Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-08-25

nave MS nrSC novel IN nine "
BY LOVE POSSESSED
This extremely long nov
thought more than action, is,
for one thing, written with a
remarkable feeling for words.
for their complete context,
the beauty their images and
rhythmS can have. 1t is. in
short, set down with q sure
sense of literary artistry.
AS a novel, it is something
else-Something quite aside
from the music sometimes
q wearying repetition Of the
same tone) of its words.
Classic Unity
Strangely enough, these al
most 900 pages do not take
you inside a number Of lives.
They are concentrated on the
observations, the mind, the
feeling of one man-and. so
far as the objective bounds
Of the story go. are limited
to a couple Of days. This man
is Arthur Winner. q small
town lawyer, but q member
Of the towns best law firm,
q leading citizen. q man Of
81. True. through his eyes
and memories we see many
characters, much Of the town
and its atmosphere. It is q
long time. however. since
I've seen q novel that pre-
serves so closely at such
length what is called, with
misplaced respect, the classic
unity.
Arthur Winner (his full
name is repeated every time
1t is necessary to identify
him) is married happily for
the second time. His first
wife, who bore him three
children, died nine years
before. His law partners are
older. one crippled from
polio. the other in his 80s.
but still active, revered by
lawyers and judges. Arthur
is confronted with several
major and minor crises dur
ing the 46 hours that out
wardly elapse in the course
Of this thick book. Some
astonishing things happen
TO him. But the story moves
too ponderously. with too
many philosophical asides.
to generate anything like
suspense. The last 80 or 80
pages, though. are dramatic
enough.
Thread Of IntOIeranee
There is q strange thread
Of intolerance running
through the narrative. This
could be ignored If 1t were a
minor vagary Of even the
leading character. But 1t is
too recurrent. too viruent
not to mention. II Arthur
and his partners were with
out religion, atheists or
agnostics, there could be no
objection from any fair
minded observer-an author
has the right to create any
sort Of character he chooses.
But Arthur and his partners
are church-goers. Arthur Is
Q vestryman in the Episcopal
Church. apparently because
he believes it is the proper
thing for q man Of breeding
and reputation to be. for
there Is no indication in all
his voluminous musings that
he ever says a prayer or even
believes in God. 49,
This parish contains the
gentry Of e little town.
The nearbv Catholic Church
has the people from the
wrong 81 u Of the tracks. The
religious issue comes in
strongly when Arthur's part
ner. the crippled one, asks
him to advise this partners
alcoholic wife. Majorie, who
is inclined to become a Cath
ole.
without Dispute
Though Arthur is less
articulate about it and out
wardly more tolerant, he
never disputes the diatribes
against the Catholic Church
which his partners utter and
In his thoughts he agrees
with them. Nothing out of
q Ku Klux manual could be
more venomous or less accu-
rate. The local priest Che
does not come into the story
Directly is described as q
man who says Understand"
and "modren."
The only Catholics who do
appear are a dolt Of q woman,
o one-time schoolmate Of
Marjorie's. and the district
attorney. an Irish politician,
. stock character. who, Of
course, has no social stand
ing. The oldest partner. the