Evening star., 1937-12-19

thor is trying to say. The plot is en-
tirely stereotyped.
There can be no argument with
Mr.. Halper because he shows the
company as all black. There are such
industrial sinks and we can take his
word that this is one. But he pounds
on this theme to the exclusion OF all
else and weakens his own case. E.T.
RICOCHETS. BY Andre Maurois.
Translated from the French by
Hamish Miles. New York: Harper
4, Bros.
THIS is book of Is short stories,
all very polished, all very subtle,
and. for the most part, very short,
indeed. They are stories of the kind
which seem to break open with the
delicacy OF a bit Of fine pastry, and
then display within themselves some
thing that is not sweet at all, or in
any other way pastrylike NJ Maurois
does this very well. Indeed, he is q
master at it.
Most Of the stories deal with love
or hate. They give to the two emo
tions that intense, exclusive sort Of
Importance which is customarily ac-
corded them in the writings of Latins,
an Importance which, in spite of its
exclusiveness, is intellectual and cyni-
cal rather than sentimental. Con-
sequently, it is possible to read M.
Maurois' volume through without any
particular sense Of surfeit. 1t is anus
ing more than anything else. 1t can
be recommended as likely to give you
some intelligent unserious entertain
ment.
MINE HOST. AMERICA. BY Mark
Pepys. London: William Collins
& Sons.
THE most interesting thing about
this book seems to be that its
author, the sixth Earl of Cottenham,
is head of the house to which the
famous diarist Of his name belonged.
Samuel Pepys, he tells us in a foot
note, was "a younger son Of a younger
son of a younger son of the Gotten
ham branch Of the family" Apart
from this somewhat tenuous distinc-
ton, the book could be that OF any
of large number of visiting Eng
lishmen of letters-mellow, indulgent,
courteous, interesting and witty,
though not too witty.
Lord Cottenham arrived by boat in
Montreal, went by train to New York
motored across the United States, did
considerable flying and visited around.
He travelled rapidly; admittedly, his
account is impressionistic But he did
about as well as any stranger could
do under like circumstances. 1t is
not his fault if the accident of his
name may make readers look for
something more pointed and in
dividual
The outstanding part of the book
would seem to be the rather large
division devoted to air travel in Amer
lea. The author admires our trans
port system and says that more at
tention should be given by the press
to the magnificent record possessed
by most" o. our lines. He goes into
considerable detail in commenting on
our system Of commercial flying, and,
for the most part, is complimentary.
Washingtonians may be interested,
however, to know that, among the
adverse feature which he mentions,
is the local airport. Of that he re-
marks that the less said, the better.
The book is readable and pleasant,
though not remarkable. AS one more
indication of how We look to others,
it can be recommended.
NOTES ON A DRUM. BY Joseph
Henry Jackson. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
7 Asst year Joseph Henry Jackson
and his wife took their car and
drove about Mexico, after which he
wrote brisk, pleasant book which
he called Mexican Interlude" This
year Mr.. and Mrs. jackson have been
travelling about Guatemala and now
again he writes brisk, pleasant book.
Having discovered that there are
tympani in the land which he in
vaded, he calls his volume "Notes On
A Drum" AS travel books 60, it is
entertaining reading.
To be sure, there is nothing par
ticularly original in going into Gen.
tral America for book material. The
republics to the south of us must be
pretty we'll crowded with writer's and
typewriters by now; doing book on
the soul of the Indian or the spirit
of the jungle or the message of the
tribal dance has become a pretty
we'll established literary racket. But
Mr.. Jackson ably keeps out of dull
cliches and, in writing of his tropical
journey, reports what he actually saw
and felt rather than what he believed
was proper to see and feel. That
makes him distinctly superior at this
kind Of book.
He is humorous, bright and individ-
ual He went into the back country
and saw the village dances, he at
tended fiestas, he. witnessed church
services which included pagan rites,
he met planters and cultivated natives
as well as peon types. He is frankly
impressionistic; he does not pretend
that brief tour fitted him to become
an authority on Guatemala, but he
does imply that he enjoyed himself
and contrived to make his readers en-
JOY themselves, too. II you like travel
works his is one that can be recon-
mended If you don't you don't and
that is all there is to it.
THE KAISER ON TRIAL. BY George
Sylvester Viereck. New York:
Greystone Press.
THIS curious book purports to be
the trial Of the late Kaiser Will
helm II before the tribunal of the
nations-the trial which was decreed
in the Treaty of Versailles and which
was never held because Holland re-
fused to surrender the refugee. It
Is presented as If in the form Of
an actual record. The charges are
read, the public prosecutor and the
public defender speak: witnesses are
called; the Kaiser speaks for him.
uAlf @..y~