The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-12-24

T LITERATURE like other phases of con-
IL temporary culture, reflects the social
crisis and the class lineup within society.
considerable group Of charming styllsts writes
on pleasant themes for the entertainment or dis
traction of the leisure class. Little is said about
the more seamy and unlovely aspects OF the
contemporary scene.
Then we have another group of descriptive
reaists reporters of the actual social situation
who have recalled the struggle which is going
on in contemporary society without telling us
what should be done about it all. Perhaps the
leader of this group is Sinclair Lewis Finally
We have an ever growing group OF frankly pro-
letarian writer's who use literature as the We
hicle for eXpoundlng the class struggle and the
social revolution.
Professors Brewster and Burrell devote most
of their clear and helpful book to a survey Of
literature of the first type, though there is
good brief chapter on recent proletarlan fic-
ton But writer's like Lewis, Dresser, Sherwood
Anderson and the like are conspicuous by their
absence. For the writer's who are covered AoW-
ever, notably GiSsing, Conrad Lawrence Vir-
ginia Wolf and Gide the volume presents an
Illuminating and highly interesting analysis.
DR. ALVIN JOHNSON of the New School for
- Social Research says of Professor Dorfman's
work on Thorstein Veblen that it is Not only
the most adequate biography that was ever writ
ten Of an American scholar, but contribution
Of very high order to the intellectual history
Of America"
A reading of the volume is likely to convince
one that this high praise is thoroughly merited.
Veblens life constitutes a most valuable il
Illuminating crosS-section of the social, intellectual
and academic history of the United States He
passed from a Western frontier farm to the
ldolatry OF lntellectualS in the metropolis Of
America. His educational experience encom-
passed evangelical colleges, distinguished centers
of learning in the East the University of Chicago,
the University of Missouri and Stanford Univer-
sity.
He was, during his lifetime, the foremost
critic of conventional and respectable academic
economic theory. He did more than any other
American to transform the study of economics in
this country from sterile pecuniary logic to a
fruitful examination Of actual economic life and
institutions.
II his later life, he allied himself with the
revolt against conventional universities which
was embodied in the establishment of the New
School for Social Research in New York City,
While there he developed a line of thought which
made him the intellectual godfather of the re-
cent technocracy movement.
a almost morbidly retiring and self-effacing
n personality he became towering figure in
American social and economic thought. Sheer
admiration for his ability led scholars, many
Of whom were personal strangers, to secure his
election as president of the American Economic
Association an honor which Veblen with char
acteristic diffidence declined
He was by both race and achievement a
true Viking in the intellectual life of the United
States. Mr.. Dorfman has done full justice to
the unique personality whose life he has chron-
icled
Mr. Strachey, we'll known as one of the out
standing intellectuals in contemporary Commu-
niSm, presents a brief argument in behalf of
the thesis that the only vital literature of the
future must be that which is motivated primar-
lily by devotion to the class struggle and the
social revolution
He devotes himself chiefly to recent Amer
lean writer's, criticising those who minister to
the leisure class or are too timid in their
Marxism. He finds most to his liking the i'm
portant work of Granville Hicks on the Great
Tradition" resolute and intelligent appraisal
of recent American literature based upon full
and uncompromising apprehension of the reality
of the class struggle.