Evening star., 1944-09-24
The Nepv Books
The Book Of Morger Kempe

(DeDin- -Ad1ir.)
"The Book OF Margery Kempe"
is the recently discovered auto
biography Of an Englishwoman who
lived in the 18th century. It was
written in 1896 and is the earliest
photographed work in the Eng
lish language. It has naturally oc-
casioned q good deal Of literary
comment and this edition in modern
English will probably find q wide
public. 1t is an extraordinarily
vivid personal document, quite apart
from the historical value which it
will have to scholars.
Margery was a well-born young
woman Of the town Of Lynn. Her
father had been mayor and she
was wed to burgess. In her youth
she liked fashionable display and
must have had an aggressive ma
ture, for. as she reports, she twice
went into business on her own
responsibility. But both her ven-
tures-a brewery and q mill-failed,
she fell Ill and her husband lost
money. Margery then bethought
herself of her sins, repented and
forthwith devoted her life to pre-
pairing herself for Heaven.
She made religious pilgrimages to
Rome, to the Holy Land and to
Spain. In a manner of directness
which will astonish and may also
shock the modern reader she re-
lateS that she was visited in visions
by both the First and Second Per-
sons of the Holy Trinity She held
long conversations on these won
drous occasions and was, as she
puts it. "homely with God" Her
new way of life did not, however,
bring her much worldly comfort.
Her old associates thought her
hypocritical. she was tried for
heresy before the Archbishop of
York and, though acquitted, ordered
out Of the diocese. She had a hard
time on her pilgrimages, too, for,
as she put 1t, it was her habit
to weep, sob and roar" whenever
she remembered the suf1erings of
Our Lord. and her fellow-pilgrims
found her company disagreeable in
consequence. But nothing turned
her from her devotion and, along
with her enemies, she found many
friends, too.
The modern reader, though he
may delight in the books vivid
picture of medieval Europe, will in
evitably find himself reconstructing
Margery in terms of modern society
Certainly she was a type which
Is always with us-a woman of
extraordinary energy seeking for
a personal purpose beyond the
duties Of mere domesticity (she had
IA children and ones sympathy
goes out to her accordingly.
What They Don't Know
By Ward Greene. (Random.)
Though minor in scope and quiet
in tone this novel offers the reader
of war fiction refreshing change
on a well-worn theme. The theme
is that Of the spirit in which for
eign-born American citizens have
entered into the war effort.
In most of the writing on this SUBJ
ject the foreign-born have been
lauded so aggressively as to make
native Americans feel that they
themselves are pitiably inferior
sball we say-racial group. Char
Scters in such fiction who are rep
Irehensible enough to have grand
parents this side of the Atlantic are
generally bad Americans, in heavy
contrast to newly arrived Europeans,
in whom all the traditional Amer
ican virtues shine with incandescent
glory. One knows, of course, what
is back of the phenomenon. Our
national passion for progress makes
US perpetually dissatisfied. BY habit
We air each weeks crop of soiled
linen with astonished horror, as II
1t were newly discovered disgrace:
our best-paid authors are not really
living up to their public's expecta-
ton unless they are lambasting their
country with professional ruthless
ness. And while there is something
to be said for such hearty self-crit-
icism in normal times the custom in
war seems a bit beside the point.
For the obvious fact is that the
worst of Americas linen is shining
raiment compared to what is flap
ping on the lines of most of the
neighbor nations, which for their
part. are not engaging in soul
searching to any noticeable extent.
1t seems time to give a hand and
not throw brickbats if the reviewer
may be so plain. Modesty is fine,
but masochism is generally dag
nosed as a rather unpleasant dis
ease.
So the reviewer was quite pleased
to come on a novel which treats of
the foreign-born citizen in terms of
recognizable reality and not as
local species OF Herrenvolk. Ward
Greene, in this little book, does just
that. He gives us family of Ger
man-Americans of the kind called
"hyphenates" during World War I.
The parents were unjustly interned
during the conflict, but the injustice
Notwithstanding, they have become
Americans, even typical Americans,
indistinguishable from millions. The
father is a successful New York
manufacturer, the mother is a pub
lic-spirited worker in the affairs of
their Long Island suburb and the
children have all the famous faults
of our perpetual young generation. |
The point that Mr.. Greene makes is
aAA-AAl
III AMERlcI