Evening star., 1935-02-17

NiNCENl SHEEAI>, Az nOh
Wet prisons and with G. P. U. methods
Of mental and physical torture con-
stitute flrSt-hand evidence of a kind
not to be denied. The gufferings of
Nine. Ponafidine and Countess Tol-
stoi, less in degree, fit into the same
picture. Some of the means en-
ployed to force false confessions or
to extort suspected money from pris-
oners were the wet cell, the lice cell,
the "conveyor" (the forcing of prison.
ers to run continuously for hours past
changing G. P. U. officers. who
shouted at them abuse and obsceni-
ties). The author himself, who re-
fused to the end to confess what was
demanded, was threatened with exc
cution and taken to the death CELL
but by that time he had come to care
little whether he died then or later
of starvation and filth. He tells tragic
stories of the abuse of feeble OLD
people, of the usual fate of women in
concentration camps. of sadism mani
tested by most officials. The maxim,
Never trust the examiner" was
passed from prisoner to prisoner and
was always reliable. Prof. Tcherna-
win says that he tells his story in
| order to discharge a moral obliga-
tion to speak for the thousands of
educated men and women who "are
still languishing in the filthy cells
OF the G. P. U. prisons and in the
cold barracks of the concentration
camps, poorly clad and starving.
breaking with exhaustion under the
hardships of inhuman slavery"
THE BIRTHDAY. BY Samuel Rog-
ers. Boston: Little, Brown g. Co.
THE story Of Katherine Wilder's life
until she is "a is told by Mr..
Rogers in terms of three parties-the
dinner and dance given for her by her
Uncle Austin, when she is 20; her
wedding, and the birthday party given
for her by her friend Molly when
she is "a. At the first party she has
already tasted something of the
thwarting which life offers. She is on
the eve Of departure for world trip
with her Aunt Kitty, but she longs
to stay at home, where she can see
Gabriel, the young musician whom
she loves. Her wedding a few years
later takes place under the shadow of
Americas entry into the World War
Gabriel has already gone to France;
her brother Tim, and Albert, whom she
is marrying, will go in a few days. On
her Gath birthday the pattern of her
life is fixed. but she is the same
dreamy, aloof Katherine, in spite of
her three children and her success
full, reliable husband. At Mollys
party she hears Gabriel play and
meets him again for a few brief mo-
ments, long enough to show her that
his charm. for her remains the same
as ever, but that it must always be
only the charm of a dream.
Mr.. Rogers. winner of the Atlantic
fiction prize for 1884, with his novel,
Dusk at the Grove" has again To-
Gated his story in Rhode Island, in
Providence and at Matunuck, on the
shore. The Wilders might be friends
or relatives OF the Warnings, but Kath-
crime is finer and less egocentric than
Linda, and Albert is less convention
ally SNUG than Thornton. From the
repetition Of the matrimonial situa-
tion, it seems that Mr.. Rogers has
little liking for the self-satisf1ed, sue
cesSful business man, who Is rather
scornful of other occupations than his
own, who speaks patronizingly of
"the teaching game" and "the writ
ing game" and that he is very par
tial to the erratic, artistic lover, whose
spell he does not altogether succeed
In conveying to the reader. Gabriel
is, however, far more real and Vi
brating person than Joel in Dusk at
the Grove" Mr.. Rogers draws de-
lightful children. Pat, in the earlier
novel, was perfect child of romance.
Sedate Kate. always working out some
idea in her mind; impish Maggie and
her twin, delicate, excitable Tim, are
more faulty in their frequent quar-
rels and nearer to the average of
childhood. If there is any just criti-
ciSm Of the skilful way in which is
developed the narrative of decade
and half in the lives Of group of
interesting people, 1t is that the details
Of the three parties are a trifle re-
dundant-the costumes, the flower ar
rangements, the food and drinks, the
comings and goings of guests. In
brief period, by these two novels, Mr..
Rogers has won for himself desir-
able place among American novelists
who choose for their field social
milieu of culture and normal human
interests.
ROAD OF AGES. By Robert Nathan.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
THE epic and tragic theme conceived
by Mr.. Nathan in Road Of Ages"
could have been developed into as
colossal q novel as Tolstoi's "War and
Peace" Victor Hugo's Lies Miser-
ables," or Ladislas Reymont's THE
Peasants" We are inclined to find
fault with him that he did not seize
his opportunity, for he must have
seen it, of creating many-branched
narrative of race revival, drawing its
inspiration from the Old Testament.
But MIR. Nathan's genius is of more
delicate type, more at home with
fantasy and individual pathos than
r1a{c