Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03
IDA GuhEhT MYEEs.

Dy oYQIlCY SdSJiC ENODCA CSs ANNW
York: D. Appleton g. Co.
TIME deep general appreciation
accorded Ariel" and "Disraelf'
assures a warm welcome to any
thing Andre Maurois may have
to say on the subject of biog-
raphy itself. And here M. Maurois ais
cusses biography as work OF art on
the one hand, as q scientific pursuit on
the other The biographer is sclen-
fist to the measure in which he de-
mands the truth about the subject In
hand, Exacting as the scientist must
be, the biographer weighs the mateflai
coming TO his hand by its factual con-
tent. by It's ability to stand up under
the tests OF actuality This mood he
contrasts to that earlier one wherein,
for the sake of example and precept,
great men were scaled on In their
weakness and exalted in their great
ness, a clear sacrifice of truth IN the
interests of public morals and lnnuen-
tial piety. We know about that. our
own Washington and others have, IN
the same beneficent intent, been re-
duced to something like the inutility
of a man-of-straw. Truth, the whole
truth, is the prime urgency OF do
graphic material, according to M. Maui
rois. With this in hand 1t Is the artist
who must shape it to general unity
of effect, to living contact with the
externals of existence at the time, TO
as much of harmony and balance OF
life as the divining artist can secure
with a medium so uncertain as any
human is won't to be. With the truth
in one hand, with the artists gift OF
composition in the otfHr, the olog-
rapher seeks to re-create, both In MS
own individuality and in the shaping
environment around him, the one upon
whom he is expanding his art A most
interesting talk here-these are talks,
informal and animated, rather than
lectures-is the one on Biography as
a Means of Expression" M. Maurois
becomes personal at this point-and,
therefore, even more interesting. He
tells about reading the life of Shelley
as a youth, finding much Of himself in
this young rebel. So he read more
and more about Shelley, his own kim
ship growing with his more intimate
knowledge. Eyes. in very truth I felt
that TO tell the story of his life would
be in some measure a deliverance Tor
myself" He goes on to tell OF the
story the history "Arier'-of his sub
sequent doubts and anxietles over IT,
In much the same spirit, however, he
later undertook the "DiSrael" - the
romantic who Is at the same time a
man of action; a man who succeeds
in the temporal sense of the word, but
fails in the spiritual sense, and at his
death remains romantic - lmpenl-
tentN but not victorious"
Here is a book for intelligent curl
osity interested in biography to seek
out for its clear competency, Tor It's
winning informality, for a scholarship
that is not weighty and forbidding, for
reading that is at one and the same
time filled with information and pure
pleasure.
THE COURTS OF THE MORNING.
BY John Buchan, author of Green
mantle" etc. Boston: Houghton
Mifiin Co.
ITO many "Greenmantle" is John
l. Buchans top-notch of story telling.
Here is one that is perhaps degree
better. more wildly immediate. as It
should be, since it is taken right on
the present amazing hour of life. A
revolution, nothing less. Made, too. In
the land where these appear to spring
from the soil-South America on the
Pacific side. Its leaven, hatred OF the
United States in its general leadership
of the West and the ambition to UNDER
mine it, An imaginative people, you see.
1t is the complete realism of this futile
little war that catches the reader. NO
more pains could have been taken in its
reimbursement plans and movements,
counter-moves, modes OF warfare by
land and sea and air, not II John
Buchan had been sole proprietor and
protector of a world conflict, And 1t Is
this absolute fidelity to the war technic
that brings a reader right into the
thick of the fray" as writers used to
put 1t. To this definite objectivity are
added the romance Of the fighting area
itself-"Courts of the Morning" val
ley in the Andes, the picturesque char
acter Of the combatants, native Indians,
pure descendants of the ConquistadorS,
mixed blends of blood. A great mining
corporation from the United States be-
comes the object of immediate warfare.
To get the story into the open there Is
handful of English, q Sprinkling OF bust
ness magnates from the North. And get
into the open 1t does, with a rush OF et-
fectual activity that no War Depart
ment, that no national lighting ma
chine could Guido in either plan or
real action. Queer man, this John
Buchan. Listen: Lawyer, soldier, bust
ness man, poet, member of Parliament"
Tired of writing his History of the
Great War" four volumes, he runs away
into the writing of adventure. Tired OF
public business, he escapes into such
thrilling experiences as "Greenmantle,"
THE Dancing Floor" and this and that
and now he has made stirring war
across the world in South America by
way of The Courts of the Morning
everything taken into the count, the
best Of them ALL A great adventure by
q true adventurer.
THE ROMANTICS. BY Mary Roberts
Rinehart, author of The Strange
Adventure" etc. New York: Ferrar
g. Rinehart, Inc.
T IKE death, love has all seasons for
IL its own--that Is 1t does have ac-
cording to this book of short stories by
Mrs. Rinehart. Age and middle age,
young manhood, youth and adolescence,
give testimony here that practically
from the cradle to the grave, not even
one ever quite leaves hope behind. De-
lightful stories all of them. They
would be because all of them are picked
of the open and exposed layers of ex-
istence. Such selection has advantages |
One Is that it gives the reader a sense
not merely of going along, but of taking
part here and there as chief character
In one or another of the situations set. |
Again, open and above board, these
sketches are free from the smelly, un-
aired effect Of the social problem
transcript. sun shines on them. Winds
blow through them, The first one Is a |
beautiful story-a universal story in its |
essence. One smiles. bit wryly, in its |
reading, for it has the real tragedy of |
life within it-age on its way. or right |
here. Some one speaks up-"Well, age |
is a lovely thing''-perhaps, but always |
for the other one. not for you, not for |
me. THE Second Honeymoon is COM |
pact of middle age, of the accommoda-
lions that it implies. these set out to |
meet both agreement and laughter. |
And so these pictures of the undying |
lust for romance run In an enjoyment |
a., tho raadar,S mart no nraahnr AI,nrn