Evening star., 1942-11-01

Stfalgnt WTlLlnR anu So IlOt III IIle
Thurberian tradition, and extremely
good. The other is bit of fiction
done for the Saturday Evening Post
and showing it-"You Could Look
1t Up
In this tale. a baseball player turns
raconteur with all the misspelling
that usually attends such fiction. But
what might we'll have been bad
Lardner, and, indeed, seems to have
been intended to be that, somehow
escapes Mr.. Thurbers direction and
returns, as if Willy-nilly. to his own
literary fold. Eerie madness creeps
into the thing, which at first sounds
like routine imitation written
probably by request, and at the close
thereader recognizes that. while the
spelling is the spelling of Lardner
the voice is the voice of Thurber.
For the rest, the volume is
happily - just what you might
expect.
Hostages
By Stefan Heyn,. (Putnam'sJ
The author of this exciting novel
is a 29-year -old German who ran
afoul of the Nazis with his pro-
democratic writings. In 1888 he fled
to Czeciloslovakia and the Gestapo
held his father as a hostage. He
has not forgotten that his father,
though released after six weeks,
committed suicide In the place OF
the usual dedication his book car
ries the simple yet moving notation,
Because my father was a hostage.
And 1t is for that very reason, no
doubt, that Mr.. Heym, now resi-
dent in the United States, has sue
ceeded in writing so convincingly OF
the five men who are the hostages
of his title. The scene Is Prague,
just after the German occupation,
and the hostages are Czechs seized
by the Gestapo following the dis
appearance of Nazi officer.
In the brutal hands of the Ges-
tapo each of the prisoners reacts
differently. Preissinger, the some
what Quislinglike industrialist, Is
confident until the end that his
wealth and position will enable him
to escape the firing squad. Prokosch
the actor, is driven by his egoism to
make false confession. Waller
stein, the psychiatrist, occupies him
self with the preparation of a
learned paper on his fellow hostages
Janoshik, the humble peasant
emerges as the real leader of the
group, but only Lobkowitz. the news
paperman, has the insight to recog-
nize his heroism.
Three other characters also play
important roles in the swiftly un-
folding drama--Breda, the hostages
link with the Czech underground
movement; Reinhardt. the Gestapc
commissioner responsible for their
troubles, and Milada, the lovely
Czech girl whose patriotism puts her
at the mercy of the Nazi. But
Janoshik is the one the reader will
remember-Janoshik the quiet. fear
less, patient peasant who, in death
becomes living symbol of his
beaten but still unconquered people
Mr.. Heym has written the story
OF Janoshik and the others with un-
usual skill and insight. His work
deserves place well up on any list
OF novels to be read this season.
PHILIP H. LOVE.
Giant Dwarf
By Wood Kahler. (Livertqht.J
This Is = long, overwritten novel
which attempts to combine realism
and romance harmoniously. Mr.
Kahler's theme is to the effect that
mah cannot live without love. Two
characters are used to illustrate his
point. First. there is big Nick Dun
field, the giant dwarf" so named
the author explains. because Of his
bulging forehead, maShed-in face