Evening star., 1935-10-09
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
SUMMER TIME ENDS. BY John Har-
grave. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Co
Margaret Cermond. ,

SUMMER TIME ENDS. BY John Har-
grave. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Co.
Oddly OF literary style and Of me-
chanical construction are the chief char
acteristics of summer time ends" q
novel that has for its purpose the arous-
nomic system that generates and fosters
poverty in the midst of plenty. Chap
ters, paragraphs and sentences begin
with lower case letters. Commas are
scarce, periods are almost nil, and not
even the title is given the distinguish
ment of capitalization.
The reason for all this violation Of
form is that the author made the dis
covery, after a good part Of the story
had been written, that he had uncon-
sciously created a rhythmic sequence OF
words and phrases, and in the recon-
struction of the book he employed this
peculiar method Of preserving 1t. The
sing song use of words without punctu-
alton produced another idea. BY the
Intervening of unrelated phrases it was
possible to bring together into one unit
OF perception the thoughts and events
of widely separated individuals and 10
cations.
For instance, the manufacturing mag
nate who dominates the story Is con-
ferring in his palatial oflces with the
inventor Of a new machine, while in the
mills the hum Of the weaver chants:
sol sol sol, tex-tex
soltex, Soltex
the pearldrop smell and the drowsy
hum
up, down, back, forth
we can produce. produce
"but, dammit, Harding, this new pat
ent of yours"
we can produce, produce
would double your output In exactly
the same time"
watch the machine and see
everything running true
land throw about half our work.
people on the dole?"
hidden in the bracken, kissing in the
bracken
"but that cuts down your wages costs
and the goods will be cheaper in con-
sequence"
the kiddies need new boots and
clothes
"you know we're working short time
and four of our factories are running
at a loss?"
I always think autumn's such q sad
time of the year
put in my new machine, cut the
production costs"
land sack about two thousand Of our
workers."
it'll be a hard struggle to keep going
this winter
this idea that machines throw men
out of employment -.
"but you've had to sack workers
before"
I don't know how we shall make do
bound to be q certain amount of hard
ship during the transitional phase
that was different We were forced
to. We had to work for them
no answer 80.
The thoughts and actions of six peo-
pie are recorded in this sing song Of
words, the discussion between the mag
nate and the inventor, the mspoken
thoughts and the conversation between
two mill workers and the love-making
Of two destitute young people sharing
their misery on hillside above the town.
n
It is claimed by the author that this
innovation is not q stunt, but a sincere
effort to make more forceful the i'm
preston of Importance to the individual
of each event. The publishers also stress
this point, and make the further claim
that it is a work OF art. Be that as 1t
may, it is likely that the majority Of
readers will Immediately be possessed
by the thought that the book is an after
math of Gertrude Stein, on a glorifled
scale There is this advantage in sum-
mer time ends: Mr.. Hargrave's words
do conform to a pattern of sense, and
eventually they become related to the
subject matter, though never in orderly
sequence.
Mr.. Hargrave is an artist as well as q
writer, and he is convinced that the con-
ditions Of modern civilization demand
that both of these crafts be directed to
the sweeping away Of the present social
and industrial chaos and the establish
ment in its stead of a sound economic
system in which poverty will have no
place. He has what in this country
would be called q complex on the sub
ject, which he utiliZeS as foundation
and background for practically all Of
his work.
England is the scene Of the multiple
cation Of social and economic problems
with which the novel is concerned,
though the conditions revealed and dis
cussed are applicable to all modern in
dustrial nations. Sir John JordanS,
wealthy manufacturer, representing the
millionaire industrialist of any nation,
tops the pyramid built of toiling, sweat
ing, underpaid and underfed human
beings. The interests and activities Of
his family, their friends and their neigh
bors are typical of the social life of the
times for those who possess money and
leisure. The vast army of mill workers,
with their barely clothed and fed fam
lilies, form the foundation and the super
structure of this human pyramid, and
the constantly increasing number of
dole-supported men and women may be
described as the unstable element in
the mortar which Is causing 1t to
crumble and thereby weakening the noble
monument indicative Of individual en-
terprise and success.
Bankers, boards of directors and capi-
talists in action, the middle classes at
work, the slums in their misery, those
living on the dole, the young men and
women and the children Of all classes
described specifically in the conditions
which clIrrnIIrd them are laid Ollt in n