Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-08-12
The
Rambler
80. Gets Rebuked
By an Old Friend
By GEORGE KENNEDY

best TO make MS columnal
personality a kindly one, the
Rambler is already stepping
on toes. What makes it worse
the toes belong to a very good
friend, The Stars book re-
viewer.
On Wednesday the Ramb-
Ter closed this column with
a reminiscent item, a gaffeI
he pulled in his first week
as a reporter in 1922. The
managing editor (of a West
ern New York paper asked
him how he liked the work
The youthful Rambler an
swered fine but added that he
would like to do book re-
views.
The item stimulated this
response:
/ always enjoy your COLI
unnn, especially when It
gives me something to ar
que about. l passed over
your gratuit0as insult to
cats, the nOblest of ami.
mails, whether Of the do
nestle kind or the large,
fierce species, like leOpards
and tigers. However, l
pause to reflect over your
comment on book review
ing.
I'm glad that in your
youth you escaped a fate
worse than well, you
name it by failing to
achieve a mOmentary am
bitiOn to be a book critic.
Book reviews" say you
(the exclamation mark is
the Rambler's). THE
Rambler still bushes to
think that he was asking
for such a secondary role
when he was being given
an opportunity to report
life at first hand"
As one who for many
years was land is proud
that he waS) a reporter,
not only in Washington but
in a number Of other cities
scattered from coast to,
coast, 1 realize that read
ing a book and writing
about it is somewhat less
exciting than covering a
murder trial or a fire or
a real hot Congressional
hearing. And yet let's con-
slider for a moment this
secondary" role.
When I report to my
readers Il hope and trust l
have them on a book, l
am reporting someone
else's view Of life. Granted.
But so, in a great many
instances, Is a reporter
when he carries out an as
signment. A convention, a
meeting, an interview, even
the testimony Of witnesses
at a trial or a hearing
all these things are rei1ec-
tons of others Observa.
tiOns or opinions. Is the
reporters role primary or
secondary? True, he some
times is able to watch a fire
or a parade or a pageant
or be on hand when some
celebrity steps of . plane.
Even so, I'd say that most
Of his work is reporting
what others say and do.
l have not found book
reviewing as a fulItime job
less absorbing than the
daily routine of a reporter
or even a cOlumnist.
To some Of us the discovery
Of a good book, a novel
or a biography, can be an
exciting event. To write
about them, even bad
books, Is q privilege and a
pleasure. Some very great
writers did not feel that
they were stepping into a
secondary role when they
reviewed the new books. 1
mention only a few: de
Quincy, Arnold, Saint
Beuve, Poe, H. L. Mencken.
i do not mean to compare
myself to such writers ex-
cept to explain the appeal
Of writing about books.
To some Of us a book Is
Tor can bel a work Of art,
as interesting to explore as
q new symphony or a new
painting. I'm sure that the
critic who first pointed out
to the reading public that
in "Almayer's Folly" it had
a first novel by a new
writer of major stature,
one Joseph Conrad, did not
feel that he was working in
a forgotten backwater Of
life.
To others, books are
merely something to fill a
library shelf or put some
attractive bOOkends to
Vu0rE syouIHvngt hotL