Evening star., 1936-08-08

the "big money" in promoting avia-
ton companies. We have Margo. max
ing the big money in pictures and
men. We have, then, Mary French,
Vassar student, taking up communism
because, says Mr.. Dos Passos, com.
munism is the only possible remedy
for-well, one supposes, for every
thing. We have host Of minor
characters, and we have scrambled
scenes from New York. Miami, Holly.
wood and the Sacco Vanzetti demon.
strations. The rich are rich and
wicked and the poor are poor and
good To use his own idiom, amt it
terrible? That about sums up the
philosophical content Of "The Big
Money"
As to its manner. it puts one in
curably In mind of the case of the
schoolboy who had punctuation
troubles. He finally handed in q
theme devoid Of any punctuation and
accompanied it by page on which
he had written the entire set Of
punctuation marks. He advised the
teacher to combine to her taste.
Mr.. Dos Passos follows very much
this method. He avoids any comment
in the chapters of his opus which con-
| tain the action of the characters. He
writes there with what used to be
called brutal realism" Then, ever
so often, by way Of elucidation, he
includes chapters called News Reels"
which consist simply Of random head
lines and press clippings of the day,
so arranged as to point the days
absurdity. Following these, he uses
another series Of chapters called
| Camera Eye" In these, In maudlin
manner, half prose, half very bad
poetry, no punctuation and no capi-
tails. he points out how very sad the
state of things is to be sure. Then
back again. hammer and tongs, to his
aviatorS, actresses and drunken par
ties.
The book has some very clever work
in it, but it rattles badly, and if one
answer is that terrible one-it is not
| sincere. Anyone can take an atti-
/ tude Of despair over poverty and social
injustice; many people indeed earn
very comfortable livingS doing just
that. The attitude does not of itself
carry conviction. And Mr.. Dos Pas
sos book is an attitude Clever though
1t may be, it fails because it pre-
tends to be more than clever; it pre-
! tends to be document on social in
! justice. And one fears that Mr.. Dos
Passos really does not care very much
about social justice. One hardly ex-
poets him to risk going to jail for his
| convictions, or to take his royalties
and distribute them among the poor.
On the contrary, he writes very like
a man who was following up flair
nothing more. One cannot be par
ticularly sorry for him that his flair
| is passing, or has passed. The tWen-
! ties are dead. We are nearer the
| forties now.
THE UNDYING MONSTER. BY Jes-
sic Douglas Kerruish. New York:
| The Macmillan Co.
/ THE werewolf has been sadly lack
ing from fiction in recent years,
and its absence constitutes very real
lack indeed. For who Is there who
would not love a werewolf? No dyed
In the wool reader of, or seeker after,
! first rate thrillers, certainly. Prop
erly treated, wearwolf is one of the
most delightful creatures to be met
between mystery novel covers. Yet
werewolves there have been none, for
this sad long time.
Welcome then the Undying Monster,
bane Of the family Of Hammand 1t
Is monster of rare virtue certainly.
1t rends its helpless prey in the most
approved manner, it howls deafen-
ingly, it has superhuman strength. 1t
comes out Of nothingness and vanishes
into nothingness. it is generally divert
ing. 1t keeps the Hammands in a
fine state of nerves until at last they
can bear it no longer. They call in
lady who is renowned as "a Sensi-
tive" She, with the aid of a forked
stick, the second sight, the sixth sense
and the fifth dimension, tracks the
creature down. After 50 much mathe-
matics even a werewolf Of horrid
propensity might justifiably feel like
giving up. Anyway, the Monster does,
and when he is unveiled great sur
prise will confront the reader who has
dutifully refrained from skipping to
the end.
It really is superior mystery novel.
Nothing could be more chilling these
hot days than to read how Lord Ham
mand's bane came shrieking through
the wood
THE MAN FROM NORLANDS. BY
John Buchan. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co.
THE author Of this book is Lord
Tweedsmuir, governor general of
Canada, but it IS as John Buchan that
he has won his wide literary reputa-
ton. Prominent among his works of
the past are those adventure tales
which deal with the career Of Rich
ard Hannay, retired English general,
perpetually In narrow corner and
perpetually making a neat thing of it.
This same Hannay is hero OF the
present work, which will be intro
duction enough to those who are IA
miliar with character and author.
For those who are not, suffice 1t to
say that Lord Tweedsmuir writes the
idealistic type of adventure, in which
one group of men (Hannay's) repre-
sents honor and noble intent, while
the opposing one represents qualities
of very different nature.
It Is a variation on the formula in
which there Is merely a crime to be
solved. In the Buchan adventures
crime Is prevented and romantic
tradition upheld. all at a swoop. The
adversaries fight 1t out together, well
matched and calculating. Honor wins
and Hannay retires to his country
place to wait until some new peril
threatens the innocent Cor the Eng
lish nation) when he unquestionably