Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-26
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G. N.
MY THIRTY YEAR WAR. Margaret
AvSlaruoaa fsnxyief- F1-iede

Anderson. Covict-Ffiede.
Take it awayl Not another war
Rockwell, for quite spell" But this
! is not" Take 1t away" All Of
two weeks later chance completed the
shut-oi1 explanation that My Thirty
Years War" Is not war book.
| That Is, not a prof. one, about COM
manders on this side and ca that as.-
plying years Of laborious training to
the deep philosophy combat, TO the
Logic OF special campaign, TO the tech
mic Of battle itself, lin q sharp rivalry
of competitive slaughter. Not an ac-
count either Of ranked fighting men,
! face to face-young fellows pretty much
alike, not at bottom unfriendly until
haviors Of hatred, until the glamour OF
hero" wipes out for an infant the
reality OF youth and life.
But, all the same, this Is clear war
record The title--something Of ges-
ture-'suggeSts history, that OF the sew
enteenth century, with all Europe for
q third of the hundred years torn to
desolation In the gentle name Of re-
but single figure becomes the "em-
battled host" An Amasonian figure, at
that-Boadicea come to life. Jeanne
D'Arc, leader Of armies, returned.
Only q girl, this one, fighting with
hard little lists and stubby little boots
The front picture-picture of the war
Tior-iS that of a lovely lady. giving
straight lie to the go years" UP above.
Looking, besides, more like a sucking
dove or Mary'S lamb than like q "fury
| on horseback" as she 80 clearly should
look under banner SO flamboyant. If
the picture be true, or ANYTHING like
| the truth, then this young woman be-
gan hitting life to finish at that
exact moment when the good doctor
plucked her from head of cabbage In
the nearby garden and laid her upon
the family doorstep. Without doubt,
kick right in the stomach then and
there. Moreover she must certainly
have let out howl which in apprehen-
sive welcome opened the ancestral door
to SO doughty q claimant upon its
hospitality.
The story Of actual war begins when
| the young woman Is round about 5.
Fought her mother at that tender age,
| to the dismay of the worsted parent;
fought the furniture for staying neekly
/ where 1t was put, looking silly in its
compliance, with perfectly good legs Of
its own, too; fought the cats and the
dogs, the sun, the moon, the stars,
Col0rs Of the sky, duh patterns OF the
earth.
The world was wrong; increasingly
wrong as more years came to the young
fighter. Crusader, indeedl But 10 be
sure, no one reforner, however MASTER
| full, can make over an entire planet
gone completely astray. SO In necessity
wisdom tempered the all-embracing ar
doris to fewer demands, set attention to
the more outstanding needs. The ptr-
suit came finally to b. that Of a better
art, better music, better drama, better
literature. At last the high mission
became defined. It's instrument was to
be the word of inspiration from true
apostles Of art, this word to be pro-
jected by way Of regular and orderly
publication. And so 1.-THE Little Re-
Margaret Anderson's story is that of
this periodical of regenerative intent.
The long approaches to 1t are carefully
recorded, the purpose and aim of its
being, its career, its untimely demise.
One gathers for himself its effect so
incommensurate probably with the high
spirit that conceived It, the passion that
supported 1t, the bright vision that
nuytllred it.
No, this is not the story of the noun
tain and the mouse Nor Is 1T tran
script of the old poem wherein the
little lass, lolling against the grand
| sires knee, kept up the worrying re-
frain, "But, grandpa, what was the
| fighting all about?" The vague CROP
| ings of the old man discarded In q
minute for "oh, but twas . glorious
| Wctory!"
No pointless fable, no ancient song,
| this. Rather here is wide-epen avoWal
of ones self. And this, / take 1t, from
source high or low, the most important
print that can fall into the hands Of
4 searchers of the human heart. Not a
great life; therefore, not a great story.
But open disclosure, nevertheless, The
| general slant Is that Of adolescence,
Here in tumble Of projection are I'M
pulse, self-co9hdence courage, untratn-
| ing, imprOVidence, honest intent, the
star TO be plucked from the sky, no
matter whose shoulders must be
mounted for the seizure.
Yet, withal, very stimulating book
stimulating, maybe, in part by virtue
of these minus qualities Of achievement.
Real value of the self-revelatory sort,
as well as engaging interest, clearly be-
longs here. Hosts of -1eople come and
70, those about whom we are keenly
curious-Emma Goldman, Gertrude
stein, Carl Sandburg, Theodore Dresser,
Ernest Hemingway, Richard Arlington,
and many others. These the author
succeeds in putting across alive and
vital. That is the point comet ming
thenn. Her critical civilizations are not
so convincing. She herself gets In the
way of thern. Not for instruction is
this life story; not for deep and dura' -le
opinions on life and art, IT. is pure
adventure in its impact upon the
Picturesque modes of behavior serve
equally as inspiration and warning. On
the whole book to be gathered in for
its frank and full-measure delivery of
a human being whose kinship with the
rest of us lies in the common need Of
times temperings.
Ia ~ *N
BACK DOOR GUEST, Lennox Kerr.
Pictured by James g. Reid. The
l3obbs-Merrill Co.
He began with a lie, this Scotsman,
Lennox Kerr. Let's not count 1t against
hinl--we George Washington since he
had to break the truth In order to get
on its way the wand"~lust Of which he
was so fully compact Vagabond named
him. A little lie, besides; only that Of
adding three years to his age. The
ce.tamon rule Is to subtract where this
young fellow did the opposite. However,
passing preliminaries let us go along
at once with this youngster who has
been everywhere and seen everything
along the common ways, along the
underside Of life generally. Deep In the
boyhood of Lennox Kerr was the clear
wish to write things some day. But q
fellow can't write about nothing at al.
Must go to places, must see things. The
vagrant egging on the budding artist,
vol see. So the lie was offered and
accepted, with the boy soon speeding
on his way. Adventures by sea and
lanf simply rushed forward to meet the
lad so open to receive them. This book
| Is the story of q world wandering 1t
Is the odyssey of knight Of the road.
| A born reporter, q zealot at news gath