Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-06-10


repeated again and again to the
end of time. Thomas Mann has gone far
down into that past, to the beginning OF
the history of the Hebrews, when Abraham
departed out of Ur of the Chaldees to go into
the land of Canaan. and has begun the elabora-
ton of the Old Testament story in this first
part of what is to be monumental novel OF
very ancient history. The period OF Abraham
is placed by most modern historians as about
14O0 BIC, in the middle Egyptian empire and
the first Babylonian dynasty. Obscurity con-
nected in their origins with ancient and de-
PRAYED cultures, such those of Babylonia and
Persia, the Hebrews nomadic or semi-nomadic
people, developed a unique monotheistic reli-
gion, in reaction against contemporary re-
hgions. yet having much in common with
them. So In his fctional treatment of the
lives of Isaac and Jacob in this volume Thomas
Mann shows them and their followers as con-
tinually confusing the religion Of Jehovah. or
Ya-we, with the religions of Egyptian and Chal-
daean deit1eS.
In the prelude full Of Oriental mysticism
and symbolism, Mann shows the young Joseph
undergoing instruction from Eleazar Joseph
was q mere lad when his mother, the delicate
Rachel, unequal to the one Unsuitable duty Of
the Hebrew woman, child bearing. died in
giving birth to his brother Benjamin. or Be-
noni, "Son Of the Dead" the darling Of Jacobs
old age The story then goes back to the youth
OF jacob ana MS DrOtNcI Eau anu ulCklUS
of their blind old father. Isaac by their mother.
Rebecca, In favor of Jacob. Because of the
hostility Of Esau incurred through this. Jacob
was obliged to nee from home and went back
to the Aramaean tribe of his ancestry and be-
came shepherd apprentice to his uncle Laban.
Jacob was the typical pastoral nomad; Esau
the Bedouin hunter. Twenty years in all he
served Laban, seven for each Of his wives, the
sore-eyed ungraceful. unloved but fruitful
aoh nd he frai1 lOvod Rachel Then
rich in hocks and herds. Jacob, who was to
hive into his 106th year, returned to Palestine
and settled in Canaan. On the journey Ben
jamin was born and Rachel died. Here this
volume Of the story ends.
In Joseph and His Brothers Mann has at
tempted Q genre entirely different from his
other work From the Old Testament nara
tive, with the aid Of much Rabbinical lore,
various Oriental mythologies and a dash of
Ffeudian psychology, he has tried to create q
realization Of the history of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob and Joseph as that Of ordinary humanity.
That it is q rather low grade of humanity is
not surprising when We consider the period Of
the worlds development number of things
impress US in the story, which lacks even the
degree Of reserve obtaining In the Old Tesla
ment, chief among them the sensualty and the
frequency Of trickery among these ancient peo-
pie. In the evidence he gives about pastoral
life. marriage customs, traditions and beliefs,
Thomas Mann has made contribution to the
study of comparative religion and social an
thropology similar to that Of Frazer in ''The
Golden Bough," but of course more limited in
scope As fiction, Joseph and His Brothers"
will certainly not have the appeal for modern
readers of his two great earlier novels Bud
denbrooks," the story of the rise and decline
through several generations of North German
commercial family, and THE Magic Mountain"
the story of mental deterioration accompanying
physical disease in tuberculosis sanitarium in
Switzerland
I, CLAUDIUS. BY Robert Graves. New York:
Harrison Smith g. Robert Haas
[ HISTORICAL fiction or fictionized biography?
] The slant is probably toward the former,
but it Is such enthralling story of the
imperial Roman family degenerate in almost
every imaginable way, that readers will turn
Immediately to some bulky history to check
up the facts. The reign of T1berius Claudius
Drllsus Nero GermaniCuS. popularity called the
idiot" the stammerer' or poor Uncle
Claudius" extended A. D. 4154, following
that Of Cahgula and preceding that of Nero
whose unsavory career began somewhat earlier
than it might have done because his mother
the poison expert Agrippina, experimental
with some inedible mushrooms on Claudius,
whose fourth spouse she was. Claudius was
writer and among his lost works is listed an
autobiography, which Mr. Graves has in mag
ination reconstructed. So his story Is effec-
lively told in the first person. Claudus, in re-
vealing his thought when the news of Calig-
ulas death reaches him and he knows that
he Is Emperor, is made to say: II was think
ing so, I'm Emperor, am I? What nonsense!
But at least I'll be able to make people read
my books now"
The family tree of the imperial family is
appended to the story. in which and in the
whole narrative of Claudius the Caesars ap-
pear much like Forsytes or Herries or even
Smiths and Browns with the execution that