Evening star., 1935-05-12

portant characters are his daughter
Janet, always fearful of what her
father will do and for his safety; Sir
Harold ROSCroft, magnate Of large
iron and steel factory; his son Neville,
in love with Janet. Violence comes in
the wake of the hunger marchers.
Leyland and Sir Harold find them
selves in opposition, and this compli-
Gates the love affair of their chill
dren. In the climax of the violence
Adam, viewed with suspicion by those
he is trying to help, becomes their
victim. They understand unyielding,
hard opposition like that of Sir Har-
old, but not sympathy from one Of
their class The book shows knoWl-
edge of English social problems and
does not make the mistake of too
much subordination of the personal
story of the chief characters.
THE ART OF HAPPINESS. BY John
Cowper Powys. New York: Simon
g. Schuster.
HAPPINESS, according to Mr..
- Powys, is not loftily philosoph-
ical thing, dependent on the ability to
keep contented mind, free from
worry. He admits as contributors to
happiness all sorts of small things, Of
physical things, such as the leading
Greek philosophers, even Epicurus,
would not have thought of mention
ing-food, tea. coffee, cigarettes, news
papers, looking nice" love-making.
In another group of happiness-makers
are books, reveries (that depends on
the reverie), walks in the country, in
spring glimpses of nature, work which
one loves. Mr. Powys has in his pre-
vious books Of philosophical tinge,
The Meaning Of Culture" "A Philos-
ophy of Solitude" and In Defense of
Sensuality,' warned readers that his
treatment of these important abstrac-
tions will always be pragmatic, not
theoretical. Yet he considers happi-
ness as something entirely different
from pleasure. not by-product. but
an end in itself. In every chapter Mr..
Powys throws out challenging ideas,
which stir thought if they do not
bring agreement for example that
men fear life more than do women,
that men are more imaginative than
women, that the better philosopher
you are the less will you hope" that
our conscience should rise in indigna-
ton at our submission to misery. He
believes that our thoughts are more or
less under our own control and claims
to speak with authority because his
own mind dwells SO constantly on
the verge Of certain terrible manias"
Readers of his Autobiography" will
recall some of these, certainly terrible
enough. His prescription for the Sc
curing of happiness Is to snatch it
from the flowing of time" Mr.. Powys'
philosophy of happiness will prove
stimulus to many; others will still
prefer Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus,
some teacher Of Yoga, or even Annie
Payson Call.
BELOW LONDON BRIDGE. BY H.
M. Tomlinson. Pictured by H.
Charles Tomlinson. New York:
Harper & Bros.
THIS is not the first time that H.
M. Tomlinson has written of the
stretches of the Thames and the
bridges which span that historic river.
He has already made use of some of
his intimate knowledge Of the docks
and warehouses, sailors taverns and
shops and all the diverse shipping of
the Thames water front in Gallons
Reach" London River" "Tidemarks"
and several other books. This most
recent one, with its artistic illustra-
tions. is the result Of tour of ex-
ploration In the company Of his son
along the dockland which had long
since fascinated Dickens and Whistler
The journey was not limited strictly
| to the area indicated by the titise The