Evening star., 1934-08-29
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
M1gues Cermond.
THE BRASS KNOCKER. BY Edward
Rathbone. New York: D. Apple
t0n-Centllrv Co

Rathbone. New York: D. Apple
ton-Century Co.
In the reading Of this extraordinary
novel an old thought, perhaps not in
| the least original, often entertained IN
meditation upon the peculiar behavior
of the human race, returned vividly to
mind. Suppose it were possible to
| gather under one roof the great think
! erS, philosophers and teachers of all
ages and all races and to hear them
relate and prove, before a more en-
lightened civilization, the righteous
ness of the beliefs for which they we're
subjected TO shameful persecution ard
in some instances put to death as
criminals and impostors.
The codes Of law, of honor and of
religion upon which the customs of
every tribe and race of people IN the
world blessed with written language
are based include in some measure
the teachings Of all of those intel
lectuals against whom men of lesser
knowledge and wisdom have since the
beginning of the era of individual
thought been prone to hurl the charge
Of unorthodoxy. Yet those martyrs in
the cause of more noble interpreta-
ton and understanding of the moral
and spiritual inclinations and aSpira-
tionS Of mankind have become i'm
mortal, while their slanderers and de-
famers have sunk into oblivion.
Upon the tenets of one of the great
thinkers who was so unorthodox as to
interpret sin and holiness as not true
contradictories, but as compliments of
one another, the author of this inter-
esting and highly commendable novel
has erected a structure of substantial
and enduring quality. In further de-
fense of the theory that sin and
holiness are compliments of each
other. whose natural pugnacities have
been mischievously fostered, the ex-
FOUNDER proceeds:
They have been bred. fed. trained
and equipped with lethaI spurs like
fighting cocks for public conflict.
egged on to battle when in no mood
for it, made to persist when weary,
and forced to perish or prevail in
quarrel not their own and which they
never started. To say of sin that it is
selfish and thinks of nothing but its
own pleasures is surely beside the
mark. For what can seem more selfish
than the holiness which forsakes
father, mother, wife, children and
breaks every family and friendly tie
In order to procure that which it puts
before all? Men pursue sin for the
same reason that they pursue holiness;
either for the pleasure they hope to
find in 1t or the advantage they hope
to reap from it, and both alike are
liable to disappointment. Holiness does
not always find peace, nor sin pleasure
whilst neither gets that profit which
can sometimes reconcile the worst men
to the best. and the best men to the
worst. of causes
| X Il
A picturesque provincial town, de-
picted with precision, is an ideal set
ting for events which in a large city
would more than likely receive no
more attention than the recording of
the facts by q duly delegated repre-
sentative of the law. The advent of a
stranger in this small community.
where holiness is represented by the
bells Of st. Gargoyle's and sin by a
freshly painted, cleanly kept house
with highly polished brass knocker.
is q matter of mild interest, but an
occasion destined to develop rapidly
into stirring drama.
Having been sumptuously fed and
1mpressively informed by the head
waiter at the Archangel of the re-
spectability. dignity, tradition and
exclusive character of that excellent
hostelry, the stranger makes his de-
parture in search of an evenings en-
tertainment. Eventually he finds his
| way to The Brass Knocker, where
unforeseen developments bring about
his sudden death. The occupants of
the dwelling cannot afford to risk
their safety by letting it be known
that he died in their establishment,
so his body is removed in the most
awkward OF circumstances and planted
In another part of the town.
Three other men are guests in the
attractive and always quiet house with
the brass knocker, each of them a
mighty respectable and esteemed menu
Der of the community. One is a COL
lege student, who selected a night on
which kindly fog would screen his
movements from public view. One is
an old man, a member of the Council,
whose regular evening turn into the
! dark and dingy street is preceded by
a careful survey to insure against OBJ
Servance. The third is a young man
of wealth and social position who
cares nothing about prying eyes and
wagging tongues.
Caught in the trap of unsavory cir
cumstance so unwittingly sprung by
the stranger, these three face a battle
for self-preservation which each must
fight, and fight to win. The fears
which beset them, the emotional and
spiritual reactions they suffer, the
maneuvers in which they engage, and
the evasionS of truth necessary to
escape from dishonorable accusations
of which they are not guilty bring the
story to its logical and forceful con-
clusion
The characters are the varied and
interesting types familiar in every
town where acquaintance is universal,
individual conduct is a matter of
common knowledge and the line of
distinction between holiness and sin
is too broad and straight to permit
acceptance of the belief that Provi-
| dence has need of the worst as well
as the best of mortal beings, and
that, however low they may sink, some
loftier cause may be furthered by
their sinking.
For the righteous and the I'M
righteous the work invites the mark
ing of many passages to be returned
to with profit. But the self-righteous
will find in its pages nothing to their
liking.
Siege of Minneapolis Cost