Evening star., 1938-10-30

his people. The peculiar strength Of
the South, the harships 1t has had to
bear. the beauty Of its land. its heroic
pioneer past-these are the themes
which occur again and again through
the collection. There Is q complete
sincerity in the treatment which they
are given and great depth Of somber
love speaks through the lines. The
book is one to be read with respect.
THE LIFE OF D. H. LAWRENCE. BY
Hugh Kingsmill. New York: Dodge
Publishing Co.
Well! So that's what D. H. Law
renee was like! Readers of this biog-
raphy who have read his books, but
never anything about the man him.
self, are in for some surprises. With
psychology treatises handy on the
shelves of every lending library It is
astonishing that any one who has read
Mr. Lawrence could have had so little
notion about what he was like as a
person.
That an author so engrosSed In
men and women in relation to each
other was no solid citizen who loved
and married and fathered children as
q matter of course might be expected.
Rasputins, as Mr.. Kingsmill points
out, don't write stories of their love
life. But somehow 1t was shock to
find Lawrence exposed as futile
egotist. capable of dealing out injus-
tices and incapable Of receiving them
without screams of protest.
Mr.. Kingsmill offers us q Lawrence
to be despised and pitied. possessor Of
a terrific mother complex. He re-
lates the young neurotic from the coal
mining region of Wales to the strange
galaxy of people who surrounded
him. He achieves . perspective in the
portrait so that the reader sees
clearly the influence of his father.
his mother, Miriam, his wife Frieda,
Huxley and our own Mabel Dodge.
upon Lawrence, and his influence upon
them. He does this cleverly, identify
ing Lawrence's fctional characters
with his intimates.
Mr.. Kingsmill's detached evalua-
ton is the first of countless books and
articles to exclude the flctional and
metaphysical aspects of Lawrence S
life which have until now been the de-
light of his biographers. 1t is frank to
the point of being brutal. The mad
doings of the novelist and his satel-
lites covered England. the Mediter-
ranean. the South Seas, Mexico and
New Mexico and make fascinating
reading. If you have no illusions about
Lawrence. the writer, to start out with
so much the better.-V. K. c.
MUSIC is MY FAITH. BY David
Names. New York: w. w. Norton
g. Co.
AS autobiographies OF musicians go
this one Is something Of an innovation.
The almost sacred rule OF the musical
autobiography demands that 1t involve
only those personages who have def
nitely settled their claim to fame in
the eyes of the world. David Names,
hAGAlOA6Al q AdA AlOli OAIl ol0l III AAla
horizon, can hardly be considered as
Legion of Honor timber-yet his life
and work. as part Of that horizon,
deserve attention.
Mr.. Names states q truism which
In effect, he clarifies in telling his own
story. TOO little is known Of the
life Of an orchestra musician. undis-
tinguished (most Of them. his In
dividual and important efforts never
noted in print. his rare reward smile
from the conductor as high approval OF
his playing In some small passage"
While in later years owner Of prom
inent music school and an orchestra
conductor. David Names spent the
greater part of his life in exactly that
relative obscurity Of the orchestra pit
Fate. that popular god Of music, did,
however, prove q little kinder than
severe in following the authors climb
to reputation. While his beginnings
were surrounded by sordidness and