Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-10

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
COME count him as one Of the minor
gods, Eros. Some say that he is
not god at allan imp or a devil in
stead. All agree, however, that Eros is
clearly the great potency of human life
whether his raiment be halo on the
one hand or plain horn, hoof and tail
on the other. It is agreed moreover
that he Is master hand at make
believe and makeup. Not till the victim
is done for, roped and downed so to
speak, is there suspicion against this
artless seeming messer-up of human
affairs. Conrad Aiken submits herewith
dozen or more bits of evidence against
Cupid as the most adroit of the seducers
Of mankind. A book Of stories, all
about the complete and ingenious trap
pings of this small god and a good deal
about the use he makes of this ma
lignly inspired wardrobe of clothes.
You don't like a book of short
stories? Neither do I, as rule. Too
broken, too much like dictionary to
command keyed and sustained charm.
You will like this book of short stories,
nevertheless. These do not produce a
broken effect. For, you see, Eros Is the
tie that binds. In all Of them 1t Is he
uation and commands the issue. Mod
ern tales, all drawn of from the top
of things roundabout-about spiders,
and states Of mind, and women-haters.
and flowers and the narrow escape OF
this worthy male or that one. Just
picked UP, you see, from the street and
the house and the office. Their cur
rent quality is something. to be sure,
but 1t is not all. For behind the man
and the woman-Eros will have nothing
to do with either of these alone-there
is a man who knows both. Especially
does he know the men, their certainty
about themselves as beings to command
love from the ladies. "She loved me.
I could see that she loved me pas
sionately," becomes a refrain with these
conquering males. the sly Eros laughing
behind them. Nor is this the point,
stories is that Conrad Aiken writes with
! a charm that equals the quality Of his
thinking, that measures up to his
winged imagination, to his sense OF
drama and to his gift In turning bits
of life into haunting visions and into
many self-revelation.
+ 4 Il =
THE WHISPER OF A NAME. By
Marie lie Franc. Translated by
George and Hilda Shively. Indian
apolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Co..
IT Under another name, "Grand-I,ouis
LInnocent," this novel ran through
many editions in France, taking the
important "Femina Prize" there be-
sides. Having read 1t, one can hardly
refrain from thanking the translators
who have passed 1t on to American
readers with, certainly, its original
glamour upon 1t. The simplest story
| Imaginable Is, If any story of
human life can be counted simple. This
effect Is, no doubt, due in part to the
| delicate harmony that exists between
| the matter at hand and the place in
which 1t grew. A moor jutting out into
| the sea, almost an island. Upon 1t a
single house. And here comes to pass
finally the story of woman and q
man. The woman Is in retreat from
WE'LL what Is the man? A battered
remnant from the war? A speeches.
giant of kindly face and greatly puZ-
| zled eyes. Living much as an animal
lives, from paw to mouth. he came In
| time to visit the strange and forbidding
| house where the lady lived. And,
gradually, there grew up between the
two q deep feeling Of reliance on the
| part Of the woman, of dogs gratitude
on the part Of the man. Well, that Is
| all there Is to the story-almost all
Such q simple tale. Such beautiful
sum Of days that filter through to the
reader by way Of an element that is as
| clear as air, or water, or some magic
crystal. That Is its supreme quality
| clarity Of medium for one OF the
simplest Of human adventures. and one
| Of the most complex. Nobody but the
French can do this. &C least, nobody
| but the French so far have done It,
And in "The whisper Of Name" this
/ power stands out in q limpid and beau
| tiful picture of life. Life itself, not
merely picture.
MAToRNr's VINEYARD. BY Z. Phil
| lips OppenheiYn, author OF the
Light Beyond" etc. Boston: Little,
Brown 81 Co.
TN dozen years from now the present
hopes and plans for world peace
may have-just possibly may nave
rounded to a general international ac-
| vantage of this possibility, Mr.. Open
helm thrifty moves "Matornis Vine
| yard" forward to meet that point Of
time Thereby stormy political ad-
venture, rushing head on toward war,
| is permitted in this 1910 to slide on
into the happy ending Of accommoda-
| tons and restored tranquility between
| Italy and France, into the even happier
| ending of good love episode, becom-
| ing permanent by way OF matrimony
Another advantage OF such time ele-
| ment is that it leaves no edge Of sus-
picion against the author as historian
or biographer. Pure romance and notn-
| ing else, romance OF the familiar Op-
| penheim brand. It all came about
down at Monte Carlo. And the adj
venture drips the Riviera atmosphere.
A gay cosmopolitan world is here en-
crossed In enjoying life. Through its
bright to-do, however, runs the inter-
national intrigue without which this
author could hardly make both ends
meet--both literary ends. A dictator.
italian, having done wisely and well
by his own country, begins to swell
with ambition toward the neighbor-
hood OF France. Nice and other Med
back home to Italy. And so war Is
turning from sleep into wide awak-
ing. such is the situation into which
Is projected the secret service of Eng
land and France. And this Is the point
at which appears the young English
man--idler, tennis champion and the
rest of it--who finally rounds the mat
ter into its climax. All right. Maybe
Phillips Oppenheim is monochord
writer, regular tom-tom Of fiction-.
ist. That may be. But he Is an adept
on that single beat. You have to ad-
nit that. All he is trying to do Is TO
tell an absorbing story. And he does
that-has already done 1t o hundred
times. No, no, not psychology, not
social reform, not deep analysis-rlone
of these things. Just stories that keep
you awake when otherwise would would
be dead to the world. Each after his
kind And here Is good kind, sur
naSSinglY set out for Entertainment ana