Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-07-18
NEW BOOKS
u AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.

margaret UeTmOn0.
LITTLE FRIEND. BY Ernst Lothian
Translated by Villa and Edwin
Muir. New York: @. P. Putnam'i
Sons.
When parents lose their sense Of
balanced relationship and engage In
idiotic behavior, in the majority OF
cases 1t Is not they but the unfortunate
children Of such couples who suffer most
keenly the consequences OF their folly
considering the stupid wall Of sham
and pretense which modern civilization
has built around the institution Of mar
rage, 1t is not surprising that the per-
centage Of mismated wives and hus-
bands Is steadily mounting. even In
this country and in others where the
selection Of life partner is . matter
Of personal choice and not one OF
parental contract. It Is, therefore, quite
natural for many thoroughly fine people
to learn too late that they have made
bad mistakes.
There Is nothing sinful in the COM
mission Of an error In matrimony. An
ironing out of the difficulties should
always be possible. and probably would
be If common sense and reason were
applied instead Of idiotic behavior and
inexcusable quarrels, which invariably
lead to more bad feeling than already
exists. But for two people who marry
with an unbridgeable misunderstanding
deliberately created by one of the
contracting parties, there can be only
a feeling Of contempt. Such situation
is made even more unworthy Of SYM
pathy if parenthood Is added to the
equation.
It is the latter sort Of marriage to
which the author Of Little Friend" de-
votes his attention, making the little
daughter Of the nl-assorted pair the
heroine. Felicitas Tagman is twelve years
scious of her surroundings her world
has been largely made up of listening
to a succession OF quarrels between her
mother and father. Josepha Arntner
beautiful daughter of an Austrian
aristocratic family, was the victim o1
an arranged marriage. Having lost
everything but its name. the family
Arntner looks upon Karl Tagman, q
successful and wealthy Jewish merchant
as q salvation from the ignominy Of
poverty and disgrace. He is 30 Com
pletely IN love with his beautiful wife
that It ID some time after his marriage
before he realizes that he has been
used, and badly used, by his aristocratic
in-laws.
TO learn that his wife has married
him to rescue her brother from a
scandal and her family from financial
ruin does not produce happy state OF
mind In any man. To Karl Tagman II
was a bitter blow Except for his
money, his wife and her elegant family
held him in contempt because Of his
race and the social position to which
a tradesman is relegated. His own
family has been cstracised by them, ex-
cept that Felicitas is permitted once
q week to call upon "papa's father" and
have tea.
As II these thorns were not enough
to force upon the brow Of the IN
fortunate man, his wife engages in an
unsavory liaison with Q man Of ques-
tionable repute. who possesses nothing
to recommend him save q set Of good
manners which give him the appearance
Of q gentleman. There are telephone
calls, trysts and even q fake marriage
to further complicate matters that are
already hopelessly bad. with Karl Tag
mans violent outbursts Of temper
thrown in for good measure.
family Of moderate or poor means would
most assuredly possess q goodly sup
ply Of sound common sense, and she
would Just as surely use it. She would
suffer intensely In the same conditions
which enveloped little Felicitas, but she
would instinctively know how to meet
and how to handle her end Of the
situation. Any child who Is given q
fair chance to use its brain Is not only
q philosopher, but q source Of wis
dom and courage. But Felicitas is, un-
t tS h.ssbesn protected e and chap.
eroned sand guided into q channel SC
narrow that she does not know there
Is Q world outside Of her limited sur
roundinSs. She has all the fnquisitive-
ness which every normal child thrivel
upon, but her questions 60 unanswered
because ahe Is too young to under
stand" or mot old enough to talk about
such things" and . dozen other ''toc
young" and mot old enough" applica-
lions Of: adult idiocy which spurns the
extraordinary understanding tnheren,
in children.
with her heart aching unbearably and
her health breaking under the strain
of an unhappiness too complex for her
unframed mind to fathom, Felicitas
undertakes to get rid Of all Of the din
cultiB which make for stormy scenes
between her parents. Her plans are
Of course. irrational and stupid. In one
afternoon she stirs up more hornets
could manage successfully IN . week
To her immature way OF thinking her
cause Is q noble one, and therefore
noble deeds are needed to bring about
an end Of suffering. But nobleness Il
dimcult to create In an individual a.
characterless as Frau TAgman, and
there is little ground for supposing that
there could ever be any justification for
trying to bring to an orderly and happy
existence q union 20 grossly unfair to
the finer half.
As 20 frequently happens when there
V but one child In m unhappy family,
the girl u bltndly devoted to her mother
The suffering Of her father, 30 plainly
evident on several occasions, leaves her
almost coldly Indifferent. He Is always
wrong, and her mother Is never wrong
However pushed and panied she Is by
the queer performances which 60 on
around her and onto which she
stumbles, Felicitas d unshaken In her
beNef that her beautiful mother is per-
feet. Divorce, In the circumstances
means that she would be given to her
father. She doesn't hate him, but she
certainly does not love him. Her efforts
to bring about . reconciliation are,
therefore, mainly to prevent the tragedy
of separation from the idolised parent.
The characters which give the book
its really worthwhile merit are Leopold
Placht. Grand boy for his confectioner
father and proletarian to the marrow;
Herr Placht, who Is also Socialist mem
Der Of Parliament; Herr Tagman,
father Of Karl, and Karl himself. These
are all lovable. steadfast and worthy
representatives Of their respective types
This novel has been proclaimed in
Germany as fulfillment OF the promise
which the author displayed in several
earlier novels. Perhaps the readers In
his own land and in his own tongue
have truly found 1t 20, but from the
English or American point Of view II
falls far short Of being great either
in theme or in the manner Of handling
it. The translation is very bad I'm spots,