of Alcibiades become
interviewer in ways that were discon-
certing and even disastrous. Yet, finally,
it was the gods themselves who, jealous
of this beautiful and all-conquering
youth, wrought out the plan that
brought to him death, terrible and I'M
timely.
High intelligence and plain work con-
stitute the art of this author. Mrs.
Atherton knows the human, whether it
be Adam or Methuselah or Socrates or
John Smith. 1t is upon this knowledge
that she builds so substantially and
wisely. With plain industry did she
master the setting Of the hero, old
Athens. Then with the imagination OF
the true artist did she select and throw
away, did she weld this and that to-
gether, in a succession Of events which
finally produced this living picture of a
heroic figure in past that savors great
ly of the present. A book to crafty
both the mind and the esthetic sense Of
the reader.
ENTER THE GREEK. Anthony Gibbs.
Harper Sc Bros.
This might have been farce. But it
is not. The author, one of the writing
GibbseS," is of his tribe in other re-
spects. He Is too genial, too sympathetic,
too much Of an artiSt-if you will-to
lower the fine essence Of comedy to the
hard content of pure farce. The theme
is to laugh, possibly, though think not.
1t is the story of Tony in Mayfair
Tony the Greek from Smyrna, having
come into London West End by way of
a play that he had written, play 10
which the elect were making their way.
And, just naturally, Tony, now Mr.. An
thony Sutherland. fell in love with a
beautiful lady. a young girl in high life.
He would. being compound of nothing
on earth but romance and imagination.
1t was great fun, you know, to see this
handsome young Greek trying to make
his way among the sophisticate jewellers
of Mayfair. Great fun. when it was
not the cause of tremendous indigna-
ton at the audacity Of the handsome
youngster. play-maker. The father, the
mother. the beefy sutton. were all IN