davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Reading and Writing
RooId DohI's Purpose in Writing
Is to Expose People He Dislikes
By Mary MeGrory

Roald Dahl, the short-story
writer. was born in England.
Of Norwegian parents. and
began his literary career in
Washington.
He was here, he recalled the
other day in the course Of q
brief visit, during the war as
IAN embassy nark"-that is
to say, as Assistant Air
Attache, in 1923. AS one
of the earliest combat vet
Grams to come over he was
widely interviewed and no less
q parsonage than Novelist C.
s. Forester was on one occa-
sion sent here to get q story
about his experiences in the
Battle Of Britain as q fighter
pilot.
They had dinner together
and somehow the conversation
got of the track.
Obligingly. Wing Comdr.
Dahl said to Mr.. Forester, "I'll
jot 1t down and send it along
to you."
He Is Sending More
Mr.. Forester. who like most
writers recognizes another
when he sees one, wrote back
on receipt, "It's fine just at
it is. Send more"
Mr.. Dahl. has, in q sense,
been sending more ever since.
His latest book is Someone
Like You," which, unlike most
short-stQry collections. is hav-
ing a respectable popular sue
cess. It has been chosen as a
Book-of- the Month Club selec-
ton, and has sold $4,000 copies.
A lanky, tweedy, blue-eyed
type, who measures twice the
length of a hurricane cockpit,
Mr.. Dahl has q very clear
purpose in writing.
Its to expose people you
don't like" he said. mostly
hypocrites."
His Fovorite Author
Mr.. Dahl's favorite author,
strangely enough. is D. H.
Lawrence, mot for what he
writes. but for the way he
writes it,"
"A bad loose writer" said
Mr.. Dahl of Mr.. Lawrence, ''but
he has a greater gift for de-
scribing facial characteristics
and little-revealing touches
than any man I know"
Another rather wordy genius
whom Mr.. Dahl, q notably
spare writer, thoroughly en-
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Below HeII's Cunyon

Mrs. Len Jordan is an
author by request. She wrote
Home Below Hell's Canyon"
at the invitation of q pub
Usher who had heard Of her
unusual existence in remote
Snake Canyon. Idaho.
A pleasant former school
teacher, Mrs. Jordan, who is
the wife of the Governor Of
Idaho, didn't have too much
trouble assembling her book
about her many years on the
sheep ranch, in a world that
had no roads, no schools and
no electricity. She had done
newspaper work in Oregon.
and she kept a record of that
curious existence. She also
wrote q shoebox full of letters
to friends outside" which
she had returned to her when
the book was proposed.
The Jordans came out" in
1943, when it was time for
their daughter to 60 to high
school.
Town life, in Lewiston, was
different from that Of Snake
Canyon, where her children
had once gone for II months
without seeing another child.
A lot Of men came through on
boat excursions that went
through the canyon. but they
had left women and children
behind.
Adjustment. as Mrs. Jordan
tells it. was no problem. The
isolated home below Hell's
Canyon predisposed them to-
ward society.
I'VE learned to be fond Of
people because we saw so few
of them," she reports.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Freedom. Loyalty. Dissent
BY Henry Steele Commager

BY Henry Steele Commager.
In this collection Of essays
and lectures, DR.. Commager
deplores what he sees as q
strong current trying to pull
us away from free inquiry,
skepticism in many fields and
the right to oppose ideas held
by the majority!
"By insisting upon conform
ity In the intellectual arena"
he says. "and by threatening
with disapproval all those
who dissent or who give us
unpopular advice, we are in
danger of following the total
itarian philosophy-and the
totalitarian mistakes"
No more perniciouS doc
trine has found its way into
American law and into popu-
lar acceptance than guilt by
association, he adds. Sooner
or later" he contends. "al-
most every man or woman
who Is active in public affairs
joins some organization that
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Reviewed BY Carter Brooke Jone'
General Deans S Story

Gen. Deans Korean adven-
lures is one Of the most dra-
matte episodes to come out Of
that indecisive war. He re-
turned from the supposed dead
an outstanding hero, but you'd
never know that from him.
You'd have to go to the cita-
tion that accompanied his
Congressional Medal Of Honor.
For the general Is, among
other things. the most modest
of our recent heroes.
There were heroes in Ko-
rea," he says, but ! was not
one Of them. There were bril-
liant commanders. but I was .
general captured because he
took the wrong road"
Gen. Dean adds: mo man
can honestly be ashamed Of
the Congressional Medal OF
Honor. For it and for the well
come given me here at home in
1858 I'm humbly grateful.
But I come close to shame
when I think about the men
who did better jobs-some who
died doing them-and did not
get recognition. I wouldn't
have awarded myself a wooden
star for what I did as q COM
mander."
He Tokes No Credit
What he did, in the early
days Of the Korean war, was
to stay ct an advance regi-
mental command post at Tae-
ion instead Of at headquarters
Of the division he commanded,
the Gath, ct Yongdong. Spear
heads Of the division had been
driven back in the sweep Of
the North Korean advance and
the situation was dangerous
and confused. In these first
20 days it was fight and fall
back, fire and retreat-there
was no hope Of holding until
q vast number Of reinforce
mentS arrived.
VERY few Of the things !
did in the next "a hours" Gen.
Dean relates, could not have
been done by any competent
sergeant-and such q sergeant
would have done some Of them
better"
Any brave sergeant would
have fought on to help cover
the retreat. but few generals
would, like Dean, have felt
they had to fight on foot,
house to house, with a few
scattered men for company,
when Taejon was overrun by
the enemy. Gen. Dean fired at
a tank with a pistol, because
he had nothing else at the
moment: grabbed q rifle and
shot at q sniper, carried a
wounded man on Q tortuous
mountain road as he and a
small detachment escaped
from the town. During q night
he was separated from the
men. Only a lieutenant re-
manned with him. The two
officers wandered for days,
trying to make their way back
Evening star., 1954-05-09

to their lines. Then Gen. Dean
lost the lieutenant, somehow,
and was alone.
He walked for IS days. hid
ing often from enemy patrols,
occasionally getting food from
friendly Koreans. but most Of
the time going hungry. His
weight dropped from q normal
220 to los. Finally two civilians
who pretended to be friendly
turned him over to troops and
he was captured. He didn't
surrender, he emphasizes.
Later. as fugitive and pris-
oner," he recalls. II did things
mildly out of the ordinary only
at those times when I was ex-
cited and not thinking en-
tirely straight: and the only
thing ! did which mattered-
to my family and perhaps q
few others-was to stay alive"
A Form Of Torture
What"he did was to refuse
to sign all the Red propa-
ganda statements which his
captors thrust at him and to
defy them to do their worst.
He was tormented for days.
He says he wasn't tortured,
but if it is not torture to be
kept awake SO hours at q time,
stripped to q. pair of shorts
in freezing temperature and
threatened constantly with
more agonizing treatment, then
it's something pretty closely
related.
why don't you just shoot
me?" he once demanded, con-
vinced this was to happen to
him. And, fearing he would
crack under their methods, he
decided to kill himself after
killing his chief tormentor,
and he seized a pistol, but was
disarmed by q vigilant guard.
Then North Korean Com
munists who held him-they
refused to turn him over to
the ChineSe-decided they had
a propaganda prize and start
ed treating him well. He got
plenty of food, but he was
hidden always, so the Chinese
wouldn't find him. He was
never in a prisoner-of-war
camp, so there was no word
of him for three years, and
naturally his own army pre-
sumed him dead.
Gen. Dean had been mill
tary governor of South Korea
when the japanese were re-
placed in 1947; thus he knew
the country better than most
Americans. In the war of
ideas. he feels, 1--WE must pre-
sent a better world than the
Communists" Certainly we
have it, but I'VE must have an
answer simple enough for the
dullest to understand"
This absorbing story not
only is Gen. Deans in sub
stance, but actually in words,
Mr.. Worden, the newspaper
man who collaborated. ex-
plains. Gen. Dean told it to q
tape recorder, and Mr.. Worden
merely put It together. Mr..
Worden was an editor, not a
ghost.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

S per cent kickback on deli
catessen purchased at Emil
Rabaul's store in Graz,
Austria.
7h per cent rebate on the
bar bill at the Pavilion In
Krefeld, Germany.
10 per cent of on brassieres
at q store called "Extase"
Cd in Brussels.
10 per cent discount on
heraldic work done by st.
John Battersby. esq.,, in
Chippenham, Willis, Eng
~land.
The books are well put to-
gether. profusely illustrated,
and contain end-paper and in
sert maps Of principal cities
and chief tour routes.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Fodor's Modern Guide-1954
Eugene Fodor, editor. mckay; $3.50 and $685.
Reviewed by William Hines

These are up-to-date travel
books on Spain Portugal.
France, Italy. Britain, Switz-
erland, Germany. Austria,
"Benelux" and Scandinavia.
They offer tips on what to see,
how to get there and how to
avoid being rocked.
In the last-named connec-
ton. Fodor has q discount
club" whose members include
all who buy his tourist guides.
The discount club offers such
advantages as:
5 per cent of the bill at
the best kosher restaurant
in Paris (no kiddingD.
10 per cent cut on rooms at
the HOTEL Siljansborg in
Rattvik, Sweden.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Englander transplanted in
Southern California. This
father is the best-drawn char
acter. The youth is more COM
pletely dominated by his older
sister, Brace. Brace is a
strange person, attractive,
sought by men, never quite
sane. The relationship be-
tween Brace and her brother
is spiritually incestuous. Dick
finds himself leaning on his
sister for every decision. Dick,
in fact. never grows up.
Like too many other con-
temporary novels, the propel-
lers Of "The Courts of Memory"
run in reverse-the effect is
negative. It is to be hoped
that Frank Rooney will find
a positive theme for his next
novel, for he can write.
&C. B. j.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Eric Linklater, proficient
and fluent as are so many Of
his countrymen. writes Of a
"walk-about year" which be-
gan as a tour of official OBJ
servation of British Common
wealth troops in Korea and ex-
panded into a leisurely survey
of commonwealth countries in
the Far East.
His comments on imperial
performance in Korea are
gracefully couched. although
some Of his structures about
Americans may cause conster-
nation. He records, for in
stance, that the general
opinion among Brltishers was
Evening star., 1954-05-09
A Year Of Space
BY Eric Lnklater. (Harcourt, Brace; $500

that American troops were
poorly trained and led (until
the advent of Ridgway), and
that, if the training Of ROK
soldiers had been left to pow
ers with colonial experience
they would have proven a far
more effective fighting force.
AS he goes, Mr.. Linklater
allows his memories to roam
over other travels and other
companions. His most interest
ing chapters relate to Aus
tralia and New Zealand. two
countries whose youthfulness
and enterprise he sees as full
Of promise.
M. Meg.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

signed by the secret police to
confess" and then implicate
others. But the mental and
physical thumbscrews were ap-
piled and all defendants con-
fessed on schedule.
Mr.. Orlov was an NKVD
official before his break with
Stain and flight to Canada.
His details Of Stalin's crimes
sound authentic.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

CECIL WOODHAM-SMlTH
Tells the incredible story Of
one Of the most tragic blum
ders in military history.
with him and, in order to
maintain the chic of his regi-
ment he ruthlessly hunted
down all Indian" officers, that
is to say those with combat
service.
His DeodIy Rival
Lord Cardigan's brother-in-
law and deadly rival, Lord
Lucan, was every bit as bad
tempered and almost as eccen-
trio, although not so stupid. He
spent his prewar years harry
ing his Irish tenants. During
the famine years, he concluded
that there was not enough
land to maintain the people,
and characteristically, he de-
cided the people must go. The
question of how or where did
not concern him. Like his
brother-in-law, he thought hui
manitarianisrn Of any kind q
silly affectation.
This extraordinary pair met
fatally on the battlefield Of the
Crimean War. Lord Cardigan
refused to accept the orders Of
Lord Lucan, who was his
senior officer. The resultant
blunder was epic. and even
tually led to the terrible
slaughter that ended the
charge of the Light Brigade.
Mrs. Woodham-Smith ex-
plores these matters in pene-
trating fashion. Other ques-
tions, such as the whole char
acter of the British Army, the
military genius Of the Duke Of
Wellington, the famine IN Ire
land are handled in the same
Illuminating fashion.
1.-THE Reason Why" has par
ticular relevancy in the Capitol
today, as another spectacle Of
politics In the Army is cur
rently being played out.
M. McG.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Exhibition Notes

The Society Of Federal
Artists and Designers is hold
ing its third annual exhibition
of graphic work produced by
Government departments and
agencies in the lobby of the
Department of Commerce,
Fourteenth street entrance.
through next Friday. The
show includes publications Of
many types, posters, two and
three dimensional exhibits.
phases of film strip and mo-
ton picture production, med
e. ical, technical and scientific
illustrations and other visual
presentations.
The Theosophical Society In
Washington is showing paint
ings by Fran Argent at its
rooms at 726 Eleventh street
NV, from 3 to 6 o'clock daily
through next Sunday. The So
ciety hopes to sponsor further
exhibitions by Washington
artists during the 1954-5 sea.
son. There are SO paintings
on view by this native WASH
ington artist, who studied at
the Corcoran School and
American University. Inter-
ested in the therapeutic value
of art for both the mentally
i'll and the physically handi-
capped, she has taught paint
ing to disabled Korean vet
erans at Walter Reed Hos.
pital for the past two years.
The second annual Oxon
Hill High School Art Fair re-
mains through next Friday.
Sponsored by the Oxon Hill
High School Art Club, the fair
offers prizes on all grade levels
from 7th through 18th. Awards
are provided by several organi-
cations. The show includes
work in manv media
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Weisz Memorial

Prominent artists of WASH
ington and other cities have
responded so generously to re-
quests for original works Of
art by the Eugen Weisz Memo
rial Scholarship Fund Auction
Committee that more than 200
oil and watercolor paintings.
sculptures in various materials.
and graphic arts, will be
offered to the public at an
arts auction next Saturday
afternoon and evening at the
Corcoran Gallery Of Art.
This is the result Of a spon-
taneous movement by artist
friends and students Of the
late Eugen Weisz, who was a
teacher at the Corcoran School
for 80 years, to establish a
lasting tribute in the form Of
a memorial scholarship. The
art auction may prove to be a
major event of the area art
year. Before the fund commit
tee had made formal arrange
ments, money contributions to-
falling more than 81 900 were re-
received at the school. Informa-
ton about the project has been
published in The Stars news
and society columns, during
the past fortnight or more.
But the high calibre of art
lists works to be placed on ex-
hibition at the Corcoran to-
morrow, to remain until the
auction next Saturday, has not
been publicized, as works have
continued to arrive during the
past week. There are so many
covetable items that it seems
invidiouS to specify the small
number that can be squeezed
into this space. Paintings and
other works for every taste
progress from traditional nat
uralism to non-objective. Prac-
tically every subject a pros
pective purchaser could desire
is represented here.
To mention a few things at
random, I liked (oil paintings)
Joseph De Martini's sharp
angled "Surf on Rocks" John
Chapman Lewis large Water
front" in soft gray and blue
color scheme, Edmund Arch
er's handsome Autumn Still
Life" Minor Jameson's poetic
landscape, Winifred Mobiles
quiet little Path to School,"
(watercolorS) Alfred McAdams'
Window on World" Rudolf
Won Huhn'S "Safari" and
Katherine Summy's Maine
Water and Woods" (sculp-
tureS) Frank Yee's large gran
ite Mother and Son." Heinz
Warneke's wood owls" Hazel
Van Matters mahogany near
astract leaping kid. Lloyd
Embry's pastel reclining nude
Graphic arts) Marguerite
Kumm's several wood engrav-
ings and Jim Berryman's
drawing Of the statue of the
Great Emancipator in the Lin
coin Memorial.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Story Behind
An Historic
Army Blunder
The Reason Why
BY Cecil Woodham Smith.
iMcGrGiD- Hill: 50

McGrGiD-E4iLl;; 81
Mrs. Woodham-Smith's BIZ
ography Of Florence Night
ingale. the heroine of the
Crimean War. was q master
piece. This new excursion into
18th century history is scarcely
less remarkable.
What she has done is to
supply the prose documenta-
ton for Lord Tennyson's, cele-
brated poem. 1.-THE Charge Of
the Light Brigade" The rea-
SON why those brave men rode
into the Valley Of Death (and
there were TOO instead Of 600
as Lord Alfred put 1t. perhaps
for reasons Of metre), makes
absolutely fascinating reading.
Mrs. Workmanship writes
beautiful, incisive prose. She
absorbs her research 20 that
not a single footnote Is visible.
: Beyond this, she has a sense
Of humor and an eye for char
acter that make her account
of enormously complicated
matters spirited as well as
Illuminating.
LordIiest Lords
The two greatest human
reasons for the disastrous
cavalry charge at Balaclava
were a pair Of the lordliest
lords who ever strobe through
the ord-loving country" that
was 10th century England.
They were the Earl of Cardi-
gan and the Earl Of Lucan.
Lord Cardigan. the last Of
the Brudenells. was q beau
tiful. spoiled boy. who grew
up to be q handsome. terrible
tempered man. A martinez
and . dandy. he purchased.
as was the custom Of the day.
the command Of q regiment.
He was court-martialed, but
was allowed to buy his way
back in. Once he arrested an
officer who had put q wine
bottle instead Of q decanter
on the mess table, and he
repeatedly tried to monitor his
officers conversation in their
quarters.
His troops. with their cherry
colored pants and royal blue
jackets were the snappiest in
the British Army. Spit and
polish was the watchword
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Of the utmost degradation
against q young priest. The
clergyman is involved, indi-
rectly, in the most hideous of
all the sinners crimes. q mur-
der. Fate brings them to-
gether to work out an almost
mechanical salvation.
There Is some very effec-
tive writing In Mr.. Mauriac'S
Corot-like rural France. but 1t
Is not sufficient to disguise the
poverty Of his invention and
Characterization.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

joys reading is Charles Dickens,
whose caricature he loves.
MIR. Dahl goes to his writ
ing table right after break
fast every morning with q
thermos of tea by his side. He
writes laboriously In long
hand.
On his visit, he was ac-
companied by his pretty,
crisply intelligent wife, Actress
Patricia Neal. and Ralph
Ingersoll, the former editor Of
PM, who Is now O Virginia
farmer. =
Mr.. Ingersoll revealed that
he Is writing his autobiog-
raDhy.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Art Programs

Robert Richman; director Of
the Institute Of Contemporary
Arts, will lecture next Wednes-
day evening at $3.50 at the
Phillips Gallery on American
Painting and Sculpture"
Australian Art Films will be
shown at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art next Thursday evening.
in cooperation with the Aus
tralian Embassy.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Rennie's Variety

Helen Rennie is the first
artist to be given a solo exhi-
bition in Franz Bader's new
gallery at 1705 q street. More
than 20 of her paintings, the
majority oils, include her fas-
cinating Siamese cats, elon-
gated to bring out their aristo-
cratic grace; near-naturalis-
tic paintings such as Concert
at the Phillips Gallery" abb
stractions. including "The
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Bay: non-objective, such as
Song of the Forest" and her
large, gay. colorful Circus"
One Of the wittiest little paint.
ings is "Nuns at Airport. +"
Their colts repeat the lines Of
an incoming plane.
A native Of Maryland's East
ern Shore. she studied ct
Washington University. st.
Louis. the Corcoran School
and the National Academy In
New York. She spent several
years in France. returned to
teach at the Phillips Gallery
School, has participated in
group shows, has had solo ex-
hibitions here and in Chicago.
She painted q 70-foot mural
in Roosevelt. High School. In
1948 she won The Evening
Star Award for the best paint.
ing in the Society Of Wash
ington Artists.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

90 - SA4 ~
veloped.
It would
be o pleas
ure to add
t h at the
story is
worthy of
his powers,
but tn e
m elancholy
tn Is
tn at the
8 tory is
slight, con-
sidering the
GnarA aY-
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Mr.. Orlov. until 1898 a
henchman of Stain. tells here
Of the preparation Of defend
ants for his first Moscow
show" trials.
Stain. and the NKVD.
which did his dirty work.
knew the accused were inno-
cent-were. In some instances.
actually fake defendants as
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Reviewed by Edwin TribbIe

Mr.. Mauriac. winner Of the
Nobel Prize for literature. has
written scores of books, many
of them published in this
country, but he has never had
great popularity here. This
novel. first published in France
in 1886, and now translated
for the first time, win do little
to advance his reputation here.
The story illustrates q theme
Mr.. Mauriac has often taken:
the relationship between good
and evil. Here he pits q man
Evening star., 1954-05-09
All Is Not Butter
BY Robert Banning.
(Little, BrotDn;; $3.75.)
TbIIIISI 07UUIEI SJ1JD
Reviewed by SoIIy A. Greenland

Reviewed BY Solly A. OremIond
Robert Banning. q former
newspaperman and his South
ern-born gentlewoman wife
Virginia, find themselves the
tenderfoot owners of a large
Wisconsin dairy farm. Vir-
ginia finds the arctic winters
and the plumbingless house
the least Of her troubles. Her
attempts to civilize the crude
German = American farmers
(whoSe highest commenda-
ton of q woman is that she is
a hard worker) make q funny
story.
The author is writing under
an assumed name-perhaps to
avoid the lifelong enmity of
the neighbors he satirizes so
tellingly.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Down on Our Darkness
BY Emmanuel Robles.
Julian Messner, Inc.;; $3.75J
Reviewed by
Fronk Sortwell, Jr.

Mr.. Robles has composed q
fugue on love and death, and
at the same time, a tightly
woven novel of suspense.
His hero, q doctor in q Sar-
dinian fishing village. has
ceased to love his child-like
wife and leaped into the arms
of the beautiful and loving
widow who lives next door. The
doctors love of his patients.
and of the widow, lead him to
shelter q murderer Ca we'll
drawn peasant who tries to
kill Evil with q pistoD and
deceive wife, mistress and
police.
He dashes along the preci-
pice, beset from all sides.
1t seems he must fall when
suddenly Mr.. Robles. with an
ironic flip of the wrist, saves
him and presents q happy end
ing.
Dawn on Our Darkness"
until then q gripping and me-
lodious work. ut that point be-
comes unsatisfying.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
The Courts Of Memory
BY Frank Rooney. (Vanguard; So.

Mr.. Rooney. in this 500
page first novel, displays an
impressive gift for writing
narrative. His characters, too,
Evening star., 1954-05-09

The Secret History Of Stains Crimes
BY Alexander Orlov Random House; $450J
Reviewed BY Richard FykIund
Evening star., 1954-05-09

is as phony as the person who
hangs on to q regional drawl
or accent after living for o
half century in q cosmopolitan
centAr.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

The Mask of Innocence
BY Francois Maurac Translated by Gerard Hopkins Far
rar, Straus G. Young; $3J
Reviewed by Edwin Tribble
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Books in Review
General Dean Tells His Own Story
Of Imprisonment by the Reds
General Deans Story
As Told to william L. wOrden by Maj Gen. william Dean
(Vtking; $50
Reviewed by Carter Brooke Jones