Evening star., 1936-09-09
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
STRANGE MELODY. BY Neil Bell. New
York: Doubleday. Doran & Co.
BY MARGARET GERMOND.

IOIk. DOuDleody, OOran E 60.
Every professional writer of fiction
should be granted at least one lapse from
the style that has won recognition with
out incurring more than a small need
OF mild criticism. If in this twelfth novel
the author has missed the mark for
American readers, the fault lies not in
the story itself, but in the manner of
Its telling. The ability to create char
acters that are vitally human has been
a distinguishing quality of Mr.. Bells
work. The same distinctive attribute is
fully conceded in his conception of John
MacDermott, the dominant figure
through whom the strangeness of life's
melody is herein interpreted. But the
story undoubtedly loses a great deal of
its strength through the employment of
the daughter of the dauntleSs MacDer-
mott as the medium of that interpreta-
ton.
John MacDermott is one of life's mag
nificent failures. An Irishman, says his
daughter, born in Cork, and one of seven
children in the family of a poor man
who kept a small jewelry shop where
no Jewels were sold, but clocks and
watches were repaired" John came
AAtSAh AAA tAiC 2iilC O1 oCtCll, dllu NY Ollc
OF those inexplicable quirks of fate was
destined to life Of heart-breaking ex-
perlences and endowed with a bigness
OF soul which held within it the power
to hide his suffering behind a hearty
laugh and grandiloquent manner.
AS visiting drawing master in three
. small schools during the resort season at
Breford, he received considerably less
q irNon f4,, l.; u
daughter. In his spare time he painted,
but in his heart he knew himself to be
a great writer. Failure upon failure was
the result of most of his efforts, yet the
following incident, as related by his
daughter, shows the indomitable char
acter of the man:
In the matter of the wretched prices
paid by the two or three Breford shop
keepers who bought his pictures, I re-
member him once admiring a very pretty
frock was wearing for some children's
Summer festival and saying, as he picked
me up and kissed me, that looked as
beautiful as a wild flower. And then
ne put me down, grimaced and said: DO
you know, Clip. that frock cost me two
pictures, and they took me a month to
paint?'"
Despite the tempestuous and bombaStic
nature OF the man, he had an irresistible
charm that made him both lovable and
pathetic. Reams of manuscript, returned
by publishers from every quarter of the
British Isles, continued to grow in volume
despite encouragement. An enormous
faith in himself and in his gift for writ
Ing drove him onward. Occasional sug-
gestions from publishers to the effect
that certain stories would be acceptable
for consideration If he would change
them were disdainfully rejected because
he refused to surrender the principles
which his writing set forth, while at the
same time he and his loved ones were
suffering from lack Of sufficient food.
Success, however, was bound to crown
in some degree the effort of SO energetic
and forceful a man, and when it came
to John MacDermott it came in an
avalanche. Wealth and fame followed
a glorious burst of triumph. And then?
A faithful recorder is the daughter
of this extraordinary man whose greatest
gift was. in her words, his rich humanity.
His shortcomings and his virtues are laid
bare without defense of the weaknesses
or glorification of the greatness of his
character. But throughout the novel the
impression grows that such q man in
action, rather than in explanatory narra-
tive, would have made a story of greater
strength and one assured of longer life
IN this country, although it has been
highly praised and warmly received in
England, Ireland and Scotland.
y
I TOLD MY LOVE. BY M. Escott. New
York: w. w. Norton 8 Co., Inc.
The essence of this novel is about as
1nane as its title and as pointless as the
lavender fruit on the near umbrella tree
which adorns its jacket cover. David
Hawkes. tells his own story. 1t turns
out to be the purely emotional outburst
OF a young man who falls in love with
girl at sight and eventually marries
her. The only basis for the partnership
is that his love is genuine.
The agreement for marriage is hinged
upon the delicate fabric of truth. Each
of them is to be free, and each is to
be honest with the other. In theory such
an agreement is ideal. In practice, how
ever. 1t invariably fails to work. Dave
is the first to wander from the straight
and narrow path. True to his promise
he confesses his waywardneSs. Being a
woman of her word, Anna accepts the
situation and makes no complaint. But
when she decides to follow her own in
clination it does not go so well with Dave.
So here is story of two people fight
ing battle against human nature in
which both are doomed to failure, It
possesses nothing to recommend it except
its light weight and its breezy style.