Evening star., 1937-12-19

is abundantly clear. He is pro-Kaiser
and he would have us believe that
Germany was a badly abused nation.
forced against its wishes into a war
and made to bear in history a guilt
which it did not deserve. To set forth
such an opinion seems to have been
the only purpose behind the books
writing. Unfortunately, it Is laid on
so heavily that any sympathy for
Germany which might be aroused by
a fair presentation of the case is lost.
The book has to stand as a violent
sort of literary curiosity. Beyond that
it seems to have no significance.
REVEIS IN JAMAICA. BY Richard
son Wright. New York: Dodd
Mead g. Co.
THIS is a curious work, immensely
interesting and well worth having,
if only because it uncovers for us bit
of history of which few of us have
been aware. 1t is the story of life
and high times" in Jamaica, from
exploration days, when the island
was headquarters for pirates, down to
the freeing of the slaves in 1898. It
is not a history Of the island, but of
the diversions followed by the island
ers who. in those days of difficult
transportation, lived virtually in a
world of their own. They made it
world of balls. banquets, cockfghts,
duels. romance and, above all, the
theater.
The Jamaican theater, indeed, says
Mr.. Wright Vas the ancestor of our
own. 1t sent its players to us even
before the Revolution. One of its
actors, he records, was no less a
parsonage than our own John Paul
Jones. AS early as 1745, indeed. the
Jamaican theater was. established
with duly appointed Master of the
Revels. one John Moody. Moody. who
came to the islands a political refugee,
begal. his career as player in an
amateur company. He moved up to
professional status very rapidly and
soon began giving performances of
Shakespearean dramas. His popu-
-"AAoy N1o QUILL tAidt AiC wac oNAAt W
England to recruit company. He
did this and. after his departure, his
actors carried on the brilliant uproar-
ious tradition which he had estab-
lished.
Mr.. Richardson's history of this
strange bit of life is not told in
dry-as-dust terms, but in brief biog-
raphies of almost impossibly pictur-
esque people. There were "vermil-
lion" ladies, there were famous beau-
ties, there were heroes and villains
IN the ranks of the Jamaican play
ers, in real life as we'll as on the
boards. An immense amount Of re-
search has plainly been necessary to
ferret out all these flaming old tales,
but there they are, and seemingly we'll
authenticated, too. Considering the
influence which the island theaters
had upon our own, it would seem that
the book is a valuable bit of American
history, as well as a highly colorful
and entertaining bit of reading.
FINE FLOWERS IN THE VALLEY.
BY Donald Wayne. New York:
Scribner's Sons.
WHY is it that the present genera
w ton Of novel writer's does not
feel that q book Is realistic or worth
while unless it Is overflowing with
indecencies, obscenities and vulgari-
ties? Here is book that might
conceivably take its place with such
works as Hardy's Tess Of the Durber-
villes." It has the same inevitability.
Its leading character is another Tess
upon whom Fate plays as on a stringed
instrument. She is one Of those
women whose body is alive" as one
Of the minor characters phrases it.
She charges the atmosphere wherever
she is.
Most of the other characters, too.
are well drawn. They live and
play their appointed parts in Jane
Whitland's life. (The author might
better have steered clear of the few
Jewish characters obviously introduced
for atmosphere only. While he may
have been brought up in Jewish
Gentle neishborhoods, such - that
portrayed Ia his book. he has not