Evening star., 1933-11-01
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.
MANDoA. MANDoA, A Comedy of

MANDOA, MANDOA! A Comedy of
1rrelevance. BY Winifred Holtby. !
New York: The Macmillan Co.
Safi Talal. Lord High Chamberlain of
the Independent Christian Principally
Of Mandoa. Is in a reflective frame of
mind. Back In his native community
after a trip over the mountains to at
tend the coronation In Adds Ababa of
the great King, he is full of discomfort
For in Adds Ababa he has witnessed
and participated in the enjoyment of
the contraptions Of modern civilization
As he stands IN the great public square
| OF Lolagoba, gazing upon scenes which
had been as familiar to his ancestors as
| they are to himself, he is filled with a
sense of dislike for all of it, and in
particular for the famous old cathedral,
| erected SO many generations before his
time that nobody knows its origin or
| its age.
The world and his wife had gathered
| In AbySSinia to witness the pageantry
| and pomp of the coronation celebration.
| The occasion had been considered Of SO
| much Importance that the governments
Of great as well as small nations had
accepted invitations to send representa-
tives to the ceremony, and Talal had
attended in that capacity for Mandoa.
He had ridden in motor cars. lodged in
magnificent modern hotels equipped with
bath rooms and electric lights. seen
American motion pictures, talked over
telephones and witnessed many other
remarkable modern inventions of which
he and his people were ignorant. Be-
sizes, he had participated in an event
which had given him an opportunity to
meet thousands OF people, and ne
liked It,
Talal is a smart man, and a right
eously proud one. And perhaps as he
looks upon the cathedral which he
heretofore had believed to be perfect
and beautiful he is possessed OF
twinge of Jealousy. Into his mind
creepS the thought that II MandOa
could stage an affair that would focus
upon it the attention of the world 1t
would be the means of bringing to his
| people the conveniences and the COM
mercial advantages which the corona
tion had brought to Adds Ababa. He
| dreamed of a great aerodrome, with
! fleet of commercial planes landing from
and taking off to all parts of the world.
Given the airport. the hotel with bath
for every room, palatial motion picture
! houses, electricity, motor cars. radio
and other things would, he felt sure,
follow in a short time.
/ Wlx1C i dAdL Wdo lCACNI4lI6 upOAl eAiSoN
things in far-away Africa the head of
! a wealthy touring agency, who had by
chance heard of the principality, was
discussing the feasibility of sending out
a scout to note the advantage, If any,
| of making Mandoa point of tour for
English travellers seeking something
new. Sir Joseph Prince. head OF
Princes Tours, Ltd. CT London, has al
/ ways been an adventurer. At seventy
five he is as dapper and worldly as any
modern youth, and quite as ready to
engage in any enterprise which prom
ises to be different from anything else
The junior director of Princes Tours
has been given that high honor be-
cause the head of the firm believes that
Maurice Durrant possesses the qualities
Maurice is a coward. He is careful.
judicial in most respects, successful as
a business man, and he has just been
elected to Parliament to represent the
district of North bennington. All his
life, however, he has been jealous Of
his older brother, and since Bill re-
turned from the war broken in health.
cynical, but still brilliant. jealousy has
turned almost into hatred.
Some one is needed to undertake the
trip to Mandoa, and inasmuch as the
lltNly -eItCJcu ultIIlDtI VI Pal
is being persuaded by his mother to
place his unfortunate brother in a
Maurice as the agent for Princes He
goes to Mandoa, meets Talal and the
two become warm friends Bill learns
all about Mandca, and Talal learns a
great deal about Western civilization
and customs They make their plars
to put the little principality on the
map and work begins on the project of
modernizing Lolagoba. Another high
prince of Mandoa, Ma'buta, has other
ideas. The customs Of his people and
of his ancestors must not be changed.
He resents Talals ambitions to turn
Mandoa into a show place, SO he sits
in his camp in the hills and bides his
time to disrupt the royal wedding which
has been planned as an attraction to
tourists, and to bring disaster upon
Talal and all who have supported him.
Back home a fanatic who dislikes
and distrusts Sir Joseph Prince has
begun a vicious movement to expose
him as a wolf in Sleeps clothing, ex-
plotting Mandoa for heavy personal
gains in slave trading. Stirs I'D the
International Humanitarian Associa-
ton of which Jean Stanbury. inti
mate friend of Bill Durrant, is pub
licity director. A commission is named
to go out to make thorough survey
and to institute reforms, boil moral
and religious Right there the fun be-
gins. When social and religious re-
formers get to work In what they pre-
fer to designate as heather lands things
are bound to happen.
BY the time the reform commission
lagoba has materlallzed except for tele-
graph and telephone service. Those
conveniences have failed because cop.
per wires strung today have over night
been turned into neck and arm adorn-
ments ty the natives. Bill Durrant has
done splendid work, and the world at
large has gathered to witness the royal
wedding. Anything may happen, and
just about everything does happen, in
cluding the kidnapping Of the humani-
tartan survey commission.
The story is proclaimed by its author
as a comedy of irrelevance-" 1t Is all
of that and considerably more. 1t pic
lures the political and social chaos of
England in 1882, breadlines, socialist
discomfort and all. It is a satire on the
misdirected energies of reformers and
the blind fanaticiSm of disgruntled
idealists whose struggles for fame and
recognition have been thwarted. 1t tells
the story of almost any small state In
the remote districts of Africa hoping
and seeking for the comforts and the
commercial prosperity which rare travel
ers have indicated that modern nations
! enjoy.
No more fascinating novel has been
produced this season than Miss Holtby's
contribution. Picturesque pageantry.
romance and adventure are combined
J with comedy, tragedy and common
, sense in a tale which expresses every
human emotion from love. to despair
. and describes human endeavors which
range from the lowest form of selfish
ness and fatuosity to deeds Of self-sacr1-
flee and courageous heroism.
Cerard's List Revised.
From the Roanoke Times.
Cera rd