Evening star., 1938-02-27
MANN RETELLS JOSEPH STORY
Third Novel Cycle by Great German Author Treats Detail the
Sale of Joseph the Ishmaetes by His Brothers and His
Denunciation by Potiphar's Wife.

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SHIPS IN THE SKY. BY Gunnar
Gunnarsson. Translated from the
Danish. Indianapolis: Bobbs Mer-
rill.
THIS altogether charming book
comes to America after having
enjoyed great popularity in Europe.
1t has sold many thousand copies on
the continent and has been translated
several times. 1t is to be hoped that
1t achieves like appreciative public
in America, for 1t is a fine thing.
1t Is an autobiographical novel,
| dealing with the first seven years of
its heros life, or, in other words, it
is the story of the world seen through
the eyes Of little boy. The scene
is set on an Icelandic farm, where
the great realities OF the child's life
are people. animals and nature-peo-
pie seen in the monstrous arbitrary
importance Of adulthood or as child
hood rivals, animals about which
games and fancies can be made, and
| nature as a wonderful and mysterious
pageant.
Last week the reviewer wrote of
Flannery Lewis Brooks Too Broad
for Leaping," which was a similar
work, being the story of few months
| in the life of 7-year-old boy. That
was done with supreme delicacy; it
was hardly more than bridge OF
smoke thrown across between the
worlds of childhood and maturity.
Mr.. Gunnarsson's book is much more
substantial; it is full of humor and
incident, sort of Tom Sawyer" in
deed. of early childhood.
Yet the likeness between the two
books is striking and deserves COM
ment. Both strive to achieve the
same end, to recreate the world OF a
child. And while one deals with an
American boy and one with an Ice
lander, their summoning up of the
spirit of childhood is so well accom-
plished that either work may be read
by the sensitive anywhere with full
understanding AS said, it is to be
hoped that ships in the Sky gains
an appreciative American public, for
it deserves the honor.
GEN. WASHINGTON'S DILEMMA.
BY katherine Mayo. New York:
Harcourt Brace g. Co.
THIS is the story of minor but
troublesome episode in our early
history, one of those events which, at
1 1a Nf &c hon ar
fraught with catastrophe, but which,
being settled, was almost Immediately
forgotten. 1t was picturesque busi-
ness. certainly, and Miss Mayo, in re-
viving its memory, has given us some
| highly interesting reading.
1t is the story of how the Tory fac
ton of the population Of Monmouth
County, N. j., as an act OF protest
against the revolutionary movement,
hanged one Capt. Jack Huddy until
he was completely dead. Capt. Jack
| had been an American privateersman;
his untimely taking of was promptly
resented by the revolutionists In the
| illogical manner of the extremely
angry they demanded the hanging of
British prisoner of the same rank
and sent a manifesto to Gen. Wash
ington stating the same.
Washington, always temperate, saw
| little merit in making an innocent
man suffer for the acts of others. His
council of officers, however. took an
opposite view and agreed to the hang
| ing. A victim was accordingly Sc
lected, one Capt. Charles Asgll, a
young man, handsome and well born,
heir to one of the greatest estates in
England. Before the disgraceful exc
cution could be carried out. however,
it was brought to the officers atten-
ton that Capt. Asgill belonged to a
group which had surrendered on
terms which forbade capital punish
ment. Gen. Washington then found
himself in the dilemma" of having
to choose between overruling his Off
GERS or violating his countrys word
of honor
Before the matter was settled Con-
gress had been drawn in and the in
terest of such men as Madison HAM
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1t is pleasant to be able to relate that
Capt. Asgill was not hanged, but was
spared "as compliment to the King
of France" 1t is pleasant. too. to
know that 1t was Washington's letter
to Congress which effectively brought
about his salvation. Today it seems
a tempest in teapot, but there can
be no doubt, reading the impassioned
documents of the time which Miss
Mayo uses freely in her text, that in
1882 it came perilously near being
calamity.
DANCE OF DEATH. BY Helen Nc
Cloy. New York: William Morrow.
THIS is detective story, a mystery
by new writer who seems to
have considerable ability in building
up an interesting case. It gives us q
crime, bizarre sort of poisoning, and
sets a sleuth to solve it by "psychol-
ogy." Both the method and the per-
sonality Of the detective are notice.
ably reminiscent Of the famous Philo
Vance, but in the reviewers opinion,
Miss McCloy has improved consider
ably on the model, for her man does
not talk in page-length paragraphs
and does not PROFOUND familiar tru-
isms OF human behavior as If he were
discovering new wonders. Instead, he
does not interfere with the story at
all. but pursues his course sensibly, so
that, by the time he arrives at his
solution, the reader is Just about on
the point Of guessing the answer too.
The book is lively reading and would
seem to indicate the entrance Of a