Evening star., 1937-04-07
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
SOUTH TO sAMARKAND. BY Ethel
Mannin. New York: E. P. Dutton

seven thousand miles OF hard travel
through territory which is not noted for
its hospitality to visitors from alien
lands-particularly If they happen to
be women without the counsel and pro-
lection Of male pilotage = is journey
well worth making in the luxurious
deepness of fireside chair while leav-
ing to Miss Mannin the discomforts,
hardships and disagreeable experiences
which such an excursion necessarily
entails For despite the thrill OF ad-
venture, the appeal of romance, the
response to beauty and the sheer fasci-
nation of going to forbidden places, only
a hardened wayfarer in strange countries
should contemplate SO vast an undertake
ing in actuality. And Miss Mannin, as
will be remembered by those who read
Forever Wandering" is seasoned
nomad, the victim of an irrepresslble
desire to wander, and fortunately pos
Sessed of the courage and the deter
mination to turn longing into reality
The trip to Samarkand was in the
nature of pilgrimage, the carrying out
of a promise to herself that she would
some day stand before the tomb of
Tamerlane. At the time Miss Mannin
decided to begin her pilgrimage the
required permission to traverse certain
countries in some degree of comfort
and security were denied by Moscow.
Perhaps the high command at Moscow
believed that denial of the requested
papers put an end to the matter. But
he is an unWise executive who assumes
that his word is law to a woman who
is bent upon carrying out any specific
plan. Miss Mannin, OF course, journeyed
without the permits, and took with her
Miss Donia Nachshen, an artist whose
sketches were intended in the original
agreement to illustrate the book. Un-
fortunately the sketches and photo
graphs made on the trip are not in
cluded for the reason that Miss Mach
shen, as explained in foreWord, is a
Communist and refused to permit the
use of her pictures in book which to
her mind indulges in criticism of the
Soviet government. In the same fore
ward the author declares her story to
be an impartial observation of condi-
IiOlio do oilC odN dlid ChlSiASAASSo lAASAAJ
and that she has no political ak to
grind for or against the prevailing system
in Russia.
Be that as it may, American readers
will be inclined to accept Miss Mannin's
observations in accordance with their
own prejudices or knowledge and devote
themselves to enjoyment of the book as
an excellent combination of travel and
ont fn lonn
more about the unfamiliar corners of
the world and to acquire more intelli-
gent degree of understanding concern
ing the conditions in which the people
who inhabit these strange lands live.
In her treatment of both of these es-
sentials in good travel book the
author is explicit and entertaining, even
when describing the sordid, unWhole-
some and, to the Western mind, de-
generating influences and conditions
which aff1ict poverty ridden humanity in
lands where life is not regarded as an
individual right or protected and de-
veloped as national asset of social and
economic Importance.
A large part of the book is devoted
to the authors observations in Soviet
Russia. She had for long time before
ton possible wanted to make closeup
study of the new order, and 1t is to be
believed that when she set out on her
pilgrimage to Samarkand she ap-
preached the matter of dissecting the
Russian system dispassionately and
without bias Such a task would be
extremely difficult for any one to under
take, for the human race is not eSpe-
cjo joljv ofo,t OF onalUzjno nf
doctrine or ism with an entirely open
mind. But in her former book Miss
Mannin admitted that her first visit into
Soviet Russia had produced no convic-
tions concerning either the merits or
dement's of the RECOMMENDATION of human
beings or whether communism might or
might not be the ideal formula for pro-
ducing national solidarity and social i'm
provement. 1t can, therefore, be assumed
that her observations as now recorded
are as nearly unbiased and dispassionate
as could be achieved.
From London the author reached
Leningrad by way OF the Kiel Canal and
journeyed to Moscow. She and her
companion then proceeded southwark
to Kiev, Kharkhov and RoStov on an
arm of the Sea of Azov, through
Armavir and then touching the Black
Sea at Sotchie Back on the main
trail, the travellers continued south
ward to Tifis, going by plane to
Baku and by steamer across the Caspian
Sea to Krasnovodsk, from which the
journey across Turkestan to Bokhara
and Samarkand began. Adventurous,
daring, uncomfortable and often dis
tressing were the experiences en-
countered by Miss Mannin and Miss
Nachshen in reaching their goal, but
the point is that they reached it in
spite Of Moscows refusal to extend the
courtesy of safe transport and contrary
to the unanimous opinion of all and
sundry that they could not possibly
succeed in their venture.
Taking route considerably east Of
the outward trail the two travellers
worked northWard and westward through
Tashkent and along the syr Oar to
Kazil Ord and Kazalinsk, skirting the
northern flange of the Aral Sea, cross
ing the Ural Mountain and then follow
ing the main route through Samara and
| Riashk back to Moscow. From Moscow
across Europe by way OF Danzig, Berlin
and Amsterdam, the last homeward lap
was made by plane to London.
Miss Mannin Is an unconventional
| traveller, and she naturally attracts and
| collects experiences and adventures
| which the usual tourist or student would
not encounter Her story is. therefore.