Evening star., 1938-11-20
BOOK SHOWS UNUSUAL COURAGE
Arguments Followed by British Monarch Are Presented
of Powerful and Determined Opposon Random Choice
From Among Recent Stream of Published Works

ing any claim upon his serious con-
sideration. Her present book Is the
story Of an innocent at . house
party-one Of those English country
place house parties without which
our fiction surely could not survive.
The innocent is . shy young woman
who would gladly have escaped the
terrifying invitation to the great
house. But, In the course Of the
week end there. things turn out 70
that she becomes . sort Of heroine.
She also falls in love. And 30 We
leave her. The book Is perfectly
readable, pleasant and amusing.
Next on the shelf-and readers
will note the impartial manner Of
the housecleaning-is M. Andre
Malraux's Mans Hope" translated
from the French by Stuart Gilbert
and Alastair Macdonald and pub
nshed by Random House. One
should give 50 eminent an author as
M. Malraux less cavalier treatment.
Yes-one should. But how? That
is the question. Well. then, this
present book Is M. Ma1raux's word
on the war in Spain, = novel, i'm
mensely dramatic and grim. It Is
a presentation of Fascism and, Of
course. one knows that this writer
has no love for that political system.
His novel shows the resistance in
Spain to be the expression of the
will Of the people. He has built his
book up in terms of men and action,
however; it is no tractor at least
1t is no mere tract. 1t is q terrible
and moving story of war between
two irreconcilable systems. To the
serious 1t Is recommended. It seems
to the reviewer one of the best
works yet to come out of the Spanish
struggle.
After this on the shelf is volume
containing three novels. It comes
from the hand of Sholem Asch, the
eminent Jewish writer, and is pub
ished by G. P. Putnam's Sons. The
three works are called Uncle
Noses" Chain Lederer's Return"
and Judge Not -" All deal with
the problem of the Jew In the New
World. They are translated from
the Yiddish by Elsa Krauch. The
first named tells of the adventures
Of a group Of Polish Jews newly
transplanted to Brooklyn. The
Uncle Moses Of the title is the local
benevolent depot: 1t is for him that
his fellow countrymen work, and he
exercises a virtual dictatorship over
their lives. The story is concerned
to show how, with the growth of in
dependence. the workmen gradually
acquire spirit enough to throw OF
the old-world yoke. 1t is not a
story OF mere movements. however,
but is resolved In the human terms
Of love theme.
Chain Lederer's Return" tells of
the attempt Of a wealthy Jew to 60
back to his youth, not, Faustlike, In
wears, but in interests. He has been,
throughout his career, occupied first
and foremost with making money.
The money being finally acquired, he
wishes to resume his young preoccu-
patton with ideas. He finds it i'm
possible, but does manage to work
out q compromise.
The last story. Judge Not" is
the dramatic tale OF . wealthy Jew
ish banker who, in q moment of
passion, commits murder. He is SEN
fenced to death and, in his cell, he
reviews the history of his life, going
to his end with calm and resigna-
ton.
All three tales have that richness
of detail and warm understanding
with which readers of Mr.. Asch's
work must be familiar. The book
is not light reading assuredly. since
1t is imbued in every page with an
awareness of those problems which
everywhere seem to face the Jew,
but the dramatic quality is not lost
through this preoccupation, and the
stories can be commended for a true
story quality, as well as for their
sober dealing with grave questions.
Mr.. Asch is an artist, as one knows,
though he is controversialist, too.
The next novel is a prize winner.
1t has received the $4,000 award for
first novel offered by Dodd, Mead
& Co., its publishers. The title is
Young Doctor Galahad" and the
author Elizabeth Seifert. It Is, as its
depressingly sweet name announces,
a story Of a physician, his career and
love. How the fame of THE Citadel
has gotten around, to be sure. Well,
this book seems to the reviewer dis
tinctly lightweight. It tells of the
brave efforts of a charming young
man Of medicine to serve his ideals
in a small Missouri town, and has
some verisimilitude in its portrayal
of small town types-but, heaven
help us, do we need to see more of
those? They are a drug on the
market; small town types, presented
with whimsical humor-small town
types presented with grim (or ruth
lessO realism-they clutter up the
place. Suffice it to say that any
book which deals with q hospital
seems likely to win popularity in this
country at present. How we love
to talk about operations! For the
rest, Young Doctor Galahad" can
be dismissed as q prize novel. That
is to say, II it had not won the prize
no one would have noticed it, for
, good or bad. The reviewer has long
been Of the opinion that judges in
these contests award their verdicts
by blind mans brf, and she still
believes 1t.
So much for the novels Not
that there are not many more on the
shelf! But that proportionate rep
resentation Is q system to which the
reviewer is devotedly committed.
Among the life histories there Is
an excellent one Of Goya by Charles
Poore. It is published by Scribner's.
It is IN immensely serious thing, but
written with q style 50 readable that
one supposes that one must call 1t
popular" The viewpoint taken is
the need Of distinguishing between