Evening star., 1948-12-12
Sean O'FooIdin
Stories Reveal
Rare Skill
THE MAN WHO INVENTED SIN
BY Sean O'Faolain. (DeDtn-
Aduir; S275.J
Reviewed by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.

Adair; s275J
Reviewed by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
These Is short stories by a
leading Irish writer reveal a
wide range of subject and mood,
a rare ability to paint character
in a few strokes and a poetic
conception of background and
atmosphere.
Weighed against those unusual
merits is a lack of reality in certain
stories, apparently due to the
authors bias in dealing with the
themes involved. And there Is,
despite the diversity OF people and
situations, a sameness OF method
which sometimes refrains too care
fully from pointing up the drama
inherent in a story. But these
stories are models of compactness,
and there is not one that fails to
hold the interest.
Most of them are quiet stories,
easily and unobtrusively told, with
out dramatic climaxes-so far. In
fact, from the o. Henry complex
that has plagued our popular short
fiction that they have no endings,
but simply stop in midair. Yet
most of them achieve their purpose,
which is to disclose character
rather than present a crashing
third act curtain. But Mr.. OFao-
lain can be dramatic Lady Lucl-
fer" In which the scene is a mental
hospital, is a tense story with a
moving climax. up the Bare
Stairs" is quieter, more subtle
drama, one of the most effective
stories in the book.
Shades Of the Prison House" "
about the children Of a warden at
the time Of a hanging. is mem
orable atmospheric story. The
Trout" is another "a perceptive
vignette of a child. THE Silence
of the Valley" describes beautifully
the effect of q death on a country
community. Passion" impales a
miser across a few pages.
Mr.. O'Faolain has humor. "Vlve
La France" and The Fur Coat
are delightful examples. Laughter
mingles with pathos-as so often
happens-in "The End of Good
Man" which concerns a honing
pigeon.
Nobody could write realistically
about as devout a people as the
Irish and ignore their religion. MIR.
OFaolain has not. but he seems to
have q feeling against the church
which unfortunately has distorted
stories in which priests or nuns have
leading roles The title story, THE
Man Who invented Sim" is the
least persuasive. 1t depicts two
nuns and two monks at a summer
gathering where many persons nave
gone to learn Gaelic. These religious
unbend to a rather fantastic extent.
I had the feeling that the episode
couldn't have happened except IN
the authors fancy.
In Innocence" an old priest.
pathetic in his indrmities, is made
to look merely ridiculous. The priest
in "The Man Who Married Clark
Gamble" an amusing story, appears
as confused and inept. Mr.. O'Fao-
lain has tried to deal sympathetl-
cally with the little novice in
Teresa. but he couldn't refrain
from stacking the cards against
some of the religious she encoun-
tered. Moreover, Teresa decides she
hasn't had vocation and quits
before taking her final vows.
Mr.. O'Faolain lacks the dramatic
intensity of A. E. Coppsrd. and the
Irish writer's situations are not so
striking as those of H. E. Bates or
Jerome Weidmann. And yet Mr..
OFaolain at his most effective. is
AZ artistic as any contemporary
short-story writer's. He selected
the stories as the ones he con-
siders his best. Elizabeth Rivers
has illustrated the book With a
series Of fine woodcuts.
PALESTINE DILEMMA
BY Frank c. Sakran. fPuohc Az
fairs Press; s3.25.)
This is an able defense Of the
Arab position in the Palestine I'M
broglio. Mr.. Sakran's partisanshlp
is not angry, and there is a certain
effectiveness in his examination OF
historical and present-day aspects
of the situation. He comedies the
desperate plight of great many
Jews, victimized by the war, though
he denies that Palestine can or
should solve their problem.
Mr.. Sakran contends that the
Jews have no valid historical claim
to the little country, which is no
larger than Vermont and arabic only
in portions. He states that Pales-
tine has been an Arab land since
the seventh century, and that many
of it's inhabitants are descendants
of the Canaanites who lived there
when the Hebrews invaded it In the
18th century BIC, and renamed
during the Hebrew occupation. The
Jews, he argues, left Palestine nearly
1000 years ago, while the Arabs
stayed on. Even on religious
grounds, he insists, Palestine means
as much to Christians and Moham-
medans as it does to Jews. AS late
as 1870, he writes, there were only
10000 Jews in the country and even
in 1945 there were twice as many
Arabs as Jews. Today there are
more than 65O,000 Jews (estimated)
and above 100000 Arabs. The
Arabs, he charges. were sold out
after they helped the Allies in the
First World War.
Mr.. Sakran is a Christian Aran
who was born in Palestine. He
served in the American Army in
the First World War and became a
citizen of the United States. He
was admitted to the District OF
Columbia bar in 1922. He has writ
ten and lectured extensively on