Evening star., 1937-05-08
By Mary Carter Roberts.

L sh philosopher offers the world
those findings which seem to him the
realities Of the situation. The reviewer
confeSses that at first she read the
work with impatience. She wished
to say: Here is war: this book Is
language Men and women and be-
ing murdered; this book concerns
itself with philosophic Technology.
Realities, indeed"
But such impatience cannot well
stand up before the lucid and pro-
pher presents Men and women are
killed in any war. From heiroglyphtcs
on antique monuments down to ac-
ton picture in the rotogravure sec
tions, there is plenty Of evidence OF
that. The physical horrors Of the
Spanish trouble are not unique.
Moreover, much of the motivation OF
war, no matter what the nation in
volved, Is similarly subject to typical
classification. Is there, then, any,
thing that Is unique in this present
nightmare? Senor Ortega believes
that there is.
He views the struggle from the ma
tions as to the future Of Europe do
not primarily concern him in this
book. He asks why it is that Spain
has found herself unable to progress,
as nation, and answers that the
reason is that, as a nation. Spain
does not exist It has no bond OF
common national feeling, he declares;
1t is, instead, an aggregation OF
classes living within stated geographi-
cal limits. All these classes, he
further declares, are self absorbed
to the point Of being actually OBJ
livious to each other. 1t is not hatred
that divides them, he says, but blind
ness to one another's existence.
He then proceeds to the statement
that national consciousness is alive
In a people only when that people
has "a community of intentions, OF
desires, of common usefulness. And
he continues, They do not live to-
gether in order merely to be together.
They live together in order to do
something together" Spain, he says,
has long ceased to desire to do any
thing. Ceasing to have this desire,
1t has ceased to be, in any national
sense.
The next step in this reasoning,
Of course, is the rather cynical one
that leads to the conclusion that the
currently frowned-on national pas
time of empire seeking is the only
healthy national condition. Senior
Ortega seems to say-or, indeed, does
say as much. He cites Rome as the
great historical example Of national
spirit and quotes her conquestS as his
evidence He seems to point plainly
to the idea that those people who be-
lieve In manifest destiny" or those
who take up the white mans bur-
den," If you prefer that, are the
only ones whose health is above
suspicion. He was, one remembers,
active in bringing about the Spanish
Republican revolution Of 1881. But
his sentiment here has been heartily
concurred with by such anti-Repub-
licans as Hitler and Mussolini. 1t
makes one smile little, with the
safety of an oceans width to render
the smiling unassailable.
Senor Ortega does not write here,
however, as party man, nor does he
conform to any passing school Of
political thought. He is interested in
stead in such aspects of the govern
Ing art as history has shown to be
lasting. His conclusion is that the
law of nature Is growth and that the
law of human nature IS aggression.
process of aggression therefore cease
to live. They may hold together with
In their boundaries for time, but
that is all. Disaster eventually will
overtake them. That Is what Is hap
pening in Spain today, Is his opinion.
The book is written with somber
brilliance which even translation does
not dim. 1t is detached and yet full Of
grief. Few works on political sub
jects have come to the reviewers
hand that are comparably free Of
popularity accepted doctrines. This is,
indeed, treatise on government-on
bad government-With the Spanish
situation offered as the demonstra-
ton. That work built up on hard
and bitter fact should have distinct
ly a revolutionary sound among other
works on a like subject is. of course,
an ironical reflection on the realism
of that great welter of ink cur
rently being spilled for the purpose
of enlightening the public on the
subject of government and an even
more ironical reflection on the COM
petence of those writer's who name
themselves, with complacent secur-
!ty, "revolutionists." No revolution
tst has ever been secure, it seems,
and none can be complacent. Senior
Ortega Is himself in exile. One men
tions the fact in passing.
THE RING IS CLOSED. BY Knut
Hamsun. Translated from the
Norwegian by Eugene Gay-Tifft.
New York: Coward McGann.
THIS Is one of those vast rumbling
powerful Scandinavian novels of
which it may be said that, without
exception, they are either the best
or the worst in the world With the
venerable Knut Hamsun as author, it
hardly seems necessary to specify in
the case of the present one 1t may
be Of interest to readers, however, to
know that he himself rates the book
as his best. OF 1t he writes, "'The
Ring Is Closed as for both thought
and imagination, Is the best thing
have done. I rather believe the
reader will grant me some right to
an opinion"
1t Is one of those novels which, by
its indefinable beauty, cleanses the
soul. You may say that it is a story
of unremarkable people It is. You
may say that it deals in human
meanness. 1t does. You may say
that its hero, while a free soul, Is
still anything but an asset to his fell
lows, and that his life is profitless
to all save himself. That Is true.