Evening star., 1932-05-17
NEW. BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G.. M.

Only %. Six feet and over. Hax
vard trained. No money. In kea Of !
lust for adventure, q 9rtving curl
ostty about folks of far-of places. "mer
On the horizon"
So, working his way, in the main
young Guy Murchie put In a full yeal
on chasing the horizon. Across The
continent to Alaska, to Hawaii, tht
philippines, China, Japan, Manchuria
Russia, and on around to the home
port. Canoeing the Yukon, functionine
IN boiler rooms of ocean liners, par.
taking of Oriental life in its least ia.
Vored aspects, the big fellow came Close
10 tne men he was seeking at theil
naRedest OF circumstance and need
Inere is here no suggestion of study
observation, research, of any of the
scholastic aims and methods with
winch investigators set out to enlarge
learning, to enlighten the world. In
sOeao, a Dig, eager, curious young mar
whose prime object is to get next tc
tne other fellow rubbing along in thi:
secret ana unllghted passage from there
70 yonoer. What happens, seemingly
OF lts own accord, along the streets o.
Honolulu, or Shanghai or Toxic. OF
MuKoen, or Moscow, these become the
concern Of this adventurer. The hum.
Die lodgings, often squalid lodgings
engage a partaking interest, rather
tnan curiously observant one. The
small concerns Of trade and diversion
OF WORK and play, among the lowliel
sort draw him quickly their way. There
are no scenes of high life among the
recoHectlons and pictures Of this book
thlS aoVenturer appears to realize that
low lie SO tremendously outweighs high
HE, tnat man in the raw Is so abun-
cant and demanding, while man in the
nnlsn ls-well, Is just that, "in the fin
lSn -that any really informing actor
must take place with the great mass
ana so this adventure proves In the
END 10 De girdling zone of mass hu-
manlty running the world around. A
passing comment on rulers Is the only
tlrne given to mightineSses Of any sort
Ihe misconceptions Of these as to any
true sense OF government, as to any
seizure OF the political essence of this
or tnat theory, are noted and set
aSlde. These, no part Of the adventure
in hand.
Let Young Murchie himself have the
last word In this absorbing adventure
was poor man when I set out. ]
am returning rich in things can never
lose" Then, in his own playful manner
ne cites some Of the things" he can
never lose-the smells, the squalor, the
dlscip1ned fury of a 300-foot propeller
smart. It's hideous power driven true to
tnouSandth OF an inch; the sense OF
immemorial peace that lives under the
trees OF japanese temple gardens"
Ihese things are wealth, and with
a thousand others like them will live
DIT t.
thlng nearer to my heart than memory
will live, for me, my friends of this
long Journey-they whose warm human
flesh and blood was incased sometimes
In yellow skin, or brown, or black. OF
white. And am bringing home
with me, from 10000 miles of men, the
sure knowledge that under their skins
yellow, brown, black or white-they are
prisoners, just as 1 am, of their lives
ana heritage, OF hopes and lusts. OF
Tears and loves and dreams, like mine
Beneath there Is no alien mystery
In any race of man. Though ewes bt
slant, they crinkle with fun and change
when they look at children; they cloud
with pain and shift with fear, Just as
do eyes set straight The sweat that
streams out Of brown skin is salt, like
mine"
And I iLov that in the shared
orange helo OF. 20 my hunger by a
dirty yellow hac4 in a Chinese way
train Is the hope of the world"
A true vagabond who draws from ad-
venture its best essence, understanding
An absorbing record of search, and OF
finding.
THIRTY YEARS IN THE GOLDEN
NORTH. BY Jan Well. New York
The Macmillan Co.
Translated by Paul Selver. this 1,
the story Of Czech adventurer whc
for 80 years lived on an island in the
Arctic Ocean. Under the "cau of tht
wild" this Czech mechanic crossed 81.
IBERIA and, then, on a whaling ship an.
peared to find within the Arctic circle
the brand Of change and hardship anc
danger that mending locks in the OLE
nome town was likely to kill of en-.
tirely. Not to be endured, that. Sc
the eventful journey and, finally, ths
discovery OF q roony cave where fol
three decades Jan Well lived in a con.
slant struggle with the fierce and i'm.
placable nature of that region.
In tale suggestive of "A Thousanc
ana One Nights" for glamour and haz
ara and excitement, Well, back home
recounts the story of that long perioC
where every aspect of life and ever,
nour OF 1t was adventure of stern anC
sinister stripe. However, in the re-
calling Of 1t, Of this mans part in it
there Is more of gayety and high spirit.
than of the apprehensions and fear
that must have gone along with tn,
actuality. Distance has softened real
ity and out of the long period of resi-
oence there the book takes on q value
OF intimate record that no report O
explorer or mere adventurer coulc
acnleVe. LapSes Of memory may occul
mere or be supplanted by invention It.
SELF. Nevertheless. the body of tn
account Is of deep value, and certainl,
OF nigh interest, by virtue Of the au
thor's intimacy with the ways of natur
In that region. BySway Of the human
relations also established between ma
i've and alien, between traders ant
islanders. Broadly speaking, work ant
play compass human existence. tn,
special forms OF these become the them,
OF Jan Welzl's vivacious story. A bool
whose sheer entertainment is lifted a
many point with new and important
facts about life within this region.
- ***
ISLES OF EDEN. BY Loring Andrews
New York: Ray Long and Richarc
r. Smith.
The South Sea Islands have, so far
registered escape for artist, poet, anc
literary vagabond. Gaugin, Stevenson
Brooks and OBrien have brought sub.
stantial, and beautiful, registration o.
that fact. Many another besides. But
these are to all the familiars Of Tahiti
and other "Edens" of the South Seas
where freedom is the air itself, where
convention is unknown, where nature
provides food. clothing and shelter
Where long leagues of sea interpose be-
tween its happy people and the man.
made ways of continental civilizations
That, it seems to me, that freedom
that escape, is the spirit of the South
Seas. is the lure of it. I leave it to you
1t appears that as matter of thrift
in these days OF depression, Loring An
drewS bethought himself OF the climate
of the South Seas, of the freedom from
coal bills. Then, still thinking, he re.
nnlI lad q,