Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-19
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G. M.

oIOWn CO w.
This electric era Is impatient Of both
the present and the past. Today, in
its accounting, Is little more than q
mere springboard for the leaping of
into some astounding tomorrow. The
yesterdays-even the nearest Of them
are already dim, are already far-off and
Well-nigh forgotten things A look back
ward In whatever direction provides
evidence, abundant and often discon-
certing. that the achievements of any
past century could stand easily, and
with room to spare, In single one OF
the decades now sweeping by under its
burden Of magic and marvel.
Change, that dread demon Of but q
few years ago, is today the arbiter OF
human destiny, the master of every
mans fate. Old standards are passing
Former respected guides are fast be-
coming impotent totems of forgotten
significances. Vital aspects OF ancient
growth and development are often now
adays but q part of the motley Of GU
rious museum collections, pointing
vaguely backward upon lost centuries
or waiting the expert hand of science
to take a turn at recreating an old
world from these scraps Of vanished
past.
gigantic change, sharing 1t in nnu-
merable ways, the people also as body
are gaining new outlook and attitude
new ideals and activities, new sources
of inspiration and vigorously fresh re-
sponses to these. This reinvigorattne
of the people, this new fronting upon
the stupendous problem Of current ex-
istence, is manifest in every line OF &C
tivity, whether material or spiritual
Great enterprises and the common run
of every mans day are alike ready with
the quick shift of accommodation to
new conditions. A new world, indeed
that now and then seems plainly law
less toward old reverences and tealties
- 4
Hardly anywhere Is the great change
more clear than in the matter OF books
and their writer's. To go back but g
little way. Less than hundred years
have gone by since that Attic band Of
New England poets and philosophers
established American literature. To bs
sure, this American literature was pure
ly European in its classic tradition and
In the accepted conventions OF its pro-
lection. Yet, it was a glorious estab'
lishment one that honored its day with
genius and power. Who reads II todayF
Who reads Emerson and Longfellow
Bryant and Holmes and the rest? Who
even, reads Hawthorne, the clearest ro-
mantle inspiration Of them all? Why
certainly, these today Still sustain one
of academic mind or profession. But
who else? No, no, this Is not a con-
tentionl Let It pass. It Is meant only
to indicate that along with everything
else literature itself has changed in
purpose and in its means Of realizing
such purpose. Incidentally, its center
of production has moved from the At
lantic Coast to the banks of the MiSsis-
sippi. Not vital, but significant to
degree.
However, here is a study Of the great
est of the New England novelists. Here
is a study Of Hawthorne that illu-
inmates both the man and the author
by way of Newton Arvin's seizure OF
the two or three essentials that con-
stituted the man, Hawthorne.
Every writer, certainly every novel;
list, writes about himself. No matter
how many different characters may
take possession OF his story, each Of
these in the implication of his various
attitudes and behaviors Is some part
some fragment, some shadow Of his
creator. This is true Of Hawthorne as
1t is true-say, Of Sinclair Lewis, who
out of the gall of his own blood creates
his Main Street." and "Babbitt," and
"Arrowsmith," and "Gantry," in the
ironic flow of that life stream. It Is
true of all writer's. To get back to
Mr.. Arvin and his study of Hawthorne
Frustration Is the keynote Of Haw-
thorne's life. So 1t is the keynote OF
his literary output. Hawthorne, through
the indulgence of his passion for soil
tude, became entirely separated from
the activities around him. The &C.
cepted work of the novelist Is to pic
ture, In part at least, certain chosen
aspects of human behavior. This very
purpose implies acquaintance, asSocia-
ton, actions and states Of mind drawn
from individuals themselves for the sake
of weaving these into plausible anc
interesting literary characters. But
Hawthorne had, no such knowledge Of
men and affairs, and would not have
1t. Instead he shut himself apart, well
coming even illness provided 1t yielded
the solitude that his soul was set upon
A strange story, an infinitely pathetic
one. oh, yes, not quite new, yet en-
tirely new In the rigid adherence OF
Mr.. Aryin to this dominating and in
fluential fact In the career OF Haw-
thorne! The study is a wonder Of wise
suppressions, of emitting irrelevancieS
for the sake of stressing this New Eng
land novelist in the making. Even the
blood of Hawthorne was derived from
the lonely ones, from a mother who
held to her house, to her room even
for all the years following the death
of her husband at sea. Imagine, II
you can, children in home where
each one ate his meals by himself, In
her room, In his room. Unthinkable
Picture a lad who welcomed famed
foot since it kept him most Of the time
outstretched upon a bed, and therefore
able to read and be by himself. A
little better at college, but no great
display of the collective spirit even
there. And the belated courtship OF
Nathaniel Hawthorne, whereby he final
ly became a husband to Sophia Pea
body-that is the most diaphanous,
unreal, touch-me-not love dream that
could possibly be encountered, even in
sleep When, finally, Hawthorne, under
material pressure, took this position or
that one In q Government ONCE, "a
part of him lived but the most OF him
died" as he went about, not inetnc1ent-
ly, through the mechanical processes OF
Excepting records and accounts" The
lonesomest man living, when he was
not alone. The most contented when
he had the solitude that he loved. And
Hawthorne lay dead in a hotel room
in Plymouth, N. H. He had been
haunted by the dread Of dying at the
Wayside in the heart of his family
and so, still alone, he set out. A tragic
and poignant personal story which
Newton Irwin follows in a rather grim
fidelity to its true spirit. This course
he pursues in a definite purpose, that
of Identifying the man with his work,
that of projecting the close-woven fab
ric of Hawthorne and Hawthorne'S
literary work. There Is no other way,
or so it seems to me, of coming at the
novels of any writer Of any day or age.
The effect of this study in its way of
approach and In its method of treat
ment is that of the inseparable identity
of the works of Hawthorne with the