Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-03-04
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.

Two young men, bewitched against
their wills by the indefinable DONNA
ton Of towering mountain, are joint
principals in this novel of exceptional
grace and beauty for which the author
has selected the following majestic set
ting:
1.-THE peaks of the Kometen- Gebirge
are divided by neither col nor valley;
they rise, solid, sharp edged ridge, fiow-
ing from west to east. Nome is the
highest Of them all. q
1T is Nome who stands at the farthest
eastern point. joined to the range on one
side only. To the north lies the Valley
of Kelzenau, up which men have forced
the steel ribbon to the railhead of
Kelzenau-Dorf: this railway keeps to
the lowest level of the valley, creeping
up and up, through gorges and tunnels,
winding this way and that, a proof OF
the potency OF man.
Monies eastern slopes fall from rock
to glacier, dipping from the sharp Schal-
graf to the smooth curves of the Schal-
gletscher, past the hut where climbers
spend their nights, past shale, forest
and pasture, past the village of Sielch,
into yet another valley where there is
no railway but only mule track, lead
ing to the distant railway station of
zeiligen.
"Nonne's sisters are four: Geisterspitze,
Riesenstock, Graumies and Silberhorn-
giants all, yet dwarfed by her. There
are mountains, too, on every side-some
graceful and snow capped, some rugged
peaks Of rock. Rundhorn, when touched
by the moon, takes on the form of bub-
BILE as light as air; Schneespitze is steep
with ice and snow; Mittaghorn stands
alone; Weisskuppe wears white beret
tilted at an agile, and the sharp rim Of
her cornice is like frozen wave poised
on her crest. These mountains sur
round the Kometen-Gebirge as a set
ting to precious jewel"
Anna JoSt, when dying, had looked
upon this glorious spectacle of nature
and surrendered her final hours on earth
to RELIEVING in memory brief interlude
Of romance on the grassland slopes of
Nome that five years earlier had come
to fulfllment. Nome had received the
last alteration from her closing eyes,
With her last breath she had whispered
the names of Michael and Nome. When
he has grown to manhood, Michael too,
loves Nome, but to him the majestic pile
of grassland rock and glacier represents
81 dIOCuA, ddliSCl dlto q ltAlS,
for Michael is guide and Switzerland
is the mecca of climbers and of ski
enthusiasts.
Young Martin Steyne. the only son of
an illustrious and wealthy father, &C
cepts half-meant invitation to join a
friend who has been told that May is
marvellous month to enjoy ski sport
in the Kometen- Gebirge. Bryan Gregory
is an accomplished and expert performer
on ski Martin has nothing to recon-
mend him except that he is good COM
pany when circumstances are to his
liking. He is typical of the sons of most
rich men. fairly good in all of the sports
that interest him. strongly in favor of
himself as an irresistibly attractive man,
and utterly incapable Of earning living.
He has one element of strength in his
character, however, that makes him a
genuinely likable chap. He recognizes
that his position as the son of a famous
man is a handicap that initiates against
success through his own merit in any
constructive or useful occupation. His
single effort to overcome that handicap
Is the writing of book, which he re-
fuses to have published in his own name.
Michael JoSt is tower OF strength.
the most popular guide in the village of
Sielch, loved for his ready smile and
simple philosophy, trusted for his in
tegrity and his pride in his profession
and admired for his indomitable cour-
age in the face of grave danger when the
terrifying elements of nature grip the
mountains and threaten the lives of
his clients.
Fate wills that these two, Michael and
Martin. should meet in circumstances
that lay bare and test to the limit of
endurance the characters of both. Bryan
Gregory is called back to his business
the day after his arrival in the ski
country. Martin decides to stay on.
Unexpected storm and fear Of an ava
lanche causes Michael to rule that they
must remain definitely in the little hut
mentioned in the descriptive scene. Days
Of isolation and inactivity on the desc
late mountainside bring to the surface
the strength and the weakness of soul
inherent in each of these young men.
Hunger and fear drive them to extremes
of thought and action. And above them
Nome reigns supreme, casting upon
Michael a magic influence which he
dares not admit even to himself and
reducing Martin to a state of paralyz-
ing terror.
There is a poetic beauty of express
sion in the telling of the story of these
two extremes of the human race, blended
by Nonne's overwhelming influence in
relationship that neither has the power
to- fathom, reaching the climax of their
lives in the climbers hut under the
shadow of the mighty peak to which
Anna Jost dedicated her first-born.
The, strength and beauty which Mary
Dunstan has infused into this novel is
of pleasing, lasting quality.
MY LIFE IN ARCHITECTURE. BY
Ralph Adams Cram. New York: Lit
tie, Brown & Co.
For nearly half a century the name
of Ralph Adams Cram has been identi-
fed with the development of classical
architecture in America. Most of the
major and countless of the minor mas
terpieces of stone and mortar that glorify
the art of masonry bear evidence of the
Cram influence. And now the dean of
his profession records, with surplus
of modesty, the story of q career for
which nature endowed him with album
dant genius-though he prefers to be-
lieye that the stern reality with which
the New Highlander looks upon life
prompted his father to determine upon a
profession for q son whose ability to
choose for himself seemed doubtful.
One of the most fascinating facts about
the gift of genius among Americans is
the consistent persistence with which it
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