Evening star., 1934-07-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margwss Csrmon&.


Merrill Co.
/ Professor Erskine tells q story, and
in the telling brings to the minds OF
men and women of constructive vision
a confirmation of the growing con-
viction that the educational structure
/ In this country, erected upon a verita-
BILE honeycomb OF impractical theoret-
| ical foundations. will eventually be-
( come too weak to support its top
/ heavy load and collapse. The author
does not. of course. make any such
/ dire prediction. II is possible that he
would bitterly resent the suggestion
that his novel presents any basic
/ thought for such a conclusion. But
: therein lies the widening diff
/ ference of opinion between the alb
stract idealism Of the educator and
/ the practical mind of the layman.
Mr.. Erskine Is thoroughly acquaint-
! ed with college boys. He has spent
/ the greater part of his life among
! them. Judging their abilities, recogniE-
( ing their shortcomings, cultivating
/ their friendship and their confidence,
and giving them OF his sympathetic
understanding a share more abundant
than far too many fathers ever ac-
ouire for the sons whose preparation
! for the assumption of life's obliga-
tions they intrust to others. In q
/ predatory note he acknowledges that
/ affection for these boys and a warm
regard for the human average
prompted the writing Of this story Of
Alec Hamilton.
Alec represents the average Ameri-
can college boy. The story of his
! life at Columbia during those four
important years supposedly devoted to
! the business OF acquiring a degree.
and which also mark the period Of
transition from youth to manhood, is
| typical OF that Of the thousands of
Alecs who at the close Of each college
year find themselves facing an eco
nomic world in which their coveted
sheepskins figure at a low value.
The son of moderately wealthy
parents, Alec enters college without
even a vague conception of future am
bitions for which he must prepare
! himself. His father wants him to
study law, but Alec feels that It Is for
tunately only his fathers idea that
he should become a lawyer and not
his own. In the first two months he
has acquired nothing except a load Of
debt, a new first name, a surplus of
rushing by the various fraternity
groups and an invitation to the week
end dance of the house to which he
has finally become pledged.
AS the story opens Alec is dressing
for the dance. carefully scrutinizing
and appraising the good and bad
| points Of his physical appearance,
meditating half aloud upon the de-
ficiencies of colleges in general. and
| indulging in lofty day-dreamS about
the noble, If misty, contributions Of
intellectual wisdom that he will, four
years hence, give to a benighted
world. At the entrance to the dance
floor Alec encounters his first collision
with life, in the form Of an implacable
door man who declines to grant him
admission when he can produce
neither a ticket nor two dollars.
From that moment to the end of his
college days Alec's record Is made up
of a series of checkered collisions with
life that far outnumber his collisions
with text books and class rooms. His
! entrance to the ball room Is nego-
tiated by his intimate friend, Tom
Illings, who guides him TO an igno-
minious admission through an OBJ
scure window, after extracting .
promise from Alec that he will devote
himself to dancing with Gladys, who
turns out to be the usual college
widow. Then Alec meets Mimi. red
haired, and the most beautiful girl he
has ever seen. He falls madly in love
with her. gets into q variety Of dificul-
| ties because of her and becames en-
| gagged to her before the orchestra drifts
into the strains Of Home, Sweet
| Home"
Love at nineteen is a dangerous NAL
ady, likely to prove fatal to the normal
mental development OF the student
Alecs, unless by some good fortune
circumstances change and they are
compelled to earn their education and
their honors through their own ef-
| forts. Alec'S father goes bankrupt
and for while he attempts to earn
his way by washing glasses in res
taurant, but unfortunately for him
he is heir to q small legacy and the
: CAPCl hOCo AAOb Aeot AOAAk
to do him any good.
1t would not be fair to let the i'm
preston remain that Alec is an utter
ly worthless and unadmirable char
acter. He is in fact a likable fellow,
clean of mind, generous of spirit In
! everything except his jealous passion
| for Mimi, and sincerely honest in his
belief that he will eventually be q
man of noble attainments. He has
all of the virtues and many OF the
| faults of the new youth. He may be
bit too perfect in some respects, but
| judging him from the view point Of
an outsider looking in, he is an ex-
cellent example of the average prod
uct of the institutions Of higher learn
ing. And it is the average and not the
exceptional student that Mr.. Erskine
presents in these pages.
Occasionally Alec is impelled to
study. He learns to know and like
some Of his professors, and he dis
covers that they are human beings.
His selection Of subjects is dictated
largely by his admiration for those
who conduct the classes. His interest
finally centers in the Renaissance,
and it is through contact with his
associates under Prof. Barth that
Alec learns his first real lesson in
human values.
There is no dearth Of entertainment
in this splendid story, for Alec is
taken through all of the experiences
which any boy could have during his
college career. In addition to his
haphazard struggles for a degree, he
enters into every phase of the life
around him. There are the solemnly
absurd pranks of the students. the
dances and the rites and ceremonies
conducted in the name of the fra
ternities. There are experiences on
the foot ball team and with the glee
club, visits during the Summer to the
homes of classmates, questionable ex-
cursions in search of a good time and
all the rest of the thrills to which
college boys are rightly entitled.
Through some providential agency
unrecognized by Alec. he graduates
and goes home to find job. He has