Evening star., 1938-01-02

possibly have been achieved; Branch
CabelI repeated once more his dis
covery that youth Is desirable but
temporary and that love is delightful
but difficult; Somerset Vaughan S
Theatre" was no more than neat,
workmanlike and synthetically though
gayly sparkling; knut Hamsun I'm
ished his cycle with THE Ring Is
Closed" showing us far from in
teresting character through reduu-
dant verbiage.
All these in other years have been
writer's of genius. But in 1887 their
novels showed either a lack Of in
spiration or uninspired performance.
That these maladies should have
been so widely prevalent in q single
year is, to the reviewers mind, al
together singular.
INDEED, the best novels OF the year
= have been those written by authors
OF comparatively little reputation
Among these can be mentioned the
Harper prize winner. Frederic Pro-
koschs Seven Who Fled" 1t is Mr..
Prokoschs second work of fiction and
it is a distinguished thing; it shows
its young author capable of producing
exquisite prose and of thinking
strange thoughts. 1t suffered some
what by being repetitious and rather
arbitrarily ordered to a pattern, but
distinctly it is among the few good
novels of the year.
Another Of this small group is the
uproarious comedy which came from
Gene Fowler's irreverent pen after
several years Of non-performance by
him in the fiction field. That was
Salute to Yesterday" a fantastic.
joyous piece of impossibility, written
with blazing vitality and unconven-
tional humor. Yet Salute to Yester-
day should be dismissed with such
commendation only; it is veritable
Interpretation Of life carried out in
terms of life's absurdity. There is
more in the making of such a book
than wit or wisecracking.
Still another is Michael Fosters
american Dream" thing Of deep
vision written with great emotional
force. The reviewer, who does not
weep easily, can report this book as
one which moved her to tears. 1t is
the story of four generations of an
American family, but not the routine
affair which the polite family novel
has come to be. The passages dealing
With the generation before the pres
ent, the life of the old-fashioned in
dividualist who had liberalism and
courtesy as his traditions, as he sees
himself surrounded by the rising
mob-mindedness which, under the
name of social consciousness is now in
full flower, is heart-rending tragedy
1t is excellent to be able to report
that this book sold WELL indeed, it has
remained on the best seller list as
long as any.
Archie Binns' The Laurels Are Cut
Down" deserves mention here, too, for
it is good work on the same theme
1t is less impressive, it places less of a
pull upon the emotions, but it Is well
done and its Implications are clear.
Both Mr.. Bins and Mr.. Foster cele.
brate the American spirit and mourn
its somthering out under imported in
f1uences, such influences as have been
tried again and again and have never
resulted in happiness in any country
and are now being embraced in
America as cure-alls invested with
miraculous power.
One has in mind, as one writes, oul
worship Of standardization, our ac-
ceptance of the doctrine that class
should stand against class, our In
creasing submission to centralized
government and the spiritual deteri-
Grafton among the people which in
evitably attends the progress Of these
doctrines. 1t is significant that two
novels have been written in a twelve
month, and both by young men, which
show in these influences something
less than divine guidance. It is sig
nificant, too, that both books have q
high literary level, though American
Dream" from the cratsman's point
of view, is the superior.
THE other novels which stand out
Of the drear ranks of 1875 out
put are from the pens of foreign
writer's. Song of the World" by
the Basque, Jean Giono, was trans
lated into English this year for the
first time successfully. It comes to us
from the pen of man who, in his
own country, has become cult and
a legend, a writer who has turned
back to the primitive savagery Of ma
ture for his materials, and to the
heroic age Of Homer for his men and
women. Song Of the World" is q
thing Of burning beauty, tale Of the
simple emotions of love, hate and re-
venge, carried out against a setting
of vivid strangeness, with its modern
Basses-Alpes peasants shown to us in
the simplicity Of men Of ancient
Greece. Yet, in the reviewers mind,
there fingers question as to whether
any age can ever be relived, and as
to whether nostalgia consciousness
of a lost ages beauty on the part
of an artist may not, insensibly, in
huence that artists work toward arti-
flciality. Even so, Song of the World
is novel to read and have.
Another is Heinrich Mann's young
Henry of Navarro" a splendid pageant
of France under Catherine de Medici
of vicious court intrigues and of the
stark primitive country from which
the future Henry w derived his hard
and canny virtues. In plot it is such
story as Dumas would have loved;
in manner it far surpasses Dumas
for it is reflective, philosophical and
shadowed with awareness Of life be-
yond life-an accomplishment which
was outside the reach OF the great
French composer Of historical 70.
mances. Mann Is a German; he /,
the brother Of Thomas; he Is vel
known abroad, but, until this year
he has not been published In America
Young Henry" is an excellent intro.
duction.
Another good historical romano,
which came to US last year from tn
pen Of q foreign writer was "A Car