Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-12-11
DIPLOMATIC MEMOIRS WRITTEN
Member Columbia University Faculty Writes Charming Book
Trave-New Life of Christ Presents Factua Jesus the
10th Century Will Recognize

oCQOCI1L oUCCCSS. x14o pOOk CeklS OF
his progress, and while 1t deals HUI
morously with his surprise at the
strange American ways, it is not
Observation-Disclosures -in-America.
1t is a book about young artist
getting on who happened to be in
America. The method is one Of
cheerful humor and Is well carried
through. The title Of this book is
Life Glass" and the publisher is
the Viking Press.
The shelf also contains the life
of a great man Of nterature-Sam-
uel Taylor Coleridge. The work is
called Farewell the Banner" and Is
by Frances Winwar, published by
Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1t Is
Economically written, almost fiction
lied, and very readable. But 1t
should not be thought that its init
mate style connotes an inaccurate
or incomplete knowledge of the sub
ject. Miss Winwar is well grounded
in the period of which she writes
and her book Is a valuable as well
as an entertaining one.
The last work of biography on the
shelf is a new life of Christ, written
by the veteran Hall Game. Mr.. Gaines
approach to his subject is that of
elimination; he examines the Cos
pels with it for his purpose to strip
away the "accretions" of legend and
to arrive at factual Jesus whom
the Goth century can recognize. He
does this with great tact, as when,
in the case of the Virgin birth, he
holds that the account of the super
natural nativity was added to the
Gospels years after they had been
written, but comments that the
value of human belief in the miracle
has been incalculable. The work
rests as much on Mr.. Gaines in
terpretations as on any research
which 1t represents, but it is an in
teresting attempt. 1t hardly seems
likely, however, to take its place as
a great life of Jesus.
And now with the life histories
cleared up, let us look at the novels.
There is one on the list by Robert
Graves, author of the very popular
Claudius books-"I, Claudius" and
"Claudius the God" It is called
Count Belisarius" and is done in
much the same manner as the ear
lier works; it, too, is historic novel,
carried out with great pomp and
circumstance, something in the style
of latter-day Bulwer Lytton. 1t
deals with the life of a cavalry COM
mander under Emperor Justinian
and the scene is Justinian's Con-
stantinople. 1t has sort of heavily
gilded magnificence about it which
cannot but command admiration
The Literary Guild has named the
work for its December selection. On
the whole it can be recommended.
Its publisher is Random House.
Another historic novel on the list
is Garland of Bays" by Gwyn
Jones. published by the Macmillan
Co. This work deals with the life
of Robert Greene, the Elizabethan
poet, and does very we'll to make
a lively story against a resurrected
period. The conversation of the
characters Is not so heavily larded
with obvious Elizabethanisms as is
the case in the generality of novels
of the time; it will strike the reader,
indeed, that the 18th century men
and women sometimes talk very
modernly. But the illusion of that
hardy time, its bitterness and its
beauty is there, and the sad story
of the hero is very knowingly told.
That story takes its followers to
all the customary points of Eliza
bethan interest-the theaters, the
university, the roads. the court and
the prisons. The book is a good
one for stepping out of this present
world for a few hours, and so is
recommended.
And still another historic novel
comes from the pen of Helen Ash
ton, dealing with the lives and love
of William and Dorothy Words
worth and published by Macmillan.
The work Is an admirable one, but
is hardly vivid enough for the gen.
erality of novel readers. It is
closely founded on fact; indeed, Miss
Ashton says that she has invented
nothing in it but the conversations,
and these she has often shaped from
written records. She simply follows
the Wordsworths from their youth
to their passing maturity, taking
them on their travels, allowing them
to meet theis friends-Lamb, Coler-
idge, Hazlitt and Shelley-showing
their dependence on one another
and their weaknesses as well as their
strengths, by no means idealizing.
1t is book remarkable for it's
authors power to deduce, rather
than for its force as a narrative, but
for those who have an interest in
the personalities of the characters
it should have value.
The fashion in Civil War novels
seems to have subsidized of late, but
not completely, for the reviewer
finds on her waiting shelf. book
by Allen Tate which deals with the
period Immediately preceding the
war and carrying into the first years
of the conflict. It is called THE
Fathers" and is Mr.. Tate's first
novel, his other work having been in
the fields of biography and the
essay. He tells good story, how
ever. and Washingtonians may be
the more interested in it from the
circumstance that its scene Is local;
the hero Is an Alexandrian and
scenes in Washington and George
town are frequent. The theme is
of the rise of an unconventional
young man in highly convention
allied society; the hero is almost
modern in his philosophy of life and
so runs into difficulties with the
rigid abiders by the old Southern
code among whom he lives. But he
wins his lady and makes his fortune
just the same. The book is not a
set piece at all, but has plenty of
plausibility and a good reading
quality, too. From Mr.. Tate's past