Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-31
THE LIBRARY TABLE

ancestor Of A. J. Cronfns James Brodie
in "Hatters Castle" one Of the out
standing novels of recent months.
Brodie Is. however. more understand
able, more flesh and blood, In all his
brutality, than Emily BronteS per-
scnifcation. OF insane moroSeness and
cruelty. Reviewers have criticized
"Hatter's Castle" for unrelieved gloom
and tragedy, but that is not wholly
fair. There is the character of Renwick,
the doctor of high ideals. half-ashamsd
romanticism and thorough kindliness
who goes far to offset Brodie. Perhaps
there is some professional Partially In
DR.. Cronin'S choice OF q physician for
his finest character. Mary Brodie
daughter OF the monster OF egotism and
sadtsm, In her patience and uncon-
quered courage, shows the thwarting Of
absolute heredity. And ct the end there
Is some happiness permitted, even
amidst the wreckage of the lives of
most Of the persons concerned. There
is something almost Shakespearean
about this book--a tragedy of fate. As
IN all Shakespeare's tragedies. the fate
lies in character defect or abnormality.
The terrible character of Brodie brings
disaster 10 nearly all who come in con-
tact with him and finally TO himself
James Brodie Is q Scotch halter in the
town OF Levenford. IN the land of Clyde
estuary. who has built himself an
absurd house In imitation of a castle
and has a fixed idea. which he secretly
does not himself believe In, that he is
descended from q family of the local
gentry, the wintons. This initiates his
vanity so that his arrogance is q subject
OF ridicule to the townsfolk, but of
torment to his family. He is probably
at least a "border-line caSe'-dour.
selfish, brutal to his wife, mother. son
and one daughter, and a monster Of
oppression even TO the daughter whom
he loves As life brings him the retribu-
ton he merits he adds to his other sins
those OF drunkenness and RIGHTEOUSNESS.
In the end he is left alone, broken, his
arrogance crushed. with only his serile
mother, mumbling by the fireplace, as
his companion. We feel sure that she
will outlive him. Altogether, "Hatter's
Castle" Is, paradoxically, . cheering
book to read in times of depression
general or personal. because it depicts
such completely unhappy lives that any
average life seems bearahle by COM
pariSon.
The characters in "Hatter's Castle"
are living and gripping. We suffer
with them and are impatient with them
because they are terrorized by Brodie.
yet understand how it could easily be
so. We live their lives with them for
the time being. In addition to the
dominant Brodie, fiVe others have their
home In Hatter's Castle. Margaret
Brodie, his wife, is poor spirited
thing, who sometimes makes us feel
that she almost deserves the contempt
with which he regards her. He needs
a st1rew to deal with him and gets one
when he takes Nancy to live with him
Mrs Brodte, like scared rabbit rusl1es
about In fear and ineffectiveness to
serve him. She adores her worthless
son Matthew and sneakingly smuggles
delicacies TO him, gives up TO him her
pitiful savings, and covers up his faults
from his father. Fear makes her Join.
Brodie in his cruelty to Mary and his
slave-driving of NesSie. She is diSliked
by her old mother-in-law just on gen.
eral principles and because BKodie and,
his mother are somewhat alike. Even
when death faces her, Mrs. Brodie is
apologize because she can no longer
perform the household drudgery.
Matthew Brodie, - the only son, combines
the weakness of his mother and the
meanness of his father. He is cow
ard, sneak, dishonest, hcentious and
cares for nothing but his own pleasure.
Mary Brodie, the older daughter, taken
early from school to help in the house,
work. Is surprisingly ignorant and learns
life through bitter suffering. vet she
remains gentle and good and has the
courage which her mother lacks Her
life Is saved from complete tragedy by
DR.. Renwick. Nessie, the younger
daughter. is the only person Brodie
loves latter his selfish fashion,. She
is bright" student. with good mem
DRY, but without originality or reason
ing power. Her father has become OBJ
seSsed with the idea that she is to bring
glory to him by her scholarship, espe-
cially by taking the Latta scholarship
prize for the university, for which the
son of his most hated town enemy is
also a contestant. NesSie coming to
hate her studies, Is driven relentlessly
by her father to study during every wax
ing moment and the results are tragic.
Senile Grandma Brodie has only one
real interest-her food The greatest
tragedy which comes to her is the
breaking of her false teeth. so that she
can no longer chew, and Brodie will
not buy her new ones, saying that it is
not worthwhile for an old bag who will
soon no longer need teeth. Nancy,
Brodies mistress, whom he brings home
after the death of his wife, avengeS
some of the wrongs of his wife and
daughters without ever faving the
ironical thought that she is, perhaps,
an instrument of abstract Justice.
X
The characteristics and history of
our prairies, so different from those
of other parts of the country. have i'm
pressed Prof Walter Prescott Webb so
greatly that he has written book
about them. "The Great Plains" The
Great Plains begin with line which
runs down through the center of Ne
braska and Kansas and cuts of the
western third of Oklahoma. Their
characteristics are vast level surface,
subnormal humidity and absence OF
trees. The conquest of the Plains was
accomplished by our pioneers with the
aid of the horse and the Six-shooter.
Their chief enemies were the lack OF
water and the Indians. THE frontiers
man on the Plains soon learned that
one could not surrender to an Indian.
The Indians rarely, if ever. surrendered
themselves and they had no concept
Of the white mans generosity to a van
pushed foe. If one cannot surrender,
then one must fee or fight, and In the
end must die rather than fall alive
into the hands of the enemy. Whether
this stern code was fully developed in
WOOGldnQ II u441CI 0oN
1t was fully developed in the Plains"
X y
In Dorothy Canfields new collection
of story-sketches, she revives some of
her memories of Spa1ish-French
France under the title, Basque People"
Lying along the frontier, the Basque
country has a population which speaks
both French and Spanish and has
both French and Spanish customs, but
prides itself on its strictly Basque an
cestry and type. The unifying infiu-
ence in these stories Is Basque school
mistress, who knows every one in her
section of the country and attempts,
usually successfully, to influence the
lives of all Sometimes she makes
had hl,,nder &c when she nFOraateS