Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-06-10
04 SARAH BOWERMAN
Thomas ManuS Ne7v Novel, '.)oseph and
His Brothers, THE Recovery Program
and Books About Russia.

their news to what they know will not be dis
pleasing to the dictatorship of the proletariat
they are subjected to continuous persecution.
''sThe result is that news from Russia Is a.
joke. being either provided by men whom long
residence in Moscow has made completely
docile, or whose particular relationship with
the dictatorship of the proletariat puts its
words into their mouths. by men who, while
trying to say more than they can. are forced.
for interested and quite legitimate reasons, to
be discreet"*@In consequence Of all this the
credulous organs of the Left in England
Systematically misinformed about Russia, while
the credulous organs Of the Right, lacking gen.
uine information. make their case against the
dictatorship of the proletariat absurd by over
statement and invention" So may easily
be guessed, Mr.. Muggeridge, after passing
Winter in Moscow, went back to England to
write his book.
He writes about actual people and tells the
truth with some imaginative description and
an effort to conceal identities, out of regard
for the safety of certain individuals. He gives
snapshots of some revolutionaries. pays his re-
spects to "proletarian mysticism" finds the
promised land of heavy and speedy industry
horror piled on horror" and says that the
famine now raging in Russia Is different from
any that has hitherto happened. because it is
organized from within" Mr.. Muggeridge Is
ironical In his outlook. and he expends his
irony almost equally on the Soviet oficials who
are attempting to make the Russian people be-
neve that they like their regime and the i'm
beetle foreign admirers" Of the regime. who run
about with Intourist guides, see what they are
intended to see and chant the praises OF the
dictatorship Of the proletariat" In spite Of the
weakness of the part fiction method applied to
the statement Of facts. Mr.. Muggeridge is evil
IDENTIFY an ardent apostle Of truth as he sees 1t.
OUT OF CHAOS. BY nya luxembourg Trans
lated from the Russian by Alexander Bak-
shy New York: Henry Holt & Co.
As IMAGINATIVE literature begins to come
n to US from Soviet land We read it with
interest to see what it has to tell Of the new
Russia Iya luxembourg. born in Kiev in
1891, was q political revolutionary from his
high school days In 1908 he was arrested and
shortly after found 1t convenient to leave
Russia. He returned after the revolution but
has recently been living in Paris. "Out of
Chaos" and his earlier novel, street in Mos
cow" are unusually clear-cut stories Of Com
munist Russia, with none Of the difiuseness
Of style and hay philosophy which character
lie so many Russian novels Of the nineteenth
century. The human aspect Of the conflict
between old and new is not obliterated by
political and economic problems. they are
individuals are struggling. eagerly or despond-
emily. hopefully despairingly, to adjust
themselves to a changed social order. The
revolution gave life to some people; others 1t
killed"
The scene of "Out of Chaos" is Kuznetsk,
where the Siberian "taiga," or primeval forest.
Is being conquered in spite of the bitter cold
of Winter and the swarming ferocious midges
of Summer so that giant steel plant may be
constructed. The nearness Of Tomsk, old,
morbund. except for the new studies offered
in its university, furnishes an example Of the
old for contrast with the new industrial city
which is in process of birth. At Kuznetsk,
as Kolka says to Trina, everything Is in
heap; heroism. graft, cruelty. nobleness.
Our constructive work is taking place, not in
q laboratory but in cattle yard. Life today
is so hard, so big that love, too. grows. A
love story, of two men and girl. Is woven
into this chaotic industrial background. There
are many outcroppings of simple human nature
in the story, not of any nationality or political
creed, such as Ovsiannikovas idea of what
makes q successful festival day. "Ovsa nnikova
procured some white -four, butter and eggs.
She said to her husband, TIL make an Easter
cake Ovsiannkov nearly burst with rage.
DO you take this for Easter? 1t is the day Of
the proletariat-a day for the making Of
speeches-not cake Ovsiannikova answered,
Speeches are speeches. but everybody enjoys
a piece of cake. If we have no more Easter
now, then this is the very time to make Easter
cake Ovsiannikov pondered for while, and
said quietly It's pity we have raisins'"
THE GREAT ONE. BY Henry Hart. New