Evening star., 1938-08-14
LOST GOLD AND TRIBE SOUGHT
Fascinating Book About Expedition Into Ecuador Which
Also Has Areas Still Unseen by First White Man..
Strachey Tells Us What We Should Do.


to readers individual judgment.
sTOREv1K. BY Costa af Geijerstam.
Translated from the Norwegian by
Joran Birkeland. New York: e. P.
Dutton Co.
THE author Of this work made his
bow to American readers some
time back with q little book called
Northern Summer" In it he de-
scribed the life Of his family on .
small island in q fjord OF the coast
Of Norway. It was charming thing
In the present book the life of the
same family in the same place is por-
trayed once more, with the difference
that several years have passed and
every one is a bit older. The same
charm Is expressed in the writing,
however. It Is that charm of extreme
naivety which seems characteristic OF
Scandinavian writer's peculiarly,
quality which would approach the
maudlin in less skillful hands or the
theatrical in less honest
The record is practically day.
by-day story. The family goes fish,
ing and camping, they have games in
the snow, they tramp, they make
additions to their home, they celebrate
holidays. The father tells the tale
in the first person. whimsical in
dulgent and understanding. AS said,
the thing comes terribly near being
piece Of sentimentality. but. near
as it comes, it never touches that
level. And, q miss being as good as
q mile, one supposes that one can
recommend it. , Certainly. family
minded people could do far worse in
the choice Of reading matter.
sOUTHWAYS. BY Erskine Caldwell.
New York: The Viking Press.
THIS is a collection of le short
stories by the man whom the
public knows chiefly as the author
Of Tobacco Road" AS the name
implies, the material for the tales is
taken from Mr.. Caldwell's native
South. The collection has. in the
main, high level of craftsmanship,
though the individual stories are apt
to be somewhat inconsequential. Mr..
Caldwell has an excellent mastery
OF the language, its rhythm and its
content. And in this collection 1t is
the use Of that mastery which appar-
emily has engaged his attention. He
takes incidents Of no more than mo-
mentary interest and turns them out
in polished paragraphs. The result is
q series of stories which can be read
with the greatest ease, and forgotten
just about as readily.
VOICES IN THE SQUARE. BY George
Able. New York: Coward McCann.
THIS book, first novel, carries on
its jacket a brilliant example of
all that blurb writers ought not be
allowed to do. For the particular
blurber here announces this work as
masterpiece, talks of the author s
glowing heat Of creative ACTIVITY" and
quotes Mr.. Stephen Vincent Benet on
the Lyric beauty Of his style" and
the definite achievement" manifest in
his product. Actually the book is q
nice little thing. a bit long and more
than bit obvious, demonstrating no
more ability in its author than an in
telligent understanding of the novel
form and a fair for neat journalistic
prose, but still nice enough little
thing. Announced truthf.llly for what
it really is, the work might well have
won cordial interest in the writer as
one who was competent and ambitious.
But presented as a piece of literature
why. 1t takes on the color and taste
Of fraud, and reader is apt to trans
fer his sense of resentment to the au-
thor. Which, of course. may not be
fair, but is still that well-known
thing-human.
The book deals with the life of q
small New England city. with its story
centering in young boy who is SEN
sitive and beauty-loving and also wild
and harum- -Scarum. Various influences
play on this youth and for a time it
looks as if he may be crowded into
following the dictates Of his worser
nature. But at last. through the in
huence Of the kindly young minister
and the local girl whom the minister
loves. the good survives and the boy
turns out to be fine painter. Where
at, with 50 much accomplished, the
minister and the local girl decide that
they can take time of and marry. And
there you are.
This plot is livened up by the use
of various New England types. Mr..
Able deserves some credit for the
fact that, on the one hand, he has
kept his story from taking on any load
OF quaintness and, on the other. has
refrained from proletarianizing it in
the usual fashion prevailing in books
about small cities. 1t is in the main
level-headed. There just does not seem
to be any particular reason for its hav-
ing been done; that is the reviewers
structure. She would remark, of course,
that Mr.. Able is not the only writer
whose work calls forth the criticism.
THE MAR1GOLD COOKBOOK. BY
Mary H. Baldwin and Evelyn G..
Hinds New York: Doubleday,
Doran g. Co.
MANY excellent New Orleans re-
cipes are gathered together be-
tween the plastic binding of this
streamlined little volume. The au-
thors are the proprietors Of the Mari
gold Restaurants in New Orleans and
Niagara Falls-and the collection Of
recipes has been gotten together and
published largely in response to Gus
toners demand.
The book is neatly thumb -indexed,
for ready reference and selection. The
fundamentals of cookery are dealt
with clearly and concisely. The main
portions of the volume are given-and
rightly-to the recipes themselves
B. G.
200, 900 FEET-THE EDGE OF THE
WORLD. BY Michael Powell. New
York: E. p. Dutton q Co.
TAKE q group Of "a city-bred men Of
the average age Of IS years and
two beautiful Young women. drop