Evening star., 1944-12-24

OF popularity. OuI OF tne DOCKS
which appeared on the best seller
lists. again and again and again
the reviewer picks the following as
the 10 best, adding by way of paren-
thesis that, though she does not
think of popularity as a necessary
indication of worth, the level of the
group for 1914 seems agreeably high
In fiction, "Strange Fruit" by Lillian
Smith; "The Lost Weekend" by
Charles jackson; "The Razor's Edge,
by w. Somerset Vaughan, "A Bell
for Adano," by John Hersey; "The
History of Rome Hanks" by Joseph
Stanley Pennell, and in noniction
"Good Night, Sweet Prince" by Gene
Fowler; yankee From Olympus" by
Catherine Drinker Bowen, "Time for
Decision" by Sumner Welles; "Ten
Years in JAPAN" by Joseph C. Grew,
and Brave Men," by Ernie Pyle.
Popular books are not always good
books nor are they always bad books
and the years best seller lists con-
tain some of both. Two of the most
spectacular have been "The Robe"
by Lloyd Douglas, and Forever Am
ber," by Kathleen Winsor. The re-
viewer has no space on her shelves
for either. She finds it bemusing
that the taste which welcomed these
ersatz performances should also
have welcomed Lillian Smiths seri-
Gus and comprehensive study of the
race problem and Charles jackson S
finely done examination of the mod
ern neurotic. But the lists stand
to prove it.
In nonfction, it is interesting to
see that the popular works are su-
perior to the novels. The general
judgment there is unquestionably
much better. Presumably the state
of mind in which the average reader
takes up work of nonfction is Sc
rious while novels seem to be read
for escapist reasons first and worth
only secondarily. Escapist mate
rial naturally may be found in both
good and bad books.
Var Books
In the class of war books, the re-
viewer feels great trepidation. Her
situation is that she has not read
all of them and still has read too
many. She may have missed some
of the best ones and, among the
dozens which she has read, the
memory of excellence may have
rubbed dim from too much same
ness. But here are 10 which she
recommends for various reasons:
In fiction, Lieutenant Bertram,"
by Bodo Uhse, for a superb pres
entation of Nazi psychology; Limit
of Darkness" by Howard Hunt, for
courag geously going beyond victory
thinking and getting into the minds
of the young men who know they
have to die; valley in the Sky" for
the same reason; "The Adventures
of Young Soldier In Search of a
Better World" by C. E. M. Joad, for
its amiable ridicule of the utopian-
isnls which plague us, and "A Bell
for Adano," by John Hersey, for
general goodness as a novel.
In nonflction, Der Fuehrer," by
Konrad Heiden, as the life story of
Hitler which gives the most rea-
sonable account of his unreason-
able rise; 'War Diary" by Jean
Malaquais, as the most vivid ac-
count among the many accounts of
the corruption and ineptitude which
led to Frances fall; "Bataan, the
Judgment Seat" by Allison Ind, as
the same thing for the fall of the
Philippines; THE Guys on the
Ground" by Capt. Alfred Friendly,
as a brilliantly entertaining ex-
position of what American mechan-
ical ingenuity has accomplished in
our f1ar-fung battle lines, and
"Brave Men" as the best overall
job of war reporting.
If it is objected here that there
are no books on Russia included
the reviewer can only say that the
books on Russia which she had read
the past year have tended toward
great sameness. They reiterate
until they run and blend.
Reviewer's Choice
Then comes, OF course, the list
which contains the reviewers pure
ly personal preferences. She warns
that the volumes which go into it
incline to be stupendous. She likes
novels made of oak beams, REIN
forced with cedars of Lebanon ard
tastefully decorated in ironwood
and teak. Or to put it differently
she likes a novel which creates a
big real world better than one
which evokes a mood, as the trade
phrase has it. So her selections Go
tend somewhat toward door stop
size. Here they are:
In fiction, Joseph the Provider," !"
by Thomas Mann; "Time Must
Have Stop" by Aldous Huxley;
Lieutenant Bertram," by Bodo
Uhse; peter Domanig." by Victor
White, and Road to the Ocean,"
by Leonid Leonov. None of these
incidentally, are by Americans-it
just happens that way. Bodo Uhse
Is a German, Victor White an Aus
trian and Leonid Leonov a Rus
sian. DR.. Mann, on second thought,
is naturalized American, but as
novelist he remains a German,
Notwithstanding.
In nonfiction Rebellion in the
baeklands." by Euclides da Cunha:
fhe World of Washington Irving"
by Van Wyck Brooks; DER Fuehr-
ef," by Konrad Heiden. "Anpa and