Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-25

| believe in his thesis, If he had NOT gone
at 1T in such a heavy handed manner.
He oVerdid it.
| The average readers reactions TO this
! book (and We believe that We are an
| average rsadsr) will be one of irdigna-
ton at the end of the first 100 pages
| of amusement at the end Of the second
hundred, Of growing doubts by the
| 30oth page, of calm reflection hit the
40oth, and complete disbelief df ths
thsms ct ths end of tbs book.
Mr.. Masters, for this same q verage
| reader, will have failed to have proved
his thesis. Many q reader no doubt
will be disguised, many become Eindig
nant, many throw the book down, per-
haps, before It Is finished. The latter
will be the losers, for the last chapter
is the best in the book, and one To be
read and pondered, no matter whether
one agrees with 1t or not. 1t is an in
dictment of materialiSm which Only a
poet could have written, and only a
poet with an indignant mind.
Mr.. Masters always was Heavy
handed. Well can we recall his d" Spoon
| River Anthology" written, as we recall
in 1913. We read it through, and, de-
| spite the fact that book money was
little, solemnly dropped the VOLUME into
a waste basket. 1t is the only book We
have wondered if we were fair tb Mr.
Masters or to ourSelf 1t would de in
| teresting. no doubt, to get another
copy, and see If our judgment of 1881
conceded with that of 1918. We hope
it would not.
4
Recently we read another of Mr.
Masters books, "Lichee Nuts" small
collection OF Chinese American pbems
filled with biting sarcasm and hltmor
1t is perfect prelude for Lincoln
the Man"
Mr.. Masters is no author for 2u if
you do not believe in permitting a
writer or speaker to say what he thinks
IT you have mind which believes
that there are things better LETT I'M
Sald, or II you resent too deeply 4pin-
IONS winch are ulffefent from your own,
OF II you pel4eVe that there is no use
III going back over the past and stir
ring up old wounds" then Edgar Lee
Masters had better be- left ont OF your
HE
IT, on the other hand, you like a good
light, II you t1nd something Intriguing
IN the beliefs OF men who differ from
You, II you are inclined, out OF d spiflt
ot harness, as you ike To think. 10 give
them tull ana falf hearing. and are
Wiling 10 save your red lace Tor the
manifest Cruelties and nastinesses OF the
real life around you, then you will find
Lincoln, the Man" an interesting
honest sort OF book, no matter What
you think Of It,
IN all probability your CheriEh he'd
mental image Of Lincoln VIII not shFec
the slightest mar from this contact.
Somehow you viii feel, as We have
tried to indicate before in this collA mn
that Abraham Lincoln must have Inad
3 great deal more to him than Matters
sees, else he could never have done
W-1ar ne did. Few readers, TO-DAY. We
bsLevs, viii feei that Lincoln. nah Or
C1ytt!. was WTolg II holding the Union
together By force q ans
Many, reading this book, VII -sIctce
that they were born late enough 20 miss
the Civil War. Surely those were ttou-
blesome times, times which tried men s
souls, indeed. The wonder is, not that
mistakes we're made, but that the
United States came through as we'll as
1t did. Mr. Masters admits our great
buildings, emblems of materialistic
prosperity, but doubts that there is any
thing in them worth while to the spirit
Of man. Well, that is a matter of obin-
ion, and it is doubtful If any living
man can know the truth All that we
can say at this time is that surely they
are fine buildingS