Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07
% IDA GILBERT MYER,Z
BooksEspecialkySuita forSummerReading.
71u0el by Motor and Boat-Adventure
and Some Fiction.

and Som
gument in favor Of the new cult Of travellers
Looks and sounds as little like argument, how
ever, as it is possible for print to do. No
premises here, no points Of logic set In their
proper order, no deduction-nothing like that
Instead, just an uproariouS gathering OF in
cidentS from that Summer project OF villa In
France. Nothing else-except this man to see
that under the glamour which Is mostly mag
nation there are a thousand pesky points that
may turn to laughter, that do turn TO chuckles
and roarS Of sheer mirth about once q minute
in this Summer business Nnety-nine out OF
hundred groan over these familiar pin pricks
OF travel swear about them, say Never again!"
But this fellow thinks they are funny, and they
are-when you sitting at home in the easy
chair, doubling up in mirth over the bad tenn
pers and rudenesSes and other failingS OF the
travelling public. Not one Of the absurd cpl
sodes that you have not yourself seen-and
taken part in. The entire book Of enjoyable
nonsense Is true story Of travel in the Sum-
mertime, and for good measure in this case.
Of sharing villa over across with q family Of
dear friends. You would better not miss the
fun Of this, particularly II you are in po-
sition to appreciate it to the fulk-under tree.
in an easy chair pulled on from the porch
nearby And on the table right here nice
big pitcher of ice water.
PORTO RICO: Caribbean Isle BY Richard
James Van DeuSen and Elizabeth Kneipple
Van Deusen. New York: Henry Holt g. Co.
THE excellence Of this book rests upon the
] fact that it is q complete history OF Porto
Rico. The comprehensive survey Of land,
new and immediate in its relations to the
United States. Therefore, o quarter about
infol Anne FIJI
knowledge and . better understanding OF the
people in their derivation, their outlook, their
achievements, their ambitions. No hasty jour-
neyings no rapid surveys, no passing impress
sions could possibly serve any useful end where
thorough investigation and deliberate conclu-
sions are the single requirement, as they are
in respect to Porto Rico at the hands Of Amer
lea This story goes back, fortunately to tbs
days Of Columbus, and earlier even, TO the
ancient lure of that rich port" Of the Carib-
bean. In swift and graphic movement 400
years Of Spain over the island are projected.
sweeping picture so composed and so ball
anced as to present an actual and immediate
entity Of colonial life, responding to its center
of domination and control across the Atlantic.
Coming quickly into the present, 80 years OF
Porto Rico as part Of the United States Is
defined in its salient points Of approach and
response to the new order. Here and hereafter
lies the bulk Of this admirable study. The
people themselves in their common nature in
their stand toward the newness Of this day
for them. How the new order has reacted
upon their attitude toward civic responsible
itieS-induStry, education, religion sanitation,
culture. The cultural effects Of their religion
and Of newer Institutions coming into the late
order Of a changed form Of government. Here
are pictures Of life In the towns and cities.
Sketches Of countryside and its interests and
modes Of meeting these. The book is thorough
piece of scholarship Documented and hreproof
throughout And it is. besides, . study Of abb
sorbing interest. Well written by two people
who are, in a sense in love with their subject
and of long intimacy with 1t. The right sort
Of imagination lifts that which, without 1t.
might be a worthy but unenlivening report OF
the exact truth about Porto Rico With such
imagination and such knowledge and such
deeply personal interest, the Van Deusens have
turned out a triumph Of q story as well as q
much needed account, authentic and orderly.
Of that "Rich Port" that Island Of the
Caribbean"
THE GRASS ROOF. BY Younghin Kang New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
THAT house Of the grass roof" must have
been a long way from here. It was. Half
around the world in Korea, where all the
houses were rooted with grass and sod. And
that PARKWAY village, and country, were the
birthplace Of this writer who now lives In the
United States, who Is now lecturer on COM
parative literature in New York University.
The first IL Of Mr.. Hangs 70 years were
lived in his native land, where poetry and
philosophy were the occupation, the preoc-
cupation, OF certain men Of high grade. His
own father and uncle were OF this order. Easy
to see that the boy himself was poet, that
the man himself is that in feeling and express
sion. Those early years are pictured here in
great beauty Simple as childs account
of himself must remain, no matter how mature
the writing hand may have grown. Little things
of the day, of every day, are set down, por-
traying the ways Of life off there. How chill
dren look upon parents, and parents upon chill
dren Certain ceremnnialS in their treatment