Evening star., 1936-03-21
By Mary.Carfer Roberts.
MONOGRAM. By G. B. Stern. New
York: The Macmillan Co.


quiring at all into what her
idea of such a proper work is, one
can applaud her rejection Of 1t. The
book which she has written, proper
or otherwise, is flrst-rate. One would
not have her change it for anything.
To be sure, one may have been
prejudiced in its favor before reading
it. One admits that Not that one
has always shared the popular en-
thusiasm for Miss Stern's work as
novelist; her novels, indeed, have
never seemed better than good run
of-the-mill novels ought to be. But
that, on the forepage of the present
work, there is to be found quoted one
of the finest gems of wisdom which
centuries of human, history have
brought forth-the following dialogue:
Its my opinion that the missing
picture is hidden in the house next
door
"'But there isn't house next door.
"'Then we'll build one!
catalogue from a Marx Bros
dlm)"
To the reader capable Of appreciating
the magnificent mental processes in
volved in Groucho's conclusion Qf 1t
was Groucho) there must be tri-
umph in finding the quotation as a
point of take-off for any book Of so
grave purpose as an autobiography
even an improper autobiography. And
the discovery takes Miss Stern I'M
mediately out of the class of sood
run-of-the-mill novelists and makes
her a grand person. For, obviously.
1t will take a grand person to think
of writing book in so merrily mad
a key.
It would have been a catastrophe.
of course, if after choosing such
foreword, she had fallen short of her
mark. So, be it said in haste that she
has not. Getting the wind up gaily
on her first page, as it were, she sails
along with that impudent ease which
is mastery, and she takes her craft
into many seas before she finally
comes to port.
She forbears to write on such dull
matters as where, when and what
next. Instead, she is concerned al
most wholly about Row. Her book
becomes a critical essay on her re-
actions to certain phenomena of liv-
ing-not a book of philosophy, but
one Of memory and opinion. She
writes of literature, the theater, the
arts and personal memories. She
has given us an autobiography by
indirection. We know her mind when
fnic
little about where and when.
How easily Miss Stern might have
fallen into the slough Of being de-
lightful and chatty! How many,
many good writer's have gone down
into it, attempting what she accom-
plishesl She escapes because she is
q master of style. Her work here is
an example of the triumph of style
over matter. One can think of no
one except Rose Macaulay who can
so stiffel the frail, imponderable stuff
of casual personal memory into life.
Mere journalism will not do this,
though it may serve to produce good
average novel. 1t requires the hand
Of the prose artist.
Monogram" bears the mark of such
hand.
TO THE MOUNTAIN. BY Bradford
Smith. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Mer-
ril Co.
WITHIN recent months three novels
Nv on modern Japan have come to
reviewers desks. One of these was
written by a Japanese, the Baroness
Sugimoto. In her Daughter of the
Nohfu" she treated Of the problems
which the weSternization of her land
has created for the farmers. The
second book, "The Wooden Pillow"
was a romantic picture of modern
Japanese manners as seen through the
eyes Of foreigner. Both works make
clear that the present unnaturally
rapid change in customs that is taking
place in the Island Empire is heavy
with potential tragedy, although
neither of them deals with that i'm
pending grief as a central theme. In
the most recent japanese novel, Brad
ford Smiths ITO the Mountain" that
tragedy is the story.
Analyzing, through the lives of his
characters, the various conflicting
streams of opinion current in Japan
today, Mr.. Smith makes plain from
the beginning of his book that catas-.
trophe is inevitable. He centers his
story about a young man, son of a
wealthy merchant, who, in sensitive
ness and broad humanity, has a SYM
pathy for the good contributions of
both the western and the eastern
culture.
Against the universally of this
mans mind are duly contrasted the
specialized PHILOSOPHERS of certain
japanese whom Mr.. Smith evidently
considers typical-the proud old con-
servative, the oriental who has
acquired western veneer, the student
who turns to communism, the Japan
ese Christian. The tragedy lies in
the fateful circumstance that west
ernization is taking place more rapidly
than human beings can change them
selves, that they are all swept along
In tide that they do not understand.
The young man is crushed by the
instrumentality of his own father,
whose philosophy, basically oriental,
permits him without scruple to pur-
chase young girl for mistress. She
is rescued by Jaanese who has
adopted the Christian religion-a
major in the army, and the character
who, under Mr.. Smiths treatment, is
represented as most nearly in adjust
ment with life. In his home the
youthful hero meets and falls in love
with the girl. Marriage is impossible,
because of the fathers opposition
The young couple commit suicide.
While the story thus interprets a
specific time in a specific country, it
must not be thought that it is merely
O thesis. 1t is knowingly human; none
Of its characters fail of well-rounded
living proportions. Its plot, as out
lined, will be recognized as somewhat
conventional. Indeed, with certain