Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-01
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
1. C. NJ.

FRANCIS RABELAIS: The Man and
His Work. Albert Jay Mock M. A.,
Lift. D., and G. r. Wilson, M. A. IL
Illustrated. Harper g. Bros.
Having read in The Sunday Star Of
the new home library proposed for the
White House, we, sitting around that
night, set up an impromptu game OF
make-believe. We pretended to be one
and another of the distinguished lit
erati named from Washington and 9TH
erwhere to pass upon a collection of 500
books for the purpose in mind An
easy thing to do, or so it seemed. The
book road Is q fairly open highway.
Therefore, In pleasant agreement and
good anity We for a time moved
blithely forward with the familiar ros-
ter of authors and books. The game
sagging a bit, some one said, q shade
| facetiously, Shakespeare" why, of
course, Shakespeare" in mild amuse-
ment at the oversight. Turned by this
toward the past, another volunteered,
"Cervantes." "Y-y-yes-oh, you mean
Don Quixotel Why. to be sure, Ger
vantes!" Emboldened by such classic
shift, one ventured, Radicals" Never!
Never will consent to that-not for a
Presidents library!" And swiftly there
rose an excited babble of controversy,
largely of one-sided violence, that
must have sounded like the United
States Senate supporting the uplift
program of Senator Smoot in respect
: to 100 per cent chastity of line in for
eign literature permitted to enter this
country. Finally, faint Whats the
matter with Rabelais? Have you ever
read him?" ''Neverl And never will"
Nor will ever consent to its being in
/ that
quiet man said as he moved out,
I'm leaving this book with you. wish
| you would read it." And I, for one, did
I read it. Written by two scholars, Al
| bert Jay Mock and G. r. Wilson, it car
ries throughout the stamp of their
learning, of the good quality of their
research. of the importance of their
| points of selection, of the proper en-
phasis of parts for the dramatic truth
| of the recreation as a whole, and of
the breadth and vividness of the back
! ground against which the great Rabe-
lais played his part, an essential element
in that background.
These writers first remind readers
I! that this present amazing era is direct
| descendant of the glorious sixteenth
century. Father and son are these two
in daring adventure, in far outfarings
in uncomfortable spirit, in splendid
achievement. Such kinship makes us
| today at home in that period some
thing like 400 years distant. Then,
they remind us that three of the su-
preme geniuses of that age, of any age,
were Shakespeare, Cervantes, Radicals.
Such brief summary provides the point
OF departure from the other two for the
sake OF presenting to readers the genius
OF Francis Rabelais himself.
| Tribute Is given by them at the out
/ eat fn Na al lns@ ~ to- nnp a1@
| This society has contributed In full
measure high degree of learning, ex-
pert investigation, literary acumen, bal
anced evidence and high enthusiasm
to the collection and preservation of
every item Of authentic record bear
ing upon the life Of Rabelais that mod
ern modes OF research are able to pro-
vide.
1t is upon this foundation chiefly that
these authors reconstruct the period Of
Rabelais, streSsing such aspects of the
common existence as were clearly in
fluential upon the career Of this great
genius. It Is, however, from the writ
tngs Of Rabelais himself, from the books
of Gargantua and Pantagruel, that the
| true genius energies for the perennial
delight Of readers. It is from these
that the surprising humanist walks
straight out into the heart of today,
into the heart of all days to come. And,
right here, these authors give good adj
| vice about the most remunerative trans
lations of this Renaissance story-teller.
Following this advice you will come
| sQuarely upon the man himSelf-an
eager man, avid for life and experience.
| Going up and down the whole of France
in quest of it. Setting himself down in
true companionship with every aspect
of the land, with every condition of
1 N1< - Asasv - -
| custom around him. Simple rs the day,
straight of insight, direct of word, here
| with him you will meet the common run
of life from every standpoint of contact
! and personal partaking. Much of 1t you
! will recognize as a thing familiar to
| you. You will accept it, in kinship, as
one of the natural phases of the way
on the long journey from yonder to
! yonder.
The familiar recoil from Rabelais is
| founded upon two prepossessions. He
used the priesthood for worldly pur-
poses. He Is indecent with his parts of
| speech. These are the two prime accu-
sationS against him. But let Us re-
| member that the church then offered
about the only opportunity, outside OF
warfare. for future TO able and annbi-
tious youth. AS matter of fact, the
practice Of using this profession as the
|
wholly passed away. And as for the
words Of Rabelais. you must remember
that fashions In speech come and 90 as
! do fashions In raiment. The Shake
| speare plays as they were hrst offered,
Don Quixote," the 'Decameron," the
King James version even, are all calcu-
lated to affront the uneasy and tinnid
mind.
However, let US set away from these
| tell 1ak fA1I
this scholarly road toward Rahelais, a
road wherein the learning makes only
for added interest, for open vistas upon
q great mind, for compromising in
sight, for genuinely dramatic disclosure
Of genius Illuminating q certain period
of time. The spirit of this book lies
in its last sentence: MAY his dear
shade look indulgently on the imperfee-
tons OF the portrait that We have made
of himl''
VICTOR HUGO. Raymond Escholier.
Translated by Lewis Galantiere
Payson and Clarke.
At 6 Place des Vosges, Paris, is the
Victor Hugo Museum. Raymond Escho-
| lier Is custodian of the institution. Not
an ofdcial of perfunctory habit. Rather,
a man of Imagination, a lover of Hugo,
moving from point to point within his
| immediate domain, tasting, touching,
sensing to the full the spirit of the
great French romanticist passing into
| himself from this promiScuous collection
of things that he has left behind. 1t
Is easy to imagine that with such q
/ man as Raymond Escholier, placed as
he was, the story of Victor Hugo would
ensue as naturally as a stream flows
| from its spring in the mountains. Little
| by little-a relic of no great account, q