Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-04-08
Wars Cloud
South Seas
Paradise
Escape Literature Again !;
Brought 10 Mind
BY EDWIN c. HILL


the South Seas is no longer the
hula-hula paradise, the carefree.
getaway land for victims else
where of social and economic
tension. The long shadow OF
war, and particularly of Japa-
nese aggression, falls over the
isles and and atolls of enchant-
ment.
In the disillusioning back
wash of the World War. the
South Seas was a providential
lure for dreams of peace. beauty.
romance and security. White
Shadows on the South Seas" by
the late Frederick O'Brien. be-
came a best seller over night.
After all the killing. all the
hate. all the human blight and
misery. there was still left on
the planet an arcanum of song.
sunlit waters, coral beaches, and
soft-eyed gentle people, into
which any lockstep comniuter
could project himself in this
golden afterglow of his day
dreams. 1t was all in Mr..
OBrien's book
Quite probably. White Sha-
dows on the South Seas" was
the most successful piece OF
escape literature ever written.
II was quite an accidental tour
de force, The South Seas looked
that way to MIR O'Brien, and his
book Just happened 10 come
along at the right time.
WHAT book or diversion or
w never-never land will lure
a miser from his millions or
/ heeHflteefef from his high stool
in his new disilluSionment after
the collapse of all the new free
domS'? ! find that the publish
ers are already bordering this
problem. They have noted with
keen interest the runaway sue
cess Of that book. "Kabloona,"
about ESkimos and their amaz-
Ing survival resources. the sur
cease they find in their wide. il
somewhat forbidding horizons.
The success of the book might
mean something. hut, on second
thought the publishers copper
the bet as the old-time faro
dealers put II For here is this
book of Jan Valtin's. "Out of the
Night a dreadful portrayal OF
the world Of today AT its super
la'ivc worst. with its recital Of
the horrors Of red and brown
tyrannleS And that, too, is
best seller.
Two publishers 10 whom We
talked thought il was too early
10 decide what the turn of the
public mind or taste might be.
but they were convinced that in
due time there will be another
''escapist" trend in fiction and
The arts, and the publisher who
can anticipate IL will score a To-
strike.
| have found that certain pub
fishers already are anticipating
II. bid fair to make cleanup,
and don't know II. There is. this
Spring. an entirely unprece-
dented demand for seed cata- :
logueS. The plumper the vege-
tables. the more regal the
flowers. The more gorgeous the
colorS. the bigger the circulation
and the repeated demands for the
catalogue.
OUNCE TIETJENS. a sensi-
II i've poet Who missed none
of the romance and beauty OF
the South Seas in her long stay
there. also saw lot Of shoddy
in this gorgeous fabric, as she
makes clear in her book. Rain
bow Over My Shoulder" There
was boredom and malnutrition
and disease. and any grand-and-
lofty dreamer who landed there
and many of them did-was
apt to get homesick as soon as
the shine wore off But, God
help the man when the last OF
his dreams is dead" as an old
poem mislaid for the moment,
stated the dilemma OF final dis
illusionment.
But il just happens that we
in America have discovered the
markings Of many new dreams in
the last 20 years. and the bigger
and brighter seed catalog is only
one of them House and garden
magazines are sharply on the
uptake. There is rash Of
hobbies and hobby-shows. The
movies. our most dependable
escape" are exploring new
fields and dealing. on the whole,
a much better brand of nepenthe
than they handed out 20 years
ago
Travelling Britishers returning
from hy-specked UtopiaS. tradi-
tionally turn to intensive culti-
walton of their two-by-four gar
denS. Gardens-yes, but we can
do lot more. Even if we have
TO excise the South Seas from .
our dream book, we have a
steadily widening range of crea-
tive and Imaginative interests,
and we still have plenty of elbow
room, and nianfV of yo,,s ;doo@