davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1949-09-18

a paragraph, a deft sentence, as
most writer's manage in page.
But it Is characters, a ripe,
rather rafhsh crew of them, that
are the most memorable: A slightly
broken down opera singer, dream
ing of l'amour and her stage
triumphs and sampling New
Orleans food and liquor in the
meantime; two curious guests who
have lived in such places as Tibet,
one Of whom works on rugs while
the other sculptures a naked girl
out of wood; and an invisible
lady" once madame of a glamor-
Gus establishment, who "lost her
looks in 1910" and hasn't really
oeen seen since. (The latter gener-
ally travels around in a big box,
with attendants to carry her in
and out. She's also, for good
measure, q little of a klepto-
maniac.)
Expert Story Teller.
And then there's a fine pair Of
Negroes-no stereotypes here. but
two practical, neatly scornful
characters who are very much
human beings. And. too, a good
Cajun couple who look on at all
the odd goings on; Babbity lady
who thinks things are quaint; a re-
tired continental grande dame
who runs a riding academy; a
young girl whose unsweatered at
fractions are something of ma
jor motif for the books actions.
and a female not long out of a
mental hospital. who has her un-
seen mother in that travelling
cabinet upstairs.
They all move together. deftly,
under the hands of an expert
storyteller, in the New Orleans air
that is "thick and almost palpable
with heat" through nights of rest
less agitation, through good, old
fashioned tropical storm. The
plot is developed neatly, effort
lessly. Mr.. White writes with
economy, or perhaps he has
learned the all-important lesson
of skillful trimming and rewriting
Here's one book of the season that
isn't too long.
Underneath the surface story is
an undercurrent, q philosophy,
with a conclusion about which
some may differ and others may
argue. It's a book that you'll
want to SAVIOR q second or third
time because it does 50 well all
the things its author sought to do.
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Reviewed by
MIRIAM GUTENBERG.

O Co., SjJ
Reviewed by
MIRIAM GUTENBERG.
David Mitchell, who tells his
story in this first-person novel,
was handcuffed by police one day
and taken off to a Veterans
Administration mental hospital.
There. he ran into wet packs,
shock treatment and occupational
therapy. He found Indifferent at
tendants and cruel ones. He found
kindness in some, bestiality in
others. He ran into a bureaucratic
superintendent too busy for indi-
vidual patients. sympathetic
psychiatrist and a small-minded
pastor. He discovered that some
relatives, including his own, were
more interested in compensation
checks than getting their loved
ones out of confinement. And he
found that treatment was based
more on guessWork than exact
science.
All that was on one level of his
experiences. On the other and
more important level. he moved
in world of delusion. It was
only when he was leaving this
world that he could look back on
it almost with love, certainly with
the feeling that the world to
which he was returning had its
own high quota of madness.
The impact of this novel-and
the impact is very great-lies in
the authors total familiarity with
the changing patterns of sick
mind. There are moments of
logic so penetrating as to con-
found the psychiatrists, moments
OF utter fantasy and of dreams
more real and painful than real
Iity.
Surely nothing more wholly
honest in it's revelations of what
goes on in the mind of such a
man has been accomplished be-
fore. Most previous novels along
this line have laid more emphasis
on the why" of mental disease
rather than the what" This
novel, which repeatedly is based
on actual experience, is a wholly
subjective portrait. In it, the
author peers into every crevice of
action and reaction. of fear and
Illustration. of the sudden loves
and violent hates of man who
has made a round-trip journey
into the unknown. The author has
brought to this first novel fresh
and powerful talent that makes
what he has to say bitterly con-
vincing,
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Literary LimeIight
Is Fastened Anew
Upon Jane Austen
PEMRERI,EY SHADES

PEMBERLEY SHADES
BY D. A. Bonavia-Hunt. (E. P.
Dutton G. Co., Inc; $3.)
PARSON AUSTEN'S DAUGHTER
BY Helen Ashton. (Dodd, Mead
G. Co.,: 49,
Reviewed by
MARGARET BLAIR SHUMAKER.
Although Jane Austen has long
been widely read and acclaimed as
one of the great English novelists,
never before has so much been
written about her in the space of
so few months. A sudden resur-
gence Of interest in Miss Austen
is responsible for four books in
the near future: two critic a l
studies of her work. a f1ctionalized
biography and a novel offered as
sequel to Pride and Prejudice.
Although these books will rouse
many to return to Miss Austen's
delightful novels which is a de-
cidedly good thing, one of them at
least seems a sadly misguided ef-
fort.
"Pemberly Shades" the novel
sequel to Pride and Prejudice"
starts off with two strikes against
it since any such attempt is bound
to appear presumptous to lovers
Of the earlier book. Either out
of too blind love for Miss Austen's
characters or the misguide d
thought that it is possible to be-
come another person over a CEN
tury removed, D. A. Bonavia- Hunt
persisted in continuing the lives of
the Bennets and the Darcys. The
compliment to Jane Austen is tre-
mendous, but "Pemberly Shades"
itself is a failure. The situation
explored in the novel seems more
obvious than any Miss Austen
would have chosen and, although
there Is a good deal of dry wit
and natural ease throughout the
book which gives it some rela-
tionship to Miss Austen's style, the
total impression is of a rude cray
on sketch instead Of the fine pen
and ink Of the original.
A happier offering is found in
Helen Austen's f1ctionalized BIZ
ography "Parson Austen's Daugh-
ter" This is a well documented
and lively account of James life
and Of her very extensive family
from whom she drew many of her
heroes and heroines. Miss Ash
toms book is rich with quotations
from family letters and memoirs
which are strung together very
coherently by the author to form
a narrative not unlike an Austen
novel. One cannot resist turning
to Miss Austen again after reading
this warm biography. Jane her
self does not come off as well as
her family in this book, but the
general effect Of it is to enrich
your enjoyment of her novels.
Evening star., 1949-09-18

upset by the social and economic
injustices of his time and fearfully
concerned about the future peace
Nor would I dip into a single page
of a book in which somebody
attempted to restore some period
of history. But there is amuse-
ment and recreation in reading as
in anything else. There remained
whodunits, which I happen to like
but never have time to read, since
my assignment calls for looking
over what is called serious novels
and, occasionally. biographies and
books on current affairs.
So. slowly, enjoyably and, when
I felt like it, I read whodunits. ]
got through several during this
restful vacation without ever
worrying about a deadline OF
having to ponder. what I'd write
about them. It was a professional
readers way of finding relaxation
in reading. It was as sure an an
odyne for a surfeit of heavy read
ing as a salesman might find In
golf or an engineer in fishing.
They Are Good Models.
And lest you think I condescend
to the authors of mystery books
I want to add that serious" novel
lists could learn a lot by studying
them. Some of these whodunits
which some people feel they have
to admit liking with an apologize
smile, are better-written than are
many pretentious books. No homi-
eide specialist could get by with
the dull. cropping passages that
slow up too many novels. The
most routine Of the mysteries are
turned out with a certain expert.
ness. The best are crisp and tense
their characters distinct, theil
plots absorbing. Perhaps I'm old.
fashioned; I still think q story
should hold your interest.
There was one in particular
about some carnival people. thai
was q humdinger. Never mind the
title or the author. I'm not in.
vading the column Of my col.
league, Miriam Gutenberg, who
keeps your whodunit list current
And now, with the mountains
over the horizon, back to the fall
novels. May some of them be hall
as exciting as those tales Of abrup
demisel
Evening star., 1949-09-18

narrative and psychological ex-
citment that recalls the philo-
sophical thrillers Of Graham
Greene. It's limitations are not
those generally associated with
Hollywood-favored manuscripts,
but arise from the limitations of
the characters. It's shortcomings
are those which inevitably come
when an author attempts to pose
many ethical questions within the
STACEY confines of detective-type
story with severe limits of time
and space.
THE Edge of Doom" will un-
doubtedly also be known as a
Catholic novel, but readers ex-
pecting any happily pious reading
will be sorely disappointed. This is
stern stuff. and in one scene at
least, macabre. But it is a pro-
foundly religious novel which
points to lesson of faith and
grace amid drabness, misery and
evil.
A Tale of Sacrilege.
It is then the bleak tale of a
scarilege committed by an unstable
adoleScent who murders a priest
who refuses him an elaborate
funeral for his mother. 1t is a
chase in which the pursued is one
of his own pursuers. bounded by
his own grudging belief in the
reality of sin and in the healing
power of sacraments of a church
which he has left. When he thinks
of confessing it is to a priest
rather than to detective.
In all his poor. gray life. Martin
Lynn had rallied at the "jeweled
affluence of the church." which
had contrasted so bitterly with
the paltriness of his devout
mothers apartment. When Martin
fells the priest with a crucifix, he
feels that he has struck blow at
a tyranny and power and wealth
which had ranked within him for
years.
But brief exultation almost at
once is smothered by horror and
Evening star., 1949-09-18
THE WATERS OF SILOE

THE WATERS OF SILOE
BY Thomas Merton. (Harcourt,
Brace G. Co.; $500
Thomas Merton, author of "The
Seven Storey Mountain" that
phenomenally popular account of
his conversion to Catholicism and
his entrance into a monastery,
leads his readers more deeply into
the mysteries of his faith with
this history of the Cistercian order
and explanation of the white
monks" mission and way d life.
The Order of the Cistercians of
the Strict Observance are COM
monty known as Trappists. The
severity of their lives is legendary.
Their daily routine is of harsh
ness and rigor to make the every
day citizen blanch.
Why is it then, asks Mr.. Mer-
ton (who is known as Frater M.
Louis in the monastery of Our
Lady of Gethsameni in Kentucky ,
that in America where silence
made men nervous and prayer
drove them crazy and penance
scared them to DEATH" increasing
numbers of young men, many of
them veterans, have sought en-
trance to the five Cistercian mon
asteries in this country?
He seeks to answer the question
In a beautiful and reverend pic
ture of the life of the monks, and
in a dramatic history of an order
which enjoins its adherents not
only to the poverty, chastity and
obedience required of all religious.
but to a complete and perpetual
silence. to gruelling fasts and
yigils and manual labor.
Not "Pious Athletes"
The purpose of st. Benedict, its
founder, was not to form bands
of "pious athletes" who strove to
outdo each other in penance. fast
ing and elf-mortification. 1t was
to provide a hard life, free of all
material distractions, wherein the
soul could contemplate God.
Whenever the order has fallen
away from its primary contem-
plative mission it has failed. It
has suffered, too, under leaders
of too great Journalism. During
the golden age of La Trappe in
the 18th century, its greatest re-
former. St. Bernard, shifted the
whole impact of asceticism to the
interior-from the flesh to the
will" When its monks have been
fired to preach and teach, the
foundations have failed. When,
as in the case of Dom Benedict
Berger, abbot of Gethsemani,
whose deliberate policy was to
insult and humiliate his monks
at every turn" vocations dwin-
died. In recent years the con-
cept of "the confident love of
God" has replaced the "old rigid
concentration on ones own SINS"
and this idea of infused contem-
piation" has led to a new joy and
vitality in the community life.
1t Is Mr.. Merton's particular
gift that he can write with humor
and still with fervor, that he can
describe the mysteries of mystical
Evening star., 1949-09-18

81 hare found autographed copies Of book in
ondhand bookstores. drauing by GluyaS Williams from
"Chips of the Old Benchley Harper Bros s3 COL
lection by Robert Benchy that haze before
been published in book form.
This collection certainly North prescribing for it
as OF the hghestgrade Benchley in scattered pieces
dating from 1915 to the late 30s hen the hunorist formally
renouced vriting for acting No of his generation could
syhesse subject neatly in 500 to 1900 1Oords Although
much has happened since these little appeared
in the Neo Yorker elseohere seems dated perhaps
because Mr. Benchley had OF erreng the permanent
out OF the TOPICAL One example, picture books st popu
la "Te present Grazing OF adults for picture books makes
oonder all this past business of reading type matter
has perhaps been poe There Introduction by Frank
Sulliudn &C. B. J.
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Paul Calico Paws
A Hearty Tribute
To Youth at War
THE LONELY
BY Paul Calico. (AUred 4.
Knopt, Inc.;; s2.50.)
THE LONELY
Reviewed by
JEANNE ROGERS

Young fuzzy checked pilots who
attained their manhood over
night in World War II are termed
THE Lonely" by Author Paul GAL
lico.
1t is not unusual that the vet
eran sportswriter would have his
youthful characters, for the most
part college athletes, play their
battle roles as they did half or
tackle for the alma matters.
AS in the Snow Goose" Mr..
Calico lays off the adjectives in
his Straightforward narrative.
This time it is the story of a war
time romance.
Mr.. Calico uses the familiar
triangular plot pattern but, per-
haps due to his days as a news
paper editor, the English girl,
American flyer and girl-back- home
complications seem to be a report
ing job on actual experience.
THE Lonely" is a fine tribute
to the young and their outstand-
ing war records.
Evening star., 1949-09-18

hardly would be vacation. Read
ing books for a special purpose
studying them, you might say,
for ideas, Characterization. atmos-
phere and style, with a view of
imparting your impressions to a
public eager or apathetic as the
case may be-read1ng them in
this way steadily, so many a week,
is as wearing and wearying as
some other occupations could
name. If you doubt that, try it
some time.
felt. when I started out for
the Great Smokes and, what
Is called ambiguouSly relaxation,
that I didn't want to read even
a newspaper. But the reading
habit seems too intrenched to
escape that easily. I found my
self glancing over world news in
various local dailies and observ-
ing with curious interest the
community happenings recorded
in the weekly papers Of counties
without metropolitan pretensions.
Not = Book in Sight.
There were hours of trips into
the rugged, gorgeous Businesses of
the Great Smoky Mountains Ma
tional Park. There were other
periods when nothing was so
agreeable as just to slump down
on an upstairs porch and stare
across the deceptive mountain
miles at towering ridges and peaks
austere in wells of mist. There
were other times when it was fun
to walk along paths through lush
woods that closed about you and
shut you of from the nervous
world that quivers around you the
rest Of the year.
Leaving aside the time spent In
sleep. which is considerable in the
mountains, and at consuming ex-
cellent Tennessee food, there still
remained time for perhaps q card
game with new acquaintance and
for-well, reading. There were the
dark bedtime moments before
sleep slipped in from the noun
tain with the brawling stream al
its base yards from your windows
Whodunits, ut Last.
The papers were glanced over.
I had determined not to read q
line by any earnest young novels
Evening star., 1949-09-18
THE WISE ONE

THE WISE ONE
BY Frank Conibear and J. L.
Blundell. (Sloane Associates:
S2.75.)
The irrevocable laws of nature
regarding beavers survival
among hostile ments and
changing seasons in the Canadian
northwest are illustrated in The
Wise One" in largely descriptive
form. S. E.
Evening star., 1949-09-18

affair, with a chuckle or a grin
to a page. It's a fine little Grand
Hotel of the Vieux Care, with as
peculiar and amusing a crew as
practically any book on any sub
ject.
The Elusive Spirit.
In passage after passage, Max
White shows how we'll he imbibed
the elusive spirit, the day-in, day
out atmosphere of the homes and
apartments behind those succeed
facades, with the arched alley
ways leading from the narrow
banquettes. He does as much in
Evening star., 1949-09-18

People. /"
Here Is a New
Orleans book
that isn't quite
like any other
"a m e rry,
strange, world
ly yarn-neatly
spiked. puzzle
some in places,
diverting above
all. It can be
read for several
things, among
them a superb
t. ~~%orko ;voiv, m
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Max Whites Little Grand Hotel
Of the New Orleans 'Vieux Curre'
THE MAN WHO CARVED WOMEN FROM WOOD
BY Max White. (HarperS & Bros; 49,
Reviewed by HARNETT T. KANE,

T..
Author "New orleans Woman" ETC.
years might called temporary
ves" writing about the favorsome place
ouyards and galleries that the modern New Orleans Not
section old French Quarter
the OF White who of the
Temporary native" has done the best in long
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Thomas Merton Leads Us More Deeply
Into the Mysteries of His Faith

contemplation and the eccentrici.
ties of overzealous abbots with the
same clarity-and charity. He /.
as fine an apologist for his order
as he was for himself in THE
Seven Storey Mountain"
Evening star., 1949-09-18
LESSONS ON SECURITY AND
DISARMAMENT

DISARMAMENT
BY James T. Shotwell and Ma
rina Salvin. (King's CroUn
Press; $2.25.)
A study of League of Nations
efforts to solve problems very
much like those now faced by the
United Nations. B. r.
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Like to Know What a Book Reviewer
Reads on Vocotion?-Here's q Clue
By Corter Brooke Jones

What book reviewers idea of vacation? To take along
forthcoming fall promise? perhaps forget
perhaps deve into
which around to
reviewers After ALL cramming words into
absorbing them all
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Reading and Writing
Hyde Exhibits at Library High Lights
Gaelic Contribution to Letters

Probably the most appecatve band to the
Exhibit currently at the Library
Gaelic Washington pay its respects this
afternoon at o'clock
Unlike recent visitor who inquired guard what
had with society
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Striking Novel by c. U. Teacher
Likely to Be HotIy Debated
DGE OF DOOM
By Leo Brady. (E. P. Dutton & Co.; So
Reviewed by MARY McGRORY.


this novel by Leo Brady, playwright and
Catholic University made national when
Godwyn should perhaps
madand most ephaticahatd despite its commercial
sombr
of
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Walter Hovighurst
Proves His Skill
SIGNATURE OF TIME
BY Walter Havighurst. (Th
Macmillan Co.; $780,
IT he
PIRIE BROWN.

Macmillan Co.; $780,
Reviewed by
PIRIE BROWN.
Walter Havighurst's new book
is an able piece Of literary crafts
manship. Basically the story Is
of a war correspondents return
his discomfort, and the way he
resolves it. Into this theme is
woven the history of an island
and its owners.
In weaving the three themes
together, Mr.. Havighurst has
avoided cliches and given the
three stories q unity which a
poorer writer would have found
impossible.
The writing is rather hammered
and there Is overmuch scenic de-
scription, but Signature of Time
has a distinctive American flavor
and is an eloquent expression OF
Its authors love and knowledge
Of the Great Lakes region and its
peopls.
Evening star., 1949-09-18

long time. 1t takes a place i'm
mediately beside that other richly
packed volume of several seasons
ago, Mary King ODpnnells
| ssTooco Other
Evening star., 1949-09-18
MentoIHosp
Theme Delivers.
7 errific Impact

THE WORLD NEXT DOOR
BY Fritz Peters. (Farrar, StrauS
& Co.; 49,
Evening star., 1949-09-18
Whodunits, 1T Last.

The papers were glanced over.
I had determined not to read q
line by any earnest young novelia i
Telegraf. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1909-1951, 1949-02-25

Costa ma noe.

We stTedu jel cely bukacoV-
sky ucitelsky sbor ma noe do O.
kresnfho mesta, jak Sc umluvl-
Ii. Jeli postovnfm autobusem.
Ale jizdni rad toho autobusu
byl tax d9myslne sestaven, re
kdyz no bylo nejv1ce tfeba, ne
jel. Bylo-li v meste trochu del
81 ffzenf, "a den Sc to nedoka-
zalo, musilo Sc ma noe.
Nekdy Sc ma to hubovalo, "a
lie casteji to bylo prijato s pow
d9kem. Vzdyt takova noe,
ztravena We m6ste, nenl vzdyc-
ky spatna. Venkovane mohou
obcas taky trochu okusit NEST
skeho zivota.
Zvlaste jeden druh manzelu
81 V tech cestach "na noe libo-
val a nebyl by Sc hneval, kdy-
by byly kazdy tyden. To ten,
ktery mel trochu prfsnejs1 pa
nj chot, ktera jim nedovolova-
la nocnf toulan1 pc hospodach,
treba sc ma venkove nemuze
pri tom hTesit.
Mezi tento druh manzelG pa
tril take bukacovsky pan f1dl-
CT. Byl odsouzen cely tyden
sedet donna, ackoliv nebyl alb
stinent, ami Sc jim nemlnil stat.
Zvedavc1m Sc vymlouval, re
jeho PAM Sc We skole sauna bo-
lii, protoze skola je tax o samo-
tie a nikoho by Sc tam nedovo-
lala. Byli nyni 1plne SAM,
Nell jednoho syna, ale ten byl
liz v oktave plzenskeho gymna-
STA. III jazykove Size tvrdili,
re je to spfse omezovanl osob-
nj sovobody nez strach, ale to
nemusf byti smerodatne. Jiste
vsak bylo, re Sc pan T1d1c1 ma tn
cestu tesil re vsech ucitel1 mel
vice.
Jiz pddl hodiny predem cekal
ma namestf, kde autobus zasta-
voval, ably mu %neujel. Jehe
tvaT byla pima spokoJenosti
ma kazdeho sc usm1val. | ne
Klabunu, ktery pfisel poslednl
.lZdalo Sc, re ma onu roztrzku
Telegraf. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1909-1951, 1949-02-25
Marcia z c~hudobince.
ROMAN Napsal VACLAV HYNEK


"Uz V praci?" Tekla, odcha-
zej1c k posteli, ably j ustlala,
Spatfivsi il netknutou, obratila
Sc k nemu a vyjevene Sc ma ne
no pod1vala. Jeho vzezfeni il
prekvapilo jest6 vic, nez to, re
celou noe nespaf. Byl prepa-
dly a nezvykle bledy.
"Pan ucitel = nespal?" Wy
koktala.
"Ne = mel jsem praci.
"Tedy jste celou noe praco-
val? Myslila jsem, re jste snad
nemocen. Nevypadate dobfe."
Usmal Sc jejf starostlivosti a
zasedl Ike KAYE. Uvedomiv 81,
re Sc usm1va, byl sam Sc sebou
spokojen. Vyvazl tedy oprav-
du z toho bludiste, do nehoz no
zeny pTivedly a v nemz pc ce-
lou noe vezel. To no naplnilo
radost1.
"Dejte pokoj, PAM Dvorako-
va! Starry mladenec nesml sto-
nat. Kdo by jej osetfoval?"
small sc Klabuna.
Posluhovacka Sc k nemu po-
stavila a oprela 81 ruce v box.
GA prve nejste jeste starry
mladenec a "a druhe Sc brzy
ozenite," rekla urcite.
Klabuna sc prestal smat a~u-
zasle Sc an nj podlval.
eco jste to rekla?"
"Vsak jste to dobfe slysel:'
"Ano, slysel jsem neco, ale
nechci tomu veTit. ia re sc O.
zenfm? Pros1m vas, jak jste ma
tohle prisla?"
"Nevim. Nam jenom tako-
We tusenf. Ostatne by vas bylo
skoda, kdybyste zmechovatel
A takove hlouposti byste po-
tom nesmel delat, jake dnes
To by yam zena nedovolila."
Klabuna rozevfel oci jeste
vic. Snad jiz O jeho nocnlm
dobrodruzstv1 nev1 posluhovac,
ka? To by znamenalo, re to pr
zy Dude znamo pc celem mes.
tecku.
"Prosfm vas, jake = hlou.
posti?"
eco pax to p%onocovan1 nen
dost velka hloupost? Celou no.
pracovat! Jaky je to rozum
4 Proc to debate, Wy nerozumn.
clovece? Vzdyt 81 tim kazit'
zdrav1!"
"Kdyz nestacf den, must s
nastavit noe, PAM Dvorakova
treba je urcena Ike span1," rex
Klabuna ulehcene. "Tady VI
dfte, jak jsme zapfazeni. Pc
vezte to tenn, kterf tax radi
mas tvrdf, re mic nedelame, Z
bereme plat zadarmo."
Vratil Sc mt kid dplne, tax
re liz i zertoval. Vratilo m
jej vedomf, re Sc konecne dc
stall z chaosu, ktery jeste pre-
chvfli byl v jeho hlave.