Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-08

happenings which DR.. Munthe describes
are such as might come to every one,
but which he somehow manages 10
give an emotional appeal far beyond
the mere facts In the telling. This Is
why the average reader finds it 50 ex-
tremely difficult to answer the question,
What Is the book about2" The moment
he starts to tell what 1t Is about" he
realizes that he Is falling far short, not
telling the essential worth at all.
The Story of San Michele" is pecul-
lar among the books published In this
generation IN arouSing a great personal
enthusiasm in the reader which fills
his mind and heart to the brim until
he has recommended it to as many
friends as he can find to listen to him.
After that he may mildly wonder ct his
former enthusiasm. Few readers, after
finishing the last lines Of San Michele, A."
Will feel that what they have read il
not literature, but later they may be
inclined to believe that they fooled
themselves into regarding it too highly!
we belleve Mr.. Hansen is now in that
stage, but feel sure that later consid-
Grafton VIII cause him to revamp his
opinion.
Another statement we heard the other
day, from a lady reader Of the same
book, was to the effect that DIR. Munthe
must be afraid Of death" It Is true
that there has been no book since walt
Wnltmans Leaves Of Grass" so filled
with the theme.
1t Is rather beside the point how
ever, to feel that consideration Of any
thing shows one up as afraid of it,
PerhapS just the opposite is true. We
may suspect that DR.. Munthe, like any
sensible person, Is afraid of death in the
same way that Christians fear the Lord.
The term fear of the Lord is rather
stumbling block to many a religious
aspirant, until the happy day when he
begins to realize that words, after all,
are free, and that he may substitute
respect Tor fear" without undue vio-
lation OF the meaning and intent.
DR.. Munthe has the same respect for
death which any one has who has seen
1t. That he has placed his attitude so
scrupulously in his book is one of the
bravest literary deeds of the century.
The whole aim of modern sophistica-
ton, 1t would seem, Is TO pretend that
such phenomenon does not exist. It
is left to the churches, to time, and to
necessity.
1t took supreme courage, and a real
indifference to literary fame, as such,
to deal so plainly and courageously with
Lneme which most men and women
are willing to forget about until life
makes them remember It, Yes, it is life
which makes us know death, not death,
for death Is part and parcel of life, and
the seeds of 1t are incorporated in us
all at the beginning.
DR.. Munthe brings this out so plainly
that many readers, no doubt, will turn
themselves into amateur PSYCHOLOGISTS
and think themselves clever by speak
Ing learnedly of the authors fear of
death" But it is not that. 1t Is won
der, and intellectual honesty, one OF
the rarest qualities in the world.
We rather suspect, indeed, that those
who are themselves too much In fear
Of death will not like 1.-THE Story of
San Michele" for that very reason,
They resent the very mention of it,
But the magazine Time Is correct in
its formula when it says, Death, which
comes to all men," etc. It does, In
deed, whether we wish to think about
it or not. It Is one Of the glories of
THE Story Of San Michele" that it per-
mitS one to think without too much de-
preston, even with a sense of surety
akin to the consultations Of religion.