davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1951-09-09

combat and conquered him,
freeing Bruges Of siege. The
Duchess and the young knight.
without the slightest inkling Of
their relationship, married.
Three. years later they discov-
cred their dreadful, If unwit-
ting iniquity. The Duchess re-
nounced her power and palace
and became ragged nun, min
istering to the sick and crippled.
Gregory disappeared. turning
hermit. For II years he lived
in solitude on q rock in a lake,
expiating his sins and learning
of "the exceeding mercy Of
God" Then two pious men Of
Rome were told In separate
visions to find the rock. free
the hermit and bring him to
Rome. This they did. and
Gregory, already learned in
books and in liturgy. thanks
to the good abbot on the island.
was crowned Pope. Thus he
became the blessed Gregory. re-
nowned for his wisdom, his
craftsmanship and his extreme
compassion toward sinners.
Certainly this is one of DR..
AIann's most readable novels. If
it lacks the philosophical COM
plexity. the slow. often heavy.
musing of his more ambitious
books. most readers. especially
subscribers to the Book Of the
Month Club, probably will be
grateful. The author has made
his narrator a monk, who pro-
fesses horror at the violence and
sin he must detail. but obviously
relishes it all. especially since
he can rejoice at Gfegory's re-
demption. The archaic Ian
guage which the monk uses.
turned skillfully from German
into English by the translator,
H. T. Lowe Porter, is not over
done, as it might easily have
been. Sometimes in dialogue it
breaks into prose rhyme, as the
troubadours used to in tall tales.
The story flows along. simply
and easily. Not the least of its
felicitieS Is a frequent touch of
humor. often spoken uncon-
sciously by the monk. 1t is ap-
parent that DR.. Mann has en-
joyed the legend. as he has
others. and that he has taken it
seriously enough to make his
story dramatic, but never too
seriously.
His last novel, Doctor FauS-
tus," also stemmed from a leg
end told in many forms. 1t
would be perhaps unfair to COM
pare the two books, since DOC
tor Faustus" was one of his most
erudite excursions into art, life.
and death. while THE Holy
Sinner" is a simple, charming
story. Both books were written
at Pacific Palisades, Calf.
where the eminent German nov
elist, Nobel Prize winner Of 1929,
has been living for 10 years.
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Old Russion BolIet Tickets
Turn Out 70 Be Treasures

Got any old ballet tickets
around? They might be val
liable.
Rummaging in an old trunk,
a ballet-hungry New Yorker
found two pairs of tickets to
Sergei de Diaghileff Ballet Russo
performances in November, 1916,
in the Court Square Theater,
Springfield, Mass.
The lucky finder, Michael
Bakst, who said he was no re-
lation to the stage designer,
figured he might be. able to ex-
change them. So he mailed his
35-year-old unused tickets to
the New York City Ballet Com
pany. which opened its usual fall
season this week In New York
City Center, and asked for q
swap.
He got it, too. He said he
thought his father bought the
tickets, and that flu kept the
family from using them. They
were priced at 81 apiece in the
balcony, $5 on the floor; cur
rent city center top is So.
Though they were different
dance companies, different
managements. different cities
and different theaters, there
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Exhibitions

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Con-
stitution avenue and sixth street.
Ps.ptinEs sculpture DE ETn.,s5 mastsrs, .c5In- GS1
ture and European paintings. Paint-
ings and sculpture acquired By Kress
Foundation. 1945-1951.
NATIONAL MUSEUM. National. Collee-
lection Ss q F9s .atS Arts Hzs
annual, RRii.s the snf kim Hn0 club q wsshins-
ssSenaipto1fSsS 1SSrsn aroup. onn9a1 ThrousS ssDssm.
SMITHSONIAN BUILDING. Division Of
Graphic Arts. Tent. street anS Jef-
ROGERS. through September.
FREER GALLERY OF ART. Twelfth
street and JsfIerson dTiy;sMt;OTienssd py;rt;Ogs and
Americsn iSel9iss aTTtists, cSSsnsins gay 1exhiSits
CoRCoRAN GALLERY OF ART. Sew
enteenth street between New York
avenue and 3 street--American paint
ings and sculpture.
PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY. 1900
Twenty-first street-Paintings and
prints. Exhibition by. Bernice Cross;
modern French and American paint
Thirty-second street NV. = Early
Christian and ByZantine art. Tues
days through sundays. 2-6.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS-. East Capitol
and First stTeets--Artist reporters IN
three wars through September 25.
SILVER SPRING ART GALLERY. g2I6
Flower avenue, Silver Spring-Sun1-
ner exhibition. paintings and sculp-
ture.
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY
ARTS, 1892 New York avenue NV
Exhibition by students.
BARNETT ADEN GALLERY. 127 RAN
dolph place N.W.-Summer group ex.
hibition.
PAN AMERICAN UNION, Seventeenth
street and Constitution avenue NV.
Paintings and sculpture by Malo
Lopez, Ecuadorean Children's Art.
THE NEW GEORGETOWN GALLERY.
1928 Prospect avenue N.W.-Summer
group show.
COLONY RESTAURANT, 1727 De Sales
street N.W.--Exhibitio By students Of
James Cupoli.
THE WHITE GALLERY, 1873 Connecti-
cut avenue NV. Exhibition By group
OF washington area artists.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES EXHIBITION
HALL, PENNSYLVANIA avenue At Sth
NW-Exhibition of Brady Civil War
photographs and Revolutionary War
exhibit. Weekdayss 0-6s sundays and
hoiidaya. l'oO-o. =
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Books in Review
Work of Virginio,s WiIIiom Styron
Hailed as Extraordinary 1st Novel
Reviewed by corter Brooke Jones
LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS
BY william Styron. fBobbS-M Merrill; $780,

fused to go to the station with
him. Milton, despairingly an
cry, has brought his mistress,
Dolly. They and the undertaken
await the train. But why did q
girl who should have had every
thing to live for choose to end
her life? The answer is devel-
oped fragment by fragment, as
the story progresses.
Basic instability.
The father, Milton, is a cul-
tured man, a lawyer, son of a
lawyer. Once he held political
ambitions, but all efforts to ac-
compliSh anything have ebbed
away under a basic instability,
with accompanying alcoholism.
Repelled, by his unsympathetic,
neurotic wife, Milton turned to
his daughter. Peyton - South
erners give girls such names
with a devotion that crossed
the threshold of abnormal
ity. There was another daugh-
ter. Maudie, a retarded child
who fingered into infan-
tile womanhood. The mother,
hating, never understanding
Peyton. a feeling which Peyton
cordially reciprocated, lavished
what love she had left on
Maudie.
The novel is not fiawless.
How many novels are? There
are many times when it seems
too long. 1t is not that Mr..
Styron pads. but that he sees
every minute phase of his story
with such a prodigal imagina-
ton that he is inclined to use
his remarkable descriptive pow
ers too laviShly. The tone of
the book Is so intense and so
depressing that reading it con-
tinuously in couple of days, as
a reviewer must, is rather like
spending the time in a psyche
pathic ward with a volume of
Dostoievsky to beguile you when
things are quiet. But to criti-
cize it because 1t is mainly tragic
would be like objecting to the
Symphonic Pathetique because
it is not cheerful. which some
people do regularly. And where
in recent literature is there a
more memorable scene than
the home wedding of Peyton--
her mothers last heroic gesture
toward reconciliation-to the
Jewish artist she met in Green
wich Village? And when was
there such a grisly and yet CO.
herent and moving account of
the stealthy permeation of mad
ness as in the late chapter re-
cording Peyton's final thoughts?
Evening star., 1951-09-09

In q week which brings q
novel by Thomas Mann, not q
writer ever to be neglected, even
If this book may not be one Of
his major works, ] feel COM
PEELED to devote top position in
the space allotted me to an
extraordinary first novel.
Lie Down in Darkness" the
work of a 26-year-old Virginian.
is such a mature and pene-
trating record of family.
written with such unerring skill,
that it deserves to establish the
author, regardless of whether
he ever publishes another line.
H. would be a piece of unneces-
Sary injustice to stereotype the
usual cliche turned on new
writer's. to say Mr.. Styron shows
promise. It would be untrue;
he has achieved.
It is true that the LoftiSes are
hardly q normal family-to use
an inexact and unsatisfactory
term. Various convenient labels
could be pasted on them: de-
cadent, neurotic, unwholeSome.
And yet there are such families,
and, whatever else may be said
Of these persons, they are inter-
eSting, which is more than can
be said for many of the pat
termed, undertaking families
which novelists present. More
over. Mr.. Styron should be
judged as a novelist not by
whether the LoftiSeS are admi-
rable, worthwhile people, but by
how searchingly he has looked
ut them and how credible he
has made them. On these
counts he has succeeded amaz-
ingly well.
Familiar Setting.
The setting and atmosphere
Of the story win be familiar to a
great number of Washington
readers. The Loftises live in a
town which the author, no doubt
out of discretion, has called Port
Warwick instead Of his native
Newport News. Most of the
scenes are around Hampton
Roads and in Charlottesville,
with brief flashes to the North
ern Neck of Virginia and New
York.
The situation around which
the drama Is built is developed
IN the first few pages. The
lovely young daughter of Milton
and Helen Lofts has killed her
self. The train bringing her
body from New York is about to
arrive. Helen, separated from
Milton for two years, has re-
Evening star., 1951-09-09

Ii67in;; $3J
Then they'd better break up,
James decided.
Quite Unpredictable.
The situation was complicated
by q fatal accident. Jill had
been driving Bill's car and
they'd hit a man and driven
on, not knowing it. Both James
and Bill wanted to protect the
young woman from the police,
who were hot after the car.
After this, James and Jill broke
up and were reconciled, more
than once, and meanwhile kept
in touch by letter. In one
amazing scene. the three Of
them, the estranged married
couple and the other man, spent
an alcoholic evening together
amicably in Paris. The de-
nouement of this strange story
is not quite predictable.
The story, told by the hus-
band. is not as hard to believe
as it may sound in outline. Mr..
Balchin is a skillful writer and
he manages to make this do
mestic drama seem plausible
most Of the time. If James
sometimes appears too calm and
self-sacriflcing for this world,
as well as downright dumb in
his failure to understand Jill,
he does kindle a measure Of
sympathy, even If you're in
clined to say, poor fool. Once
he steps out of character far
enough to hit Bill. which should
have happened sooner.
Evening star., 1951-09-09

RUSSIA'S SOVIET ECONOMY
BY Harry Schwartz. (Prentice-
Hall; $685.
Getting the facts about Rus
sia's economic progress is not
easy, but Prof. Schwartz, by o
careful analysis Of all available
statistical material, has pro-
vided a comprehensive, up-to-
date survey.
Great progress has been made.
particularly in heavy industry
and ornaments, he finds. but at
enormous cost. The hope that
the revolution would usher in an
era of freedom and abundance
has faded. The poverty-strick-
en- Russian masses, he believes.
could be our most valuable allies
If the fog of falsehood and
ignorance that surrounds them
could be swept away.
BELMONT FARIEs.
Evening star., 1951-09-09

was one connection: Balan-
chine, Diaghileff's last ballet
master, is ballet master for the
New York City group. Though
the New York company didn't
know, there was a connection
for this reporter, too: It was in
the old Court Square Theater
that, as a youngster in school,
he saw his first ballet, his first
Shakespeare and his first and
last melodrama. He doesn't
have any unused tickets; any
way, the New York City Ballet
Company promises nothing
about more swaps.
ASSOCIATED Press)
Evening star., 1951-09-09

ron Entering Newport Under
Fire Of the Batteries and Fore
ing the Passage, August 8.
1778";; view of the City of
Savannah, the Camps, the
Trenches and the Attack, Octo-
ber, l779," and the "Siege of
Savannah Made by the French
Troops Under Orders of Vice
Admiral d'EStaing."
The drawings by Alfred r.
Waud to be exhibited are from
the j. Pierpont Morgan collec-
ton In the Library. They cover
wide range of subjects relat-
ing to the Civil War and the
period that followed. Waud was
one Of the pictorial war corre-
Spondents of Harper's Weekly
and he also contributed illustra-
tions to articles on the war pub
liShed in the Century magazine.
Washington Scenes.
Among some 40 drawings to
be shown are the following done
at the National Capital: "Presi-
dent Lincoln and Gen. Scott Re-
viewing the Three Years Regi
ment, Pennsylvania Avenue,
1867; Funeral of Col. Vos-
burgh," Funeral Service Of Col.
Ellsworth at the White House
in the East Room, 1867; Flag
Raising at the White House" :"
Seth Kingsman. the Califor-
mia Hunter. Presenting the
President an Elkhorn Cum;
View of the Box in Which
President Lincoln Was Assassi-
mated" President Lincoln's
Body Lying in State in the East
Room of the White House."
Howard j. Brodie, combat ar
tist Of World War II, is rep
resented by 20 drawings from
the Library's collections. Now
on the staff of the San Fran
cisco Chronicle, Brodie worked
before the war as a staff artist
for Life magazine and the San
Francisco Examiner. During
the war he was assigned to Yank
magazine and sent to Guadal-
canal in December. 1912. He
also saw action in the Euro
pean theater Of operations in
the Battle Of the Bulge and the
Rhineland campaigns and he
received the Bronze Star for his
coverage of an assault.
Among the Brodie drawings
to be displayed are sketches
made at Guadalcanal of infan-
trymen in fox-holes, in landing
craft, riding in jeeps, bearing
litters, or carrying supplies to
the front. Other subjects in
clude men at gun turrets, bonn
bardiers releasing bombs, and
soldiers riding in Army air
transports.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
A. Powell Davies
Defines Democracy
In Living I erms
MANS VAST FUTURE
BY A. Powell Davies. (F1rr1r,
Strauss & Young; $780,

MANS VAST FUTURE
BY A. Powell Davies. lF1rr1r,
Strauss & Young; $780,
Reviewed by cospor Names
To say wildly why you are
against something is usually
easy. To explain arrestingly
why you are for something is
frequently difficult. The latter
sometimes poses a problem for
advocates Of democracy.
DR.. Davies. minister Of ALI
Souls Unitarian Church. gives
us in this little volume more
than generalities about democ-
.racy. He provides an afirma-
tive approach that is clear and
memorable, and at the same
time punctures Communist
claims of perfection.
Democracy Is a faith and a
way of life with universal
purpose. the minister points
out. AS q faith 1t is a belief In
man, In his reason and in
his ability to settle disputes
through open debate. 1t is.
further, q conviction that man
can govern himself Through
justice and righteousness, SYM
patfy and love-"
AS a way of life, democracy
'is in part an aspiration, but
it is also in part a quite demon
strable achievement" A dem
socratic society is a fluid" one,
resolving It's contradictions In
the amalgam Of contemporary
conditions,
Democracy, as a universal
purpose, has always been IAN
invitation to new. ways of life"
Communism, with its strait
jacket system. recognizes and
fears this fexibility in democ-
racy and seeks to fbrestall it
by moving In to areas where
the democracies have held back.
DR.. Davies insists we must
answer this by extending the
democratic way Of life, and by
spelling out Its purpose "as
realistic and as energetic as
the Communist purpose" Hope
for a lasting peace depends on
doing this without delay.
DR.. Davies writes easily.
clearly and Interestingly. Here
is a fine handbook for those of
us desiring to state attractive
ly the case for democracy.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Complex Science
In Simple Words
THE NATTfPE an TuTNr.,

THE NATURE OF THINGS
BY DR.. Roy X. Marshall.
Holt. $685.
Reviewed by WiIliom Hines
In a society where more and
more common folks try to talk
hike pedagogues, DR.. Marshall
has attained television fame as
q pedagogue who talks like COM
mon folks. Just as it is q
pleasure to listen to his simpli-
fed explanations Of complex
scientific matters, it is q delight
to see the same sort Of delivery
translated into the printed
word.
In his preface. DR.. Marshall
says that spectroscopy and
astrophysics "are far less COM
plex than politics" and are suit
able subjects for small talk. In
188 pages covering everything
from the infinitesimal atom to
the infinite CD universe, he
pretty well proves his point.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
With Chilly Disdoin
Not Hard to Share
INTERMISSION

1NTERMlSS1ON
BY Calvin Tomkins. Viking;
$3.)
This Is a first novel, Of a
type increasingly and unfor-
tunately favored now by young
Americans, which says one thing
but apparently means another.
That Is to say. in this case, the
plot is a limp and undemanding
affair. with q minimum Of ac-
ton. larded over with endless
introspection and laced with q
foreboding that never material
ICES. At the end. you want to
hold it UP to the light. to see If
anything Is written between the
lines possibly some Freudian
Interpretation which would
make it all come clear to the,
uninitiated.
"Intermission" describes the
period during which Jay Whit
taker overcomes his antagonism
to his older brother Elliot, with
whom he has never successfully
competed. This is brought about
through their involvement in
the affair of Elliot's friend,
Roger Faxon, with a much older
and elaborately enigmatic wom-
an named Camilla. Elliot is
nightly concerned about Roger.
described by Jay as "a fancy
young man" who wears black
velvet smoking jackets and a
sleek, theatrical air. Elliot, un-
successful in his attempts to
break up the liaison. goes home
and in time finds a girl Of his
own. Roger and Camilla get
married, come East and give a
number of parties. Camilla Sc
duces Jay. They all go to Ell
lots wedding, and then they
all disperse. Mr.. Tomkins. who
is IS, writes about his charac-
ters with q chilly disdain which
his readers will not flnd diffi-
cult to share.
MARY McCRoRY.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Work Of Artist Reporters
In 8 Wars on Exhibition

Original drawings and water
colors made of events during
three important periods of our
military history-the Revolu-
tionary War. Civil War and
World War u-are included in
a special exhibition at the Lii
brary of Congress. The show.
entitled Artist Reporters" will
be on view through September
IS. on the first floor of the
main building.
The work of Pierre Ozanne.
French artist. and of Alfred r.
Waud and Howard j. Brodie,
American artists, selected from
the Prints and Photographs Di-
vision is being featured.
With French Fleet.
Pierre Ozanne was the offi-
cial artist attached to the
French fleet. under the COM
mand of Charles Henri Theo-
dat, Comte d'EStaing, that was
sent to American waters to help
the United States in its Strug-
gle for independence. He en-
barked at Toulon in May. 1778.
on the flagship Languedoc,
which arrived at the mouth Of
the Delaware three months
later.
Twenty water color drawings
and maps by Ozanne will be
in the exhibit. They include the
following views: ''The French
Squadron entering the Della
ware and Chasing the Frigate
Mermaid" "The French Squad
Evening star., 1951-09-09

gen Weisz. He served with the
Army Air Forces during World
War II and while in service held
q number of one-man shows at
military posts as well as an ex-
hibit at the Municipal Art Gen.
ter, Oklahoma City. The artist,
who lives in Alexandria. Va,
has held previous exhibitions in
this area at the District of Co
lumbia Public Library, the Alex
andria Library and at Howard
University.
Mr.. Rogers is chiefly interest
ed in recording life about him.
with an eye to details Of human
interest. Landscape subjects also
interest him, particularly those
connected with suburban areas.
Mr.. Rogers. who is also a pho
tographer, Is represented in the
permanent photography collec-
ton Of the Museum of Modern
Art. New York City, and in the
art collection Of Howard Univer-
sity. He has exhibited widely in
local and national exhibitions.
Evening star., 1951-09-09

Flaun q 7 e s.
Artroys. Aft
er the Dukes
death, broth
er and sister,
now fully
a W are of
h ir sin.
parted, the
young man to
turn knight
a nd perish
on a crusade.
the girl to
6 i've secret
birth to their
child. The
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Thomas Mann Weoves Novel Around
The Life Of the Great Pope Gregory
THE HOLY SINNER
'homas Mann. fKnopt; $780,

DR.. Mann's new novel is
based on a medieval legend con-
corning the sinful birth and
later adventures OF the man who
became the great Pope Gregory.
The author explains that he
took his story mainly from an
epic poem by the Middle High
German poet Hartmann Won
Aue (circa 1165-1210), who got
his tale of chivalry from the
French. According to this ver-
sion. Gregorious was the issue
of an incestuous relationship
between the son and the daugh-
ter of the powerful Duke of
Evening star., 1951-09-09


neighbor, the Hon. Bill Bule,
James didn't think, as an
American and even some Eng
lishmen might have, in terms
Of q gun or at least f1sticuffs.
James, conquering the turbu-
1ence inside him, calmly asked
Jill If she loved that amusing,
cynical fellow. Jill didn't, she
insisted; she loved only her
husband; she couldn't explain
how this had happened. Then
forget it. said James and they'd
90 on Is II nothing had hap
pened. They did, but 1t wasn't
long before James learned that
his wife was still having secret
dates with Bill and she admitted
that it hadn't been as easy to
give him up as she'd thought.
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Ar
John c. Rogers
One-Mon Show
At Smithsonian

A one-man exhibition Of draw
ings and block prints by John c.
Rogers was. opened Tuesday by
the division Of graphic arts Of
the United States National Mu-
scum and will be on view
throughout the month of Sep
tember in the print gallery OF
the Smithsonian building.
Mr.. Rogers studied at the Cor
coran School of Art under Eu-
Evening star., 1951-09-09

a point; he
took the as
saultS Of fate
in Strid e.
k e e ping his
emotions well
hidden.
w hen he
d i s covered,
after II years
of unrumed
m arriag 9,
that his wife
Jill was car
rying on an
affair W ith
their country
Evening star., 1951-09-09
Nigel BoIchin Writes a Plausible
Story of a Strange Domestic Drama

A WAY THROUGH THE WOOI
By Nigel Balchin. (Houghton,
James, the husband in this
novel, was the Englishman of
traditional least outwardly.
He was tolerant and urbane to
Evening star., 1951-09-09

Miss Florence Bergman,
art critic of The Star, is on
udcGtion. Her column tDil be
resumed on September %.