Evening star., 1938-03-20

BesSeI Follows With
Memoirs of His Early Assaults Literary London Published
in the
By Mary.Carter Roberts.

By Mary.Carter Roberts.
CONCERT PITCH. BY Elliot Paul.
New York: Random House.
HIS novel seems to. have been
written chiefly for the sake Of
following up the success of its
L authors immensely popular
''Life and Death of a Spanish Town"
That work, 1t may be said, served as
Mr.. Paul's introduction to the general
reading public of America; despite his
long established reputation among In
telectuals, he has not been widely
known in this country. Life and
Death Of a Spanish Town." however,
has been consistently popular work
since its appearance last summer. It
has familiarized the public with its
authors name, and for the public to
see that same name now on the cover
Of q novel is to assure the latter work
Of an immediate interest. But, though
Concert Pitch" seems likely to gain
. fairly wide distribution on this
basis. 1t is doubtful that 1t would at
tract any general attention on its own
merits.
For 1t is q repetitious and somewhat
dreary work. Its theme Is the futility
Of the postwar generation, which
theme, Of course does not come into
our ken with any perceptible degree
Of originality. and its setting is post
war Paris. another extremely we'll
worn bit of literary usage. Its char
acters are gray little people and its
action is even grayer; 1t is indeed a
psychological novel; Of the type in
which nothing is permitted to happen,
whereby the reader is expected to I'M
derstand that the characters are in
competent of any action and are
thwarted, discouraged, disillusioned,
hopeless. defeated-or, in other words,
Is noted, futile.
This endeavor Mr.. Paul accom-
plishes very well. He does show as
men and women whose defeat rings
true and inevitable. But unfortunate
ly he makes his entire cast so dreary,
50 drab, 30 uninteresting in short, that
no reader is going to care Z con-
tinental whether they find the solu-
tion of their problems or whether
the waters close over them. That is a
point in the novel OF defeat which
spoils many such works-the authors
do not seem to understand that, If
defeat Is to be charged with signifi>
canoe. the defeated one must also be
a character Of potential significance;
merely to show men and women in
capable Of ordering their lives is to
show nothing. Nine-tenths Of the
race Is incapable of ordering life and
would be 50 under any circumstances.
Tho defeat of such individuals there
fore IS Of no more moment than any
other event in their lives-daily shaw
ting, going to the movies or deciding
for the brown hat instead OF the
beige. What OF it? Obviously,
nothing.
So 1t seems likely that few readers
will be able to care much about Mr..
Pau's array Of weaklings for their
own sakes. They are too sad bunch.
When it comes to setting, however,
the novel offers an unusual aspect of
the Paris scene. so that, II you are a
person who can read a work of fic-
tion for its incidental qualities, you
may find something here to interest
you. For the action lies entirely
among the denizens of the musical
world; the leading character is a critic
Of music and the subsidiaries are per-
formers, composers, patrons and devo-
tees Of various sorts. The develop
ment of their lives IS told in terms
Of concert engagements, battles be-;
tween opposing schools, private musi-
Gales and 50 on. There Is, indeed,
almost no character in the book to
whom music is not the dominating
concern of existence.
The character theme is, as said, the
futility Of the postwar generation in !
the face Of its problems. This idea is
given sort of musical counterpart
in the notion that the compositions
of the past-and particularly those
for the piano-have no relation to
modern life and that the piano itself
cannot express the music of the pres
ent. The two themes are tied together
In the career of Robert Maura, q
young pianist and would-be composer,
who fails alike Of personal and artistic
expression. Roberts downfall, to be
sure, is also complicated with mother
complexes, father fixations and such
like. A too strong mutual dependence
between himself and his mother ruins
her second marriage to Ernest Halo
well, critic, and stands between
Robert and any realistic acceptation
of life on its present gritty terms
His mother. significantly, is a player
Of the harpsichord, and her marriage
to Ernest is based on mutual effort
to resuscitate the music of that for
gotten instrument.
Against these inept reachers into
the past is set the case of Gurevitsch,
the only person in the book who has
vitality enough to survive. He is q
composer, too. but does not trouble
himself over past harmonies. He has
invented his own instrument. an elec-
trical device which gives forth grunts,
walls and howls. For an orchestra
Of these "statophones." supplemented
by an airplane propeller. he composes
his symphony. Paris thinks it q joke,
80 he takes 1t on to Moscow. Alas,
Moscow does not understand it either.
But Gurevitsch, one understands, will |
survive. because he is in the tradition |
Of the true creator-that is, he is in |
advance of his day rather than lag
ging behind it. As to the rest, they |
simply do not matter
THE GREENWOOD HAT. BY ]. M.
Barrie. Being a Memoir of James
Anon. New York: Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons
or COURSE he is charming. What
is reviewer to say? After all,
the word stands there In the language. |
1t must be meant for. some applica-