Evening star., 1936-11-07

He has made the narrative complete
here, and the volume that results Is
3 charming and individual q one as
has been seen In many months. 1t
is recommended, quite unreservedly.
THE NEW AMERICAN CARAVAN.
Edited by Alfred Kreymborg.
Lewis Mumford and Paul Rosen-
field. New York: w. w. Norton
Co.
THIS is the first edition Of this SOL
emn literary phenomenon to ap-
pear since 1881. 1t Is conscientious,
dreary and boring stuff. One posi-
lively shudders to think Of the hours
Of scrupulous combing in minor
archives which evidently have gone
into its compilation. But here 1t is.
Viewed as a volume 1t has two DOM
mating characteristics. The first is q
preoccupation with the wrongs Of the
American worker which must, the
editors evidently feel, be corrected
through violent revolution. The other
is a preponderance Of material OF the
school which emphasizes the more
grisly physical details Of existence
vomitings, abortions. belchings, retch-
ings and scratchings being the stage
properties by which most of the
stories proceed. 1t can be summed up
by these words-the poetry is terrible,
the articles juvenile and the stories.
with one or two exceptions, conf
pletely insignificant.
II this work demonstrates anything
in literary America 1t is that the new
generation OF writers represented in
1t (but they are mainly bad writers)
has progressed little or not at all
since 1915. They sound very like the
young rebels Of that day, with this
dif1erence-those young men and
women were interested in new forms
and new life in letters; these Of today
are interested In new forms and new
life In politics. The difference does
not show very favorably to the mod
erns. They disdain sound and difficult
composition. and obviously are not
very profound In their political think
ing. either. Their work has the char
acter Of an upgush Of professional
emotion. 1t impresses the reader
neither with sincerity nor skill.
Enough Of 1t, then. The reviewer will
be able to wait five years until a new
Caravan" appears with entirely un-
ruf11ed patience.
I'd DO IT AGAIN, by Frank Tilsley.
Published by Dodd, Mead & Co.,
Inc. New York.
This book is labeled . novel by its
author. Technically, because of its
limited action and narrow scope, it
can hardly be called such. Certainly,
it Is not short story. Perhaps, from
the American viewpoint--this is a
book about lower middle class Eng
lishman, written and published orig
inally in England-it would best come
under the category of . confession"
Yet it Is not to be confused with the
True Story and Real Romances sort of
thing, the lurid fiction which en-
thralls the gum-chewing shop girls
"I'd Do 1t Again" is q clearly and
simply expressed confession OF how
petty thief is made. But more than
that, it points the way to the elimina-
tion Of petty thieving. And even more,
1t shows the growth of q morality. 1t
accompiishes all this without recourse
to red nag waving and verbal pyro-,
technics.
Briefly, 1t u the story Of o young
married man, deeply and sincerely In
love with his wife, and his struggle to
provide for her the minimums Of a
dignified life. Unable to do that on
his salary Of three pounds, he pliers,
from the ONCE supply sufhcient to
make the salary to which he feels
himself entitled, 5 pounds. His ma
neuvers to steal this sum without be-
tected, his processes Of reasoning and
self justification while. he is carrying
on his thievery, his sensations in all
his other dealings in this period, have