Evening star., 1935-08-21
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Moygarst Cermond.
TINES DOOR. BY Esther Meynen.
New York: The Macmillan Co.

It Is the privilege Of genius to live In
q world apart, to think and to move In
. realm of its own creation. wherein the
individual Is master of his own course
of conduct and is unhampered in his
beliefs by the restrictions and prejudices
of conventionalism. It has often been
said that all genius is the product Of o
little madness. The layman unques-
tioningly grants 1t to be true. Yet II
genius were given full opportunity to
express its opinion of those possessed
Of lesser gifts, would not the answer
very likely be that they also were 0
little mad?
Generations Of .conventionalized and
institutionalized civilization have mar
rowed rather than broadened the vision
of the layman. leaving little room for
understanding the whims and fancies
OF those whose response to inspirational
emotions carries them beyond the
bounds of regulated thought and action.
Fantastic such lives may seem to unini-
tiated mortals, but there can be no mad
ress in the spiritual experiences through
which genius gives to the world its Gre
atoms of beauty and its interpretations
of the intangible universe.
The spiritual experiences Of a young
violinist, . genius in the making. form
the foundation of this somewhat pic
turesque novel Of two ages in the world
of music The author is an accom-
plished musician as well as a popular
writer in England, and Bach Is her
favorite composer This is her second
novel on the Bach theme, though the
{oiv, ,at
note in plot and character treatment.
Two ages of music, separated by a CEN
tury, merge in the personality OF Gio-
vanni Cavatini, and the great masters
from Bach to Paganini live again amid
the scenes of their triumphs and their
trials.
Giovanni is the son Of famous Ital-
ian violinist and q German girl who
never becomes attuned to life in Rome.
The daughter Of renowned Leipzig
musician, she has a profound knowledge
Of the masters and OF the art and an
unshakable belief in the superiority Of
German composers and OF Bach in
particular. From the earliest age of un-
derstanding she has instilled in her
son a love for the great master. The
mixture Of italian and German blood
gives him a clearer conception Of both
schools than either Of his parents pos
sesses.
Cavatini the elder had been q pupil Of
the noted Paganini, and fate, through
an exceptionally difficult route. DEGREES
that Giovanni also shall fall under the
tutelage of the eminent violinist. Then
the death Of her husband makes it
possible for Greda to return to her
native Leipzig and live again among
her own people. Bach has by this time
become q passion with young Giovanni,
and. through the inheritance Of q COL
lection Of letters written century ear
lier by an ancestor who had studied
under Bach and lived in his house, the
boys feeling Of kinship with his idol
suffuses his being with q new sense OF
oneness, significant and overwhelming.
Times door opens to him and leads
him back a hundred years. He feels
the presence Of the great composer. sees
him, speaks with him and is guided by
him at times and in places Of unexpected
nearness. The family and the home of
Bach become familiar to him in these
spasdomic visions, yet he cannot by his
own will summon them from their dead
past. He falls in love with Bachs daugh.
ter and knows that this love will sustain
him through all Of the trials and sue
cesses Of the material world in which
he lives.
In this wise two ages are welded into
one. Fantastic though the theme may
be, there are still romanticists whose
inner knowledge Of the spiritual forces
that inspire mankind to strive for beauty
infuses a belief in its plausibility. Mrs.
Meynell is one Of these.
49, y
sEEDTIME AND HARVEST. BY Eleanor
Blake. New York: G. P. Putnam's
Sons.
OF the earth earthly Is the story Of Else,
daughter Of q large Norwegian family in
the rich farmlands Of part Of that vast
territory to which the Scandinavian i'm
migrants have contributed wealth OF
romance making material for popular
and serious fiction.
There is little Of the unusual about
this girl and her life except that she
represents q type and also the figure
who In theory is woman universal. Else
is budding into young womanhood as the
story opens. She hates the Michigan
farm and the hardships which its end
less work demand of youth and ambi-
ton. She Is eager for life and for
association with those whose activities
and experiences have spread outward
from the limited area Of neighborhood
She has a sister who has married and
gone to California to live and who has
sent her a handsome sum to cover the
expenses OF q visit, where there are
many eligible young men seeking capable
wives and where long. bitter Winters
are unknown. She plans to tell heI
family of her great good fortune only
when she Is ready to 60.
Youth and the Summer moon con-
spire to thwart the realization Of Else's
rosy dream. just as they have changed
the courses of many lives since the
beginning of time. She marries q
clumsy, kindly farm hand instead, and
Immediately hates him for having won
against her determination to leave for.
ever the unceasing toll exacted by the
soil in toll for its fruition. Two per-
sonalities develop, antagonists for SUI
premacy in her soul. BY turns bitter
ness and resentment are superseded by
affection and tenderness toward her hus'
band and her life.
Eventually Else and Martin find in
each other the contentment and happi-
ness for which all humanity strives, but
only by long, laborious road do they
reach the end of the rainbow. The
story is a pleasing one, overflowing with
the homely philosophy that emanates
| from the uncultured knowledge of those