Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-18
REV|E W[. QE THE NEW BCQ)KJ

COLUMBUS: Don Quixote Of the Seas. BY
Jacob wassermann. Translated from the
German BY Eric Sutton. Boston: Little,
Brown d Co.
" o read Jacob Wassermann's work. spe-
cifically ct the moment to read "Co-
lunbts: DON ouixote OF the Seas"
ID TO induce . faint sense OF mis-
fortune IS well as to produce . deep
conviction Of great good fortune. This ID the
way Of Il. Not hard to picture one coming out
from this book in . mood to declare that there
b nobody. anywhere. at present who Is writing
ut al, when compared with what this German
writer has done In this instance. Such In
likely 10 be the FIRST reaction to Columbus"
In IL LES the hint Of misfortune, the danger
10 ones stock Of reading. This, to be sure, II
an over-emphasis Of the case, one rising out OF
the intellectual citation and the emotional ex-
hilaxation induced by this triumph Of true
scholarship. Of historic insight OF cool analy-
sis. Of frank disclosure. And with al this
there 10 here . splendor Of dramatic seisare
and Q beauty Of mere merchandising that
serve to re-embody the fun period inclosing
Christopher Columbus the man and his work
In re-creating Columbus-the inner man,
the outer ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS turns
many an important truth into the daylight
Probably not for the first time. but certainly
jn more than one moment Of sheer revelation.
Through him, in this work, we come to realize
tne unveracity Of history, OF al history. No
sooner does great character or q great event
step into the open, than its distortion away
from the truth begins by succeeding years and
ages Of report, rumor, hearsay. The mosses
Of legend fasten upon it, the hchens OF myth
take hold upon its verify. So as the centuries
roll away more and more does the great ng-
ure, the famous event. become other than II
was. An Of history ID thus oyerlaid with time
and Hs traditions, with dogmas and their CON-
and tftofR
sions Such, In effect. is the ground set by
Mr.. Wassermann for US to stand upon 90 We
try under his deep and wise scholarship 10
come upon that man, Columbus. He reminds
MS, in word and picture, Of the real state OF
the world at the time when America was dis
covered In effect thousands Of years Of scien-
ttfic advance lie IN between that fifteenth CEN
,SuEy and our own day. = Yet, unconsciously.
though none the Less certainly, do We hale
Columbus into the present for his explanation
and Interpretation. Having tried to clear away
this rubbish. Mr.. Wassermann reminds NJ,
definitely and clearly. that nothing was known
Of the world - . part Of the universe. The
authority Of history was then nothing more
than the glamorous tales OF Marco Polo and
Sir John Vaudeville. The day OF Columbus
was q wonder-day Of childish visions Of amas-
ing credulities. Within this setting he shows
the nature and temperament OF the wander
ing Italian, seeking far regions IN fantastic
acceptance Of himself as . special ambassador
into the unknown, there 70 win glory for the
Queen Of Spain and for the church Of which
she was 50 devout . supporter. So, with deep
knowledge and constlmnate art having laid the
foundation for his work, this author sets UP
Christopher Columbus ia the very likeness Of
lovable dreamer. impotent reformer Of the ills
OF life. Indeed. Mr.. Wassermar1n goes 50 far
Is to say that he has no doubt whatever that
tn the mind Of Cervantes-a hundred years
after Columbus-the great sailor stood % q
model and pattern for Don Quixote himself.
The book ID q mine Of historic truth fact
rightly placed In its true relation to the facts
Of the Columbus career It also Is body Of
great value as psychologist Unlocking upon
the man and his time. From 1t new Co.
lumbus emerges. From It . new era Of his
tory stands, denuded 80 TO speak, stripped ca
the merely accidental accretions Of after years
And, perhaps best Of all, there il here erected
upon so firm foundation . story Of surpass-
ing power. Of subtle engrossment. Of sheer
beauty Nothing else Hike this has come this
way for-well. long time In honest, truth
never.
THE KNIGHT OF THE VIRGIN. BY Vicente
Blasco Ibanez, author OF Mare Nostrum,
etc. Translated by Arthur Livingston. New
York: e. p. Dutton & Co.
A MOTHER high romance for the JOY Of the
many readers who say 1t over and oves
again. that Ibanez IL by all odds the best ID
the whole run Of story tellers. Wise in his day
and way, this author always gives himsel,
room for every sort Of emprise. latitude thai
makes for grand evolutions and shuts on plea
-ylme cavilings over umimportant erranctes
This time the whole OF the Atlantic, east and
west, along with q stretch OF the newly dis
covered "road to India" becomes the scene O
activity. Don Alfonso de Ojeda. Of whom you
may read in documented history itself. Is thu
hero of this tale, as he was also q man Of &C
count in the actual sailings of Columbus. Dor
Alfonso comes by right to leadership in the lat