Evening star., 1935-05-26

WHICH resulted III ner QedtH |
Wednesday evening. May 1.
By Sarah B0werman.
I CAME OUT ALIVE. BY Andre
Lwoff Mikhelson. Translated by
Brown & Co.
- o UNFORTUNATE as to be born
an aristocrat in Russia at the
beginning of a period when the
- right of aristocratS to live has
been in question. Andre Mikhel-
son, deprived of his parents, was
thrown as a mere boy into the de-
moralization of the Bolshevist revolu-
ton. For him it proved complete
Generalization. the details of which
he tells with great frankness. 1t makes
a terrible story OF youth uprooted, be-
rett of all stable and cultural inf1u-
enCes. and succumbing to all the
vices engendered by revolution. After
the death of his mother and the
departure Of his father, who was
wanted for a firing squad, his last
prop was removed. and TO live at all
he was obliged TO become Com
munist. which he did under the guld-
anCe Of Natasha. who was also re-
sponsible for other parts of his revo-
lItlonary education. He learned to
steal expertly in order 10 eat. to take
brutal pleasure wherever he could
find it. to follow his chance comrades
TO any depths of degradation. He
became cruel, lustf-A. sadistic; all
scruples we're annihliated. He ac-
uepted the life forced upon him by
the revolution and even found fierce
ENJOYMENT in 1t, so long as there was
no hope of escape. Finally. when he
was Is and about to be drafted for
the preparatory school for the Red
Army. he was enabled to leave Russia
through the efforts of Miriukof. the
friend and oiographer Of Tolstol, who
appealed to the humanity Of Louna-
Charsky, minister of education. for
the freedom of the boy. In a dazed
condition, Andre joined his father IN
Berlin, where friends nursed him back
to physical and moral health. he
then attended Swiss schools and be-
came an engineer. His account OF
what the BolshevlSt revolution dlo
to him is told with almost hysterlcal
fervor, without reserves.
AN ALMANAC FOR MODERNS. BY
Donald Culross Peattie. With
Drawings by Lynd Ward. New
York: G. P. Putnams Sons.
Mr.. PEATTIE'S ALMANAC does not
4NA begin with January /, but much
more logically, if the seasons are to
he followed. with March 81. 1t is
primarily an almanac for nature low
ers. and begins, ON this chill, un-
certain Spring day, toward twilight,
I have heard the first frog quaver
from the marsh" But the student OF
the history of science, especially bl-
ology, will find in it many an essay,
as delightful as brief, intended for
him. The essay for May l is about
Spring on the Mediterranean. in Eng
land, in Thoreau's New England and
south of the Potomac. July % cele-
brates Midsummer as the heyday OF
the insect world, and August % and
"a give fanciful reflections on bird
migrations. April 81, John Mulr's
birthday is devoted to him and Asa
Gray and John Burroughs; April 26,
the birthday of Jean Jacques Audu-
bon, to that child of Nature, un-
taught in science" who saw what he
saw and knew what he knew; July
10, the birthday of Gilbert White, to
that curate who made his home at
Selborne. in Hampshire, famous; and
August 4, birthday of William Henry
Hudson, to the man who eXasperated
his wife because he disappeared from
home to tramp the roads as hobo,
but has charmed every one not SO
closely connected with him by his
descriptions of the English country
side, Richmond Park and especially
the Argentine. The only other book
I can recall similar to this collection
of fascinating little essays of the
seasons by Mr.. Peattie is Richardson
Wright's The Gardeners Bed Book"
Mr.. Peattie is both naturalist and poet
and his writing shows the advantage
of the combination.
I CHANGE WORLDS. The Remak-
ing of an American. BY Anna
Louise Strong. New York: Henry
Holt G. Co.
A NEWSPAPER woman for many
years. especially given to assign
mentS where revolutions were in prog