Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-08

! ~ they were not present, the men. anu
again to be sure, I have never seen
. them. Nor is one of them aware Of
INV incouseouential existence. Yet for no short
time now I have been clearly in their debt.
such absence, such separation and long
distance acquaintance may be OF the very
condition and essence of true friendship IL
often IL since that situation sustains the IL
I,,siocs ,,non which so much of fine intercourse
denendS Since it supports the imagination
which gives wings to earthworms and flying feet
tn sItIes Such separation and unacquaintance
i'm a literal sense tend to lift friendship out OF
the tanglefoot of daily humdrum and drearinesS
and to set it up on the hill of sight and insight.
OF o certainty my most interesting friends, II
not my best ones are of this PARKWAY class.
But-my party. 1t was of the donation
stripe. Even yet in some little corner the
minister depends upon gift payments LOT ms
labor in behalf of the soul OF man. Potatoes
in lieu of pence. Doughnuts and dole in place
OF dollars or, nearer yet, something like the
shower" which a prospective bride prepares
in the hope Of furnishing by way Of it zone
room, kitchen and bath" and to which the
girl friends respond envisaging for themselves
Q speedy payment of the tax in kind
So, for my party, these men came bearing
gifts. And here they are:
FESTIVAL BY Struthers Burt author of THE
Detachable Mountains" etc. New York:
Charles Scribners Sons Choice of the Book
League
TEN novels to the account of Struthers Burt
Every one Of a quality to secure interest
from readers and to hold this. All of a work.
manShip to draw admiration, not always en-
tireIy free from tinge of envy. Very properly
Festival" is the top-notch of Burt's work, as
it would be with vigorous and growing au-
thor. A quiet book that at first rather OBJ
.scures the fact that it is, without question,
great novel. The story of Dorm Grifhths and
his daughter, Delice. A rich man, now ready
to stop work and enjoy life. Delice, married
to the italian, Rezzonica, whose crumbling
castle, above Como, Dorm had planned to rescue
= for the girls sake.
The literal setting is blend or contrast,
of New York and Italy, scenic and spiritual
honest pair Dorm and Delice, concerned each
with his own part in passing world Of almost
complete newness to the recollection and train
ing Of either. Perfect sympathy between them,
one Of the marks Of this book, the oneness Of
Dorm and Delice. One of its astute seizures.
The mother and the girl would have failed.
Never mind, why. They would The action
grows from the purpose of Dorm Grifdth to
live for the first time, as he is made to live.
Grows, too, from the groupings of Delice to Mt
into the pattern set for her by her foreign al
lance. Both fail. That is, both in a measure
fail. But this effort at getting fitted into the
scheme is OF such sane and sensible, of such
highly intelligent and courageous quality that,
despite certain irregularities that may cause a
reader here and there to shake her head, the
bulk Of US are going to glory in the firm seizure
or reality, OF things as they are, that these two
manifest. Manifest, indeed. for the heartening
OF the nabby- minded majority. Such the out
line Of. the story. But this outline cannot tell
OF the rich texture of the work. Not page
lacking In this, as about every phase Of current
lie comes to the fore for some one in this
modern tale to grip and strip Of the usual
fOr tor
tangled. Beautiful writing and sound thinking
go together here in the service of a story whose
outcome Is Of the same simplicity as its outset.
A return, after all, to the inbred things of
early dayS-a garden, the neon, the sun, the
daily run OF day and night. And this return Is
too, like the whole of the book, the natural
course. AS every who has lived at all
knows TO be true in both fact and spirit.
Festival" is a distinct triumph, for even
StrutherS Burt promise to readers. full
hIlment to those who have read it and are
going 10 read it again
THE HOUSE OF DARKNESS BY c. E Scog-
gins, author Of "The Red Gods Call" etc.
Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co.
THIS b the second man in my party. Here,
tho gift he brought. So many times has
one or another said to me, with a shade Of
reproacn sent my way as If were in a degree
responsible, Haven't you another story ike
Red Gods CALI? Where is that man Scog-
gins? What Is he doing?" Here he is And
without. peradventure. he has done it again.
Yes. he has written other novels, four Of them
Good, too, IL this pair had not been so sur
passingiy better
Again, It Is the old Magyar life that engages
the writer, that engroSses the reader, Just as
It was this buried civilization that inspired
Red Gods" striking theme. Shivery too in
q world that Is nowadays steadily opening back
ward In tlimitable years, authentic years. before
those accorded us as foundation for our feet, as
outlook for our future
Well, to the story. An airship for approach to