Evening star., 1934-02-18

Germany. Those who are inclined to think
Frank II. Simonds too peSsimistic in his
prophecies IN his books and newspaper articles.
of another World War in the not-distant fu-
ture should read what Spengler, whose In
duence In Germany Is considerable, says: mo
one can have looked forward to the national
revolution of this year with greater longing
than myself. The sordid revolution Of 1918 !
detested from It's first day, for II was the
betrayal by the inferior part of our people of
1914 IN the belief that it could and would have
future. We need educating up to
the Prussian standard, which manifested itself
in 1870 and 1914 and still sleeps in the depths
Of our soul as . permanent potentiality.
We stand, It may be. close before second
World War. unable to gauge the distribution
of forces or to foresee its means or aims
Germany Is the key country OF the world, not
only on account Of her geographical situation
on the borders Of Asia but also be-
cause Germans are still young enough to ex-
perience world historical problems; to form
them and solve them. inwardly, while other
nations have become too old and rigid to do
more than raise defenses.r
The present deplorable situation Of the world
Is, according to Spenglef, due neither to the
World War, nor the capitalist system. nor In
dustr1alism. nor over-production. All these
are superncdahties. The real force undermin-
ing cdvtlt1ation Is the democracy which has
been growing for over two centuries "the neaa-
tion Of every kind OF authority" A republic
Is only the ruin Of q monarchy which has not
been able to maintain itself. Most sinister Of
al the IDEAL OF nation governed by ITSELF
nation cannot, Of course. govern itself any,
more than an army can lead itself-st has to
% governed and as long rs 1t possesses healthy
instincts. 1t likes to be governed" Spengler's
theory Of government is one of the three
possible ones described by Aristotle In his po-
Ht1cAl philosophy-monarchy, aristocracy
c0mMf0nWAnlth N q
or democracy can lead only to the ruin Of the
state. His concept Of the state a. an entity
definite organism, apart from the individuals
who compose 1t, Is not new one and Is one
particularly congenial to the German mind.
In 1851 Johann Kaspar Bluntschn published
the first part Of his Theory Of the Modern
State" In which he pointed out the weakness
OF authority and the danger Of regarding
quantity rather than quality In q democracy
and that one Of the important ends Of the
state Is the development of external power.
Speneier sees the crushing depression as
purely and simply the result Of the decline OF
state power" and return to Caesarism (0er-
man Caesarism), as the way Of salvation for
the future. "The Hour Of Decision" like "The
Decline Of the West" Is loaded With con-
trovessy, but 1t Is . book no intelligent reader
win md dull. s-.' =
ULYSSES. BY James Joyce. New YORK:
Random House 8. -. .isss,e ~
NR. JOSEPH COLLINS IN his book Of essays.
- The Doctor Looks at Literature" (ls23),
says that he Is probably the only person, with
the exception of Joyce himself. who has ever
read ~UlyMes" through twice, from cover to
cover, and implies that his only reason for
doing % was that he Is psychologists inter-
ested in abnormal mental states. Now that
Judge Woclsey has lifted the ban from
"U1ypoes- and in his judicial decisd0n
has given his opinion that Il s : ~an-
care and honest book, It win undoubtedly
have many more readers, but perhaps no more
Who VIII read II through from beginning to
end It = TO be feared that : majority win
turn IL many pages driven BY curiosity, to
md the parts which caused . frovnine eov-
ernnAent 70 refuse II admission to tie United
9tates. Some win, however, be willing to de-
vote 70 Il enough time to become acquainted
with the technique Of Joyce and 70 attempt to
discOver what he means to convey about life
through his record Of the thoughts and activ-
itiess of Stephen Dedalus. temperamental
1rishnan (uade In the image Of sJoyce).
Leopold Bioom. Irish Hungarian Jew, his wife.
Marion Bloom, and Buck Mulligan, medical
student, during period Of less than ~ hours.
Understanding Of Ulysses. would Be facili-
tated By . reading Of >Joyce's earlier auto
Biographical book, "A Portrait OF the Artist IS
. Young Man" Helpful also Is the knowledge
that the odyssey" has always been one Of
Joycess favorite books Another preliminary Is
the realization that In the Dublin Of ulysses"
Joyce, Dubliner, epitomizes the world. IN the
attempt to grasp the inner meaning ofsUlysses"
no resort 70 literary tradition is possible. Joyce
has no literary ancestors-neither Thackeray
nor Dickens Meredith nor Hardy. though per-
haps Dostoievski stands in some relation Of
hnship. Joyce Is the creator Of . new tradition,
which has its followers. Whether or not it is
enduring in literary history, It win never be