Evening star., 1937-07-17

British Officer Reveals Chcanery of Revolution in Narrative Show
ing the Lighter Side of British 1mperiaGsm-F. Theo
Rogers Analyses Spain Today.

The writer has material here for an
epic. He has seen the rise Of the rev.
olution and 10 acquainted with the
battles which were fought to install
revolutionary doctrines ~ the accept
ed ones; Of these things he writes with
realism. But he II ~ devoid Of irony
a. tract and what he haa written
turns out TO be just that; the story
Of the Bolshevists against thoAs who
happened to oppose them u in his
telling the story Of the Good against
tho Wicked-And there, Of course, his
realism falls utterly. His book one
il forced to conclude, Ia dictated by
wiAhful thinking and blind prejudice
which are Of course impossible men,
tai properties in An artist.
The sincerity which informs this
book does not help 1t, either. Pref
udice y often found In company with
sincerity: wishful thinking u gen.
orally too unconscious for the thinker
to be aware Of his self-deceit. Sin-
cerity in the company Of the two. how
ever. u not truth. That about de-
scribes this novel, unleas one remem-
bers. bit cynically, that it was to
the cultural propaganda department"
which manuscript had to be sub
mitted for approval before publica-
ton. That might. in 4 capitalist So
ciety, have had something to do with
the ardor.
HOME IS WHERE YOU HANG
YOUR CHILDHOOD. By Ieans
zuesmith. New York: Random
House.
HIS Is \ collection Of short stories.
done with that smooth compe-
tence which one recognizes "a the
property OF fiction in our smarter
magazines and which slickly overlays
complete predictA bility OF plot, ab-
sence OF living characters and men,
tai conventionality on the part OF
the author. Story, the New Yorker,
Harpers Bazaar. the Atlantic Month
ly. the New Republic and the New
Masses are the magazines in which
these efforts have had publicat ton.
And you can pick them out-story
and magazine-so perfectly stand
ardized are they. Miss Zussmith ap-
parently writes for publicatio on
wide front and seems to be making
very nice thing Of IT.
The general trait in all the selec-
tions is that somebody wants some
thing or other. or plans to get some
thing or other, or to do something or
other, and then does not succeed In
getting or doing his desire. All very
portentous. all very profound. all COM
pletely mechanical You lead the hero
or the heroine up to 4 point Of ,us-
pense and-oomp! You push him over
backwards and utter sophisticated
fashionable, that ~ cries OF mock
cry of1stage to show how vain are
human wishes. If you are writing for
slightly radical" sheet, then you
clas-angle your hero. too. A better
job was done in Ecclesiastes.
But. just AS formula writer, Miss
zuesmith is unquestionably compe-
tent.
THE STREETS OF MEXICO. By Luis
Gonzales Obreeon. Translated
from the Spanish by Blanche COL
let Wagner. San Francisco: George
Fields.
THIS is the frat English tran.lation
OF classic collection Of Mexican
stories. They are the work Of An emil
nent scholar, Don Luis Gonzalez Obre-
gon. who wrote them out Of his great
knowledge Of Mexican history and leg
end. Each OF them purports to tell
the story behind the name of 4 street
IN Mexico City, where even the byways
are titled with provocative phrases, as
the Street Of the Woman Who Was
Shod. the Street Of the Sad Indian,
the Flying Plaza, the Street Of the Ca
noes, and 70 on. Often there are two
distinct stories behind such a name
the one which is history and the ono
which has become popular legend. The
history will be facts, often romantic
facts. and the legend will begin where
the history ends. adding to the facts
miracles, curses. supernatural vista
tions and shostly Appearances. The
ber, with recurrent references to the
1nquisition and autos de fe, but the
manner OF telling Is patient and quiet
and the book Is easily one which lovers
Of the curious should acquire. 1t is
attractively printed and illustrated
with drawings by Blanche Z. Pletsch
THE PRESS AND WORLD AFFAIRS.
BY Robert W. Desmond. New York:
D. Appleton Century.
THIS is handbook or text covering
the operation of the press through
out the world today. It takes up the
manner in which news is gathered in
the great centers. it describes the
methods Of dissemination, the various
wire services, radios, cables. news and
feature associat tions and syndicates. 1t
includes 4 brief history Of each organi-
zation and names the men who are
responsible for Its origin and develop
ment. It outlines the growth Of the
system of foreign correspondence 1t
would seem to be 4 valuable book OF
reference-a sort of journalistic ency-
clopedia. The reviewer could not dis
cover that it contained any tnforma-
ton not already published on the sub
jsct, but heretofore the material has
bsen scattered through dosens OF vol
umes. There u distinct usefulness In
the gathering together between . sin
gle set Of covers 20 much Newspaper
data.
NORTH TO TH1 RIME-HIN0BD
SUN. BY 1aohel W. Hutchinson.
New York: HillmAn Ourl. .
THIS u one Of those stories Of id.
venturous travel which IL 70 per.
feet - to be irritating and yet which
l. vouched for beyond any possible
question. The author, an h1elish-
woman, was commissioned by Cam
bridge University to 60 into the back
country Of Alaska and gather ethno-
lo1ica1 snecimena there. aoe combined