Evening star., 1948-03-14

adopted language. In 1946, a volume
country. "Son of the Moon" his fl
Of 1948.
For puzzled westerners Mr.. Hi
of Indian life as authentically as ]
while in "The Good Earth" she wrot
Mr.. Hitrec has described high-cast
about India's nameless millions In IS
a mastery, If too detailed, delineatio
Hindus and of the all-encompassingt
caste to which families belong.
The Old and the New.
The central theme Of the novel is
one familiar to all lands, but more
pronounced in country where Gus
tom and rite have been implacable.
This Is the clash between the old
and the new, the slow inflltration OF
modernism into a citadel OF ira
dition.
vijay Ramsingh's family is Raj
put, caste hailing from the moon,
twice-born, equal of the Brahmans.
But this young man Is immersed
in q new world, skeptical of Hindu
ism, scornful of castles. He few to
England to win the prize of1ered
by the Aga Khan to the first Indian
to make the fight solo. Vijay re-
manned in England two years, COM
pleting his education. He has re-
turned with a project designed to
place India in q better light in for
eign countries. But no one WILL
finance this plan. Another enter
prise, a scheme to fly the more
afiuent pilgrims to shrine IN the
mountains, meets like fate.
Refuses to Marry.
The RamsinghS are liberal, as
Hindu families 60, but they think
vijay has had his fling and should
settle down, allow a suitable mar
riage to be arranged and move
into the niche he has inherited.
Viiay Is driven at last by restless
ness and failure of his plans to
taking a Job as a pilot. He also
compromises with his family by
joining the nationalist movement.
But he refuses fatty to marry
Chanda, the girl his parents have
selected. He does not want to mar
ry at all until-but you can read
his romance for yourself. Ways
best friend is Salim Haq, a Moslem,
a fellow flyer and a writer. Vijay
does not realize the intensity OF the
Hindu -Moslem feud until Salim is
waylaid by Mohammedan assassins
because he has associated too close
ly with Hindu nationalists.
Mr.. Hitrec has told his story with
a profusion of detail that frequently
is poetic, but often brings the
drama to a complete halt. His
characters are convincingly drawn.
His descriptions of Hindu homes
and gardens, of towns and hills, OF
weather and customs, are remark
ably revealing. Yet these passages
sometimes are prolonged to the
point of dullness. The adventures
Of the people, when they are not
rejecting interminably, are always
arresting.
MY FRIEND THE ENEMY
By Frank Baker. (Cowdrd-Mc-
Cam; $275.J
Mr.. Baker is a young English
novelist who is hard to describe IN
A word or two. This perhaps is a
tribute to his originality. You
could call him stimulating-or, TO
use a term even more well-worn in
reviews, provocative but you'd
simply be saying what you could
say about any interesting writer.
He Is subtle, sometimes to the point
of being shadowy. Yet he can pre-
sent peoples minds in a way that
5omehow makes you know them.
His sixth novel, Before GO
Hence" was one of the distinguished
BOOKS of 1e47, in my judgment.
His new novel is entirely different
from last years memorable &C
cunt of a man lost in a spiritual
maze. Unlike that man, who found
. jolace in his faith, Morgan Vale
of my Friend the Enemy" has no
religion at all-or thinks he hasn't.
He is a clever, cynical playwright,
superficial in his life and philosophy.
A Sinister Alliance.
At the boarding school Morgan
attended as pre-adolescent he was
bullied numerically by an older
boy named Collins. The months OF
cruelty made a permanent mark
on Morgan's character, This Is the
story of his second encounter with
Collins Is years later. Morgan's
plays are successful; Collins is a
noted cricket player. Morgan thinks
he still hates Collins. And Collins,
in fact, is still a bully, though it
never has occurred to Morgan to
wonder why. Their paths cross at
first through social incident, IN
which, nonetheless, a strange CO.
incidence figures. After that their
lives are drawn together in drama
that grows increasingly tense and
sinister. There Is no hint of per-
yersion-and it may be necessary to
say that, in view of prevailing
trend among certain novelists-
when Morgan tells himself at the
close that what he really has felt
for Collins all along was affection.
And then Morgan points out that
cruelty is "at the very heart OF the
universe" and where, he asks, is
this universe except in ourselves.
You may, if you choose, read any
amount OF symbolism into this story,
which has not been described-it
has a plot-but only outlined. Col
Inns could stand for the childhood
disannnintnentS and Illustrations