Evening star., 1936-03-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Ceymond.
A TREE GROWN STRAIGHT. BY
Percy Marks. New York: Frederick
A. Stokes Co.

Lucky is the boy who when grown to
full maturity can say with honest pride,
MY father was the finest man ] ever
knew" AL fathers who seriously assume
the obligations Of parenthood, 1t may be
believed, aspire to fulfill to the limit Of
their ability the trust imposed by this
important contract with life. Also, 1t
may be believed that If in rendering the
final account of their stewardship they
fall short of the ideal the weakness Is
to be attributed to lack Of understand.
ing rather than to a lack OF sympathy.
Parenthood is a profession fraught with
many hazards, and fortunate indeed are
the youngsters whose mothers and ia
thers possess the profound wisdom re-
quired to meet with courage and simple
truth the problems that perplex the mind
and often warp the character OF youth.
Novels of the father -and-Son type are
not exceptionally scarce. but those that
merit recognition as significant contri-
buttons to current literature as well as
to the morale of the race are rare, and
the Importance Of "A Tree Grown
Straight" cannot be too strongly stressed.
The same sensitive appreciation of the
problems that beset youth which few
years ago placed 1.-The Plastic Age" in q
distinctive class of its own is again dis
played, this time on broader and more
significant plane.
- u
The method employed in telling the
story borders upon that for which Joseph
Conrad was severely criticized in the
writing of Lord jim" 1t was claimed
by the critics that no one could tell, and
hold the interest of his readers in one
sitting, a story that required several
hours of reading, and that credibility was
thereby destroyed. But the book sur
vived despite this proclaimed handicap.
Occasionally the thought intrudes that
the hero of Mr.. Marks novel is still
talking, but there is no desire to stop
him and no wish that the story had been
handled another way.
Andrew Ross, transferred by San
Francisco business house to its New York
office to tackle an especially particular
job. is invited to the home of one Of his
associates and meets Perry Lane, a re-
nowned author whose books he has read
and admired and who In the flesh proves
to be as wonderful person as Andy had
imagined him to be. Mr.. Lane also is
impressed by the young Californian, and
after several meetings invites him to
spend an evening with him. Andy Is
considerably awed by the interest Of the
great writer and dunfounded when he
learns that Mr.. Lane plans to use him as
the subject of novel.
Perry Lane had years before attempted
to write novel that refused to develop.
Several times he had tried to rewrite it,
fxyv,n <,fy
he wanted to portray persiStently eluded
his imagination and just as persistently
failed to materialize in the flesh. In
Andy Ross he believes he has found the
personification of the truth he has
sought. He knows that in Andy the an
swers are all there, and the purpose OF
his invitation is to draw them out. He
wants to hear the story of Andy's life.
The young man is both flattered and
embarrassed. He warns to the friend
ship offered by a man of such high
esteem, but his life has been too COM
monplace to make it subject OF interest
to anybody. What Andy does not know
is that Perry Lane has discovered "a
tree grown straight" and that the secret
of its sturdy growth holds the answer
that will perfect the novel that has been
thirty years in the making.
= II
Andy's life has assuredly not been par
ticularly eventful or notoriouSly success
full. 1t has. in fact, been exceptionally
normal, and it is for that reason alone
that it is important. Encouraged by the
writer through few simple questions,
Andy tells his story with direct simplicity
;11Ni lie
interest the elderly listener. He talks
about his childhood and the playmateS
with whom he chummed and fought
and from whom he learned an equal
share of good and evil. Being the son
of poor physician, he has received the
physical care that will keep his body
strong, and with the wisdom born of a
high spiritual valuation of the finenesS
of life he was given the foundation OF
mental and moral balance required for
meeting the normal problems which each
individual must face.
Exercise of parental wisdom came early
in the life of Andy, and in circumstances
which DR.. Ross recognized as being of
immediate and grave Importance. The
occasion was one for which an evasive
answer usually leads to succession OF
evasions. The incident established be-
tween father and son that much to be
desired relationship which grows into
true comradeship. Through childhood
and youth and through the dangerously
emotional years of adolescence father
and son face together the problems Of
the younger, and at the proper time DR..
Ross places Andy on his own. He has
himself laid the foundation. 1t is then
up to the boy to fight his own battles
with life.
Not any incident in Andy's life is out
of the ordinary. His playmates, his
school friends and college companions,
his love affairs and his experiences In
the business world all tally with the
everyday adventures of the normal boy
or girl. They are the patterns by which
character is fashioned, the mold from
which youth emerges into maturity with
the strength of tree grown straight,
or warped by submission to emotional
forces only half understood.
In the hands of SO capable a novelist
as Mr.. Marks, this story of the making
of a man carries significance far above
the usual f1ctionized treatment of a
common problem. 1t will appeal to all
readers, mothers and daughters as well
as fathers and sons. because of its
genuine sincerity and its depth of human