Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-12

to slump, to fall, into her chair. Let
me tell you. she's done 1t again-done
another Ethan Prone" who's done
It again and what are you weeping
about?" "Oh, don't be stupid! Mrs.
Wharton has done it-has written a
novel Of such reality: OF such insight. OF
such power and such art-weN, 1t isn't
a novel at all. 1t is, instead. Vance
Weston, the genius Vance Weston,
marooned here in a world that has no
use for him except to wish that he
could earn a living. That's what she's
donel" And so the matter was out
the great matter of Hudson River
Bracketed."
Don't stop for the title. Dig that out
at your leisure. Enough that 1t points
upon an old house, THE willows"
where much of the story Of young
weston unfolds. So real and so
poignant is this bewildered boy in his
futile efforts to be great writer, at
the same time to be a lover and
householder--an utterly impossible stu
alton, as any one can see--that long
after the reading is past there will stay
in your mind, in your heart, the terrible
story Of this Ariel struggling with life,
In following this boy, following him as
II he we're in her own blood. Mrs. Whar-
ton gives much Of what must be the
heights and depths to which the artist
is condemned. to which genius is con-
demned. The actualities of literary
creation are here-its shining light OF
hope, its utter darkness of defeat. the
false trails that are followed along some
inviting remoteness, when the real stuff
of the story, or the song, is at hand. or
under foot, offering help that Is passed
by. There is much-all, in fact--of the
writer's purpose and craft in this story
Of young Weston. There is all of futile
and defeated youth in it, too. And why
shouldn't youth be defeated in art when
the demands of lusty living are devour-
ing the most Of him? He should be
and he is. 1t takes the heroic cast to
produce art and at the same time to
be young and eager for youths deserv-
ings. without taking from the great
story of this boy-so craving in his
nature, so inept in his experience-Mrs.
Wharton, If any writer ever did. follows
the pilgrimage of the artist in his quest
after some one aspect of life, in his ways
Of approach to this, in his rewards and
defeats as these are posted by himself
and not by the public, which is, after
all, secondary or quite negligible to the
real artist. To be sure, the book is
wider in its externals than; have indi-
Gated. It is rounded with the people
that Mrs. Wharton is so able to COM
mand. And what I've said sounds
broken. It is broken, not worth a cent
as valid and measured appraisal. I'm
yet incoherent with the feelings, the
sympathies. the recognitions, the ABSORB
tons Of this big and pitiful story
Maybe, some time, I'll think more
about 1t and feel less. However, offer
this, lest GOODNESS never does come In
respect to this bewildered genius, that
Mrs. Wharton has projected in both
body and soul for us to hold in 10Y and
gratitude.
THE ODYSSEY. Translated by George
H. Palmer Illustrated. Boston
Houghton- Mifflin Co. The River
side Press. Cambridge.
"THEN when to the bowman prince
ly of arrows his store was
no longer, by the well hewn doorpost
of the stately room letting it to stand
against the bright-faced wall the bow
leaned he and, too, about his shoulders
four-fold shield he slung; put on his
head horsehair-p lumed, grimly-the-
crest above -it-nodding, well artificed
helmet" that's the way many Of us
got our Iliad and our Odyssey
Any boy or girl will at, once recogniz:
the style-that of the laid to -transla-
tion," as 1t was euphemistically styled
and "trot" as it was more generally
known. Is it to be wondered that thi.
magnificent literature failed to click:
Or else one could get his inspiration
from some free translation like that Of
the jingling, jogging Pope-"Heav'd or
Olympus tott'ring Ossa stood; on Osss
Pelion mods with all his wood" mod:
with all his wood"-not so hot, that
All Of which leads up to the fact tha'
there has been issued brand-neW
edition of George Herbert Palmer's
widely known translation of the
Odyssey, and Nathan C. Wyeth, whose
pictures would make the Congressional
Record tolerable. has Illustrated it. The
author" has used prose and has stuck
in so far as is possible, to the literal
translation, with all its childlike
repetition, digressions. and other faults
but, again. all its beautiful imagery
stirring simplicity. and genuine mar
rative interest. Homer, diShed up In
this appetizing manner. becameS truly
delicious: even the stolid Anglo-Saxor
OF q time and cline far removed is
stirred and can we'll believe that the
ancient Greek dotted on and could lister
for hours to his great national poet
reader discovers for himself what high
brows have besn claiming for years
that the Odyssey Is a really swell
story. In fact. it is much better yarn
than the Iliad, which is, in many
respects, much of a muchness. The
Odyssey has everything; 1t evef: has
It" 1t is story for historians, for
hero worshipers, and for sentimental
lists, and for both gourmands and eour-
NETS. Apparently, when the ancient
Athenians were in doubt or distress, or
had nothing better to do, eating and
drinking was always i'll order, and the
Odyssey with its frequent descriptions
of skewered roasted mutton, toothsome
barley cakes and honeyed wine. is nc
book to be reading just before dinner;
ones mind gets off the plot. The theme
Of the Had is the dominance CT guile
over might. That of the Odyssey is the
dominance Of mind over circumstance
Read it and get really acquainted with
one OF the worlds outstanding heroes
with ladies to Know whom would have
been privilege, and with the funny
gods and goddesses who were always
shopping more or less successfully, into
the most private affairs of rnortals
Prof. Palmer's translation was made
as long ago as 1884, but its newest pres
entation is thing of beauty and, If
not a Joy forever, has been and will
continue to be one for a long, long
time. r. NJ. K.
r. 4 n X,
MISTY MEMORIES. BY Natalie Morris
Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co.
POETRY-lyrics and sonnets. Nearly
hundred of these give testimony
to the authors industry and courage. Is
that all there is to say about the book
oh, not nearly all. Still, work and
courage may register rather generally
where poetry would make not even a
scratch on the consciousness of the
average reader. Poetry-especially the
lyric and the sonnet-are so deeply
personal as to draw an involuntary,