davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1961-06-11

who were ready to destroy
themselves and did 1t for
them. After the Sigh which
rustled over the earth most
persons were reduced i'm
mediately to bones. The few
that escaped eventually
meet. They find the earth
shrunk. so that you may walk
from New Mexico to what
was Kansas City in a few
hours.
The narrator had been
living on the New Mexican
desert for Is years alone
when he heard the Sigh and
set out to discover what had
happened. He was then a
man in his COS. He met two
women and an assortment of
men in his travels, and these
survivors grouped together.
living first off pigeons, who
miraculously escaped, and
then rats, who also proved
indestructible.
Eventually the narrator
and several others reached
the ruins of Washington.
Two men we're there, one
still waiting for a passport,
the other a Senator, a mem
ber of the Un-American
Committee, who thought he
still was roofing out sub
versives.
There is. despite the sa-
tirical intent. a serious touch
in the narrative and a philo-
sophical undertorie. Perhaps
it's all told a little too casu-
ally to be as effective as it
might have been, but it's an
interesting experiment in
imaginative projection.
Mr.. Erlanger is a manufac-
turer, a painter. sculptor and
explorer who turned to writ
ing with his first novel.
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
FruveI Tales Told With
Wit and Literary Grace
. BLUE SKIES, BROWN

BLUE SKIES, BROWN
STUDIES, a book of travel.
BY William SAMSON. (Lit-
tie, Brown & Co.; ($6.500
There are many varieties
Of books of travel, among
the principle of which are
that in which the writer tells
of what he finds, that in
which he tells what he
thinks about, and that in
which he recounts what hap
pens to MIN. William San
SONS BLUE Skies, Brown
Studies" tails in the last
category.
1t is a good way to write
a travel book if, like Mr..
SAMSON, you are prone to
experience and are more
Evening star., 1961-06-11

who stole 40 marks from a
housewife-in this case as in
almost all recounted by Miss
Bedford, the authors inter-
est is in the people, the
methods, and the principles
involved. Few of the cases
are lurid, complicated or in
trinsically dramatic; almost
all are instinct with human
interest.
Humor, even comedy, is
by no means absent, Miss
Bedford tells of Signor Bel
lini, a penniless Italian, who
arrived in Schaffhausen,
Switzerland, one December
afternoon. Walking away
from the railroad station he
saw a most beautiful girl.
She could not understand
what he said to her, for she
spoke no Italian. Signor Bel
lini rushed into a nearby BIZ
5outerie, and openly pinched
a gold bracelet watch. He
laid it at her feet, a gesture
a sign. At the trial the ro-
mantle thief gets thirty days
deferred. mo more pres
entS to young ladies-no
prison. Capito?" says the
judge. "No, Signore," says
the young Italian.
Some of the cases are
tragic, as that of the di-
vorced husband, with a
crippled second wife, seeking
reduction in alimony to his
first, who clearly cannot af-
ford the decreased income.
The picture of judge as
friend, of law with heart
torn by an impossible situa-
ton, is infused with senti-
ment quite untainted by
anything STACEY or maudlin.
Justice, Miss Bedford OBJ
serves, is everywhere differ
ent, but in each of these
countries it does credit to
the civilization of the people
except in France, where she
saw all too much lack of
interest, perfunctory judg-
ment, superficial routine.
But, as I think Miss Bed
ford would say, she does not
condemn France, but only
what she saw of it. Her re-
searches were intensive, not
exhaustive.
Evening star., 1961-06-11

The Albigensians, or Ca
tharS, called tn selves
Christians" They were a
high-minded, gentle sect,
whose preaching was based
on the example of their lives.
They were, at the time Miss
luxembourg describes them,
well organized, especially in
the south of France, the
scene of her terrible story.
They had their own semi
naries, hierarchy and rites.
They were in the process of
forming a Church separate
from that Of Rome.
A Tragic Story
Miss Oldenbourg's story is
necessarily a tragic one. And
it is an unrelieved and oppres-
sive chronicle of terror,
rapine and pillage, visited on
a pacific people who wished
to worship God in their own
way.
One of their de acons
chides q Catholic priest. "Is
it we you blame for the dis
orders of your church? God
knows we have never i'm
posed our faith by force Of
arms or corrupted mems
souls with money and honors;
if many of the faithful have
come to believe in US, it is
only because your own church
furnished a living argument
against itself :"
Her principal characters
are the members of the
family Of Ricord de Mont
geil, a true believer who takes
Evening star., 1961-06-11
The Anonymous Vitality
OF Some of Our Classics

is a truly modern novel, per-
haps the first unquestionably
great one that releases the
subjective floodgates Of the
author - a tremendous Ca
tharsis. The story is told
by several minor partici-
pants, and the only common
adverse criticism of the work
is that every narrator, naive
or experienced, illiterate or
educated, soon drops the
veneer Of his own personality
and talks like Emily Bronte.
This is true, but not a fault,
for it is appropriate, though
unusual in a novel, that the
tellers of this passionate
tragedy, this epic horror
story, soon blend their own
existence into that of a Greek
chorus.
When three young sisters
Sequestered in their fathers
parsonage sat down each to
write her first novel, every
law of probability was against
a triple success. Neverthe-
less, Charlotte's THE Profess
sor" and Anne's agnes
Grey" are far from negligible,
while in "Wuthering Heights"
the two Cathys, mother and
daughter. are among the
most successful characters in
fiction who are drawn in a
state of violent development
rather than displayed in all
their perfection, like the
facets of a diamond under the
jewelers. glass. Heathcliff,
the man who loves Cathy to
the point of complete fusion
of individualities, and whose
hatred of two families is the
motivation of his life and of
the book, is much more
statically drawn, and strikes
the reader as more of a stock
hero out of Byron. or Frank
enstein" or THE Monk" but
the vehemence of his terrible,
superhuman vengeance makes
up for his lack of subtlety by
the torrential grandeur of his
person.
1t is pointless to object to
"Wuthering Heights" on the
grounds of credibility. The
story may not be credible but
it is intensely believable. You
can no more argue with it
than with the Ancient Mari
ner.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Bv

w - AANANAAA % oy
Emily Bronte. "a Dell
. paperback reprint; so
centS.)
Sir Herbert Read recently
said that wv u h e ri ng
Heights" is the only novel he
has read more than twice.
That many thousands of
people are reading it at least
once is attested by the fact
that this edition of Dell's
is the 10Th now in print and
available in America. The
great demand for books that
may be termed classic" can
be measured by a glance in
any bookstore or drugstore,
or in any current book cata-
log. 1t is curious that the
status of classic writing and
of classic music, and the
publics for each, are essen
TALLY quite different. The
classic book has an under
ground public and a hidden
life, while favorite examples
of classic music are the best
sellers that continually re-
vivify today's music audience.
1t may well be that a
novel such as "Wuthering
Heights" was read by more
people last month than
Stones THE Agony and the
Ecstasy" at the top Of the
best-seller list. But its ex-
istence is almost anonymous,
so to speak, while musical
counterpart, Schubert's
Death and the Maiden"
quartet, or the Schumann pi-
ano concerto, shall we say, is
the very stuff of our musical
life - interpreted, written
about. argued and generally
assimilated in public in a
fashion comparable only to
that of the newest book,
which may be in the public
eye for a brief month or two.
1t would not be too great an
exaggeration to say that the
public life of the classics is
limited to illusions by edi-
torial writer's, and to Shake
speare and the Bible.
This reflection applies to a
thousand books, but "Wuther-
ing Heights" which suggested
it. is certainly one of the most
logical books of the 10th CEN
tury to enjoy great popularity
in the middle of the goth. 1t
Evening star., 1961-06-11

The American Booksellers
Association convention open .
ing here today is bringing a
large number Of readers and
writers to town for three days.
Chester Bowles, who Is an
author as well as Assistant
Secretary of State, will ad-
dress the booksellers tomor-
row. So will Merriman Smith,
and that indefatigable chron-
icler of the death throes Of
society, Cleveland Amory.
The largest lion will be
Morris West, author of "The
DEVILS Advocate" that ex-
traordinary piece of fiction
which has gripped all classes
of readers, from those who
Evening star., 1961-06-11
Perhaps This Points
To New Writing Trend
MOTHERS AND DAUGH.

MOTHERS AND DAUGH-
TERS. BY Evan Hunter.
(Simon & Schuster; $3.50
The literary possibilities of
mother and son having been
all but exhausted, 1t is about
time someone got around to
the vast uncharted poSsibil-
tiles of mother VS.. her female
offspring.
Evan Hunter, author of
"The Blackboard Jungle" and
Strangers When We Meet"
gets there first with the title,
but not too much of this
slickly told tale is actually
motivated by the relations
existing between the mother
daughter combinations in
the cast. The story covers
twenty years and three
slightly overlapping genera
tions. It moves along at a
brisk clip by switching
rapidly from one trusty stu
alton to another. There is
the wartime conflict in the
Pacific between the hero and
a sub-human superior Off
Ger, the idyllic interlude Of
Evening star., 1961-06-11

than ordinarily articulate.
There is no need to compete
with Baedekers, which are
catalogs, but not mere cata-
logs, the best of them being
genuine literature of a
strictly limited kind. For Mr..
SAMSON, a hotel in Salzburg
is not a place to stay in
but to wander away from.
to lose, to search for fran
tically, and firally to find
once again when its identi-
flying lights are relit, after
the replacement of blown
fuse. For Mr.. SAMSON, La
Bonne Auberge, the wonder
full inn near Nice, is not just
a place to dine, but a place
to discuss the theory and
Evening star., 1961-06-11

portraits of the nations
series.
THE JUDICIAL DECISION.
BY Richard A. Wasser-
strom. stamford; So A
theory of legal justifica-
tion.
LIVING FISHES OF THE
WORLD. BY Earl S. Her
aid. doubleday & Co.;
$12.50) GUIDE TO MA
RINE FISHES. BY Alfred
Perlmutter. CNew York Uni
versity Press; $6.5OD DR..
Herald's book is the sixth
volume in the World of
Nature series, the best
thing of its kind. 1t covers
such basic things as hab-
its, range, feeding and life
cycles in the underwater
world and contains as we'll
thousands of little-known
facts. Fascinating reading
and the illustrations are
superb. DR.. Perlmutter en-
ploys silhouettes to help in
Identification of the species
in his reference-style book.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
ABA Convention Brings
Prominent Authors Here

read a book a year to those
who gobble four a week.
Ann Hebson has won the
third annual $500 Mac
milan Fiction award for her
second novel, THE Lattimer
Legend" which will be pub
lished in the fall. Her book
covers the present and the
Civil War period in West
Virginia.
Elting E. Morrison, profess
sor of history at the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Tech
nology, has been awarded the
Francis Parkman Prize for
1860 by the Society Of Amer
ican Historians for his book,
Turmoil and Tradition: A
Study Of the Life and Times
of Henry L. Stimson."
Evening star., 1961-06-11
CIVIL WAR
BIunders
Costly to
Both Sides
By JOHN W. STEPP
star staff Writer

Hindsight is a luxury, and
in THE HIDDEN FACE OF
THE CIVIL WAR (Bobbs-
Merrill; So Author Otto
Eisenschiml luxuriates. He
has a ball examining the
blunders, obvious and obscure.
committed by the leaders Of
both sides in the conflict. II
Lincoln and Davis and their
many advisers-to say Moth
ing of the masses themselves
could have known tn n
what Mr.. Eisenschiml a nd
others know now, the war,
for better or worse, might
have ended before it started.
Mortals, however, are NOR
tails. and the power to ,foresee
was no greater 100 years ago
than it is today.
You can't deny that Mr..
Eisenschiml's roundup Of
mistakes and what-might-
have-beens is absorbing. He
recalls the Federal Govern
ent's stupidity and inhu-
manity in forbidding passage
of medicine to the South
when such aid could have
won thousands of friends in
stead of bitter enmity for
the Union. The Confederate
government, for its part,
should never have encum-
bered itself strategically by
moving its capital so close
to the Eastern front. How
much better both sides would
have Jared if more of the
new technology and some Of
the better advice had been
exploited tully.
The hindsight gets really
annoying when the author
gives a jiffy appraisal of the
merit of Civil War generals.
He figures that only Bedford
Forrest and Stonewall jack
son possessed anything like
genius. Only George Thomas,
Fitz-John Porter Joe john
ston and Longstreet rate as
competent, dependable" Of
course, none Of these ever
bore the burden of topmost
command as did Lee a n d
Grant, who in Mr.. Eisen-
schiml's view, approach medi-
ocrity. But then Abe Lincoln
and Jeff Davis were buffers,
too, mainly because they
couldn't see ahead as well as
Mr.. Eisenschiml can see back.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
RocioI 7 ension Theme
In Novel Of CityLife
THE GRAND PARADE. BY
Julian Mayfield. wan
guard; $4.95.)

THE GRAND PARADE. BY
Julian Mayfield. Wan
guard; $4.95.)
This Washington author,
in his third novel, lifts off the
exterior trappings Of a city
and exposes its inner ways.
In the course of a long
narrative he explains fully a
dozen diverse lives and briefs
many others. This large cast
of characters exposes the po-
litical, social and economic
life of the city. He calls the
city Gainsboro, an hours ride
from Baltimore, in an un-
named State.
The novelist is a Negro, and
the dramatic climax of the
story concerns racial tension
which, under the manipula-
ton of a brilliant visiting
demagogue, eXplodes into vio-
lence. There are important
characters of both races, and
all are treated effectively.
with their faults as conspicu-
GUS as their virtues.
Down South
The leading characters are
a white man, Douglas Taylor,
rich, from an old Gainsboro
family, currently Mayor and
ambitious to be Senator. and
Randolph Banks, a Negro
lawyer and city councilman.
But there are many others
almost as important in the
development of the story.
Gainsboro is not a South
ern city, though it apparently
is a border town. of about
100000, in a Republican
State. 1t is never quite clear
why there is so much stew
over a belated move to inte-
crate the schools, except that
the demagogue. Bryant, has
been busy with his organiza-
ton stirring up the less cere-
bral white people. Actually
there is more trouble than
there was in Little Rock.
The Mayor
All the characters are dis
tinct, but it seems to me
that the author is most sue
cessful with Mayor Taylor.
There is a weakness in the
man, and he has always been
an opportunist, and even the
war decoration which made
him a hero was an accident,
but, in the end. he does some
thing heroic which redeems
all the rest.
There is humor, pathos and
not a little brutality in the
story. Perhaps it would have
been easier to follow if there
were not so many characters,
so many threads to the
narrative. so many shifting
points of view. But Mr.. May
field has something a lot Of
writer's lack, the ability to
keep a long and uuwieldy
narrative moving, to build up
suspense and hold the in
terest constantly.
This is a merit for which
a lot of literary faults can be
forgiven.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
HimmIer's
Doctor Talks
THE MAN WITH THE MI
RACULOUS HANDS. BY

THE MAN WITH THE MI
RACULOUS HANDS. By
Joseph Kessel. preface by
H. r. Trevor Roper. (Far-
rar, Straus & Cudahy:
$3.50
Every war produces its
share of characters II half
real, half fiction-whose ex-
ploits become legendary, If
never wholly accepted as his
torical truth. Such a char
acter was Felix Kersten, a
Finn who was private doctor
to Heinrich Himmler, one Of
the most villainous Of the
Nazis who served in Hitler's
inner court.
Himmler was afflicted with
a chronic stomach ailment,
and unable to find relief
from the regular medical pro-
fession, he turned to DR..
Kersten who wak a profess
sional masseur, a man who
learned his trade from his
native Firms and from a
strange Tibetan monk. The
legend that has grown up
about DR.. Kersten is that
through his influence over
Himmler, he was able to save
thousands Of lives from Nazi
execution and torture.
AS can be expected, the
utter enormity of the claims
put forth by DR.. Kersten be-
fore he died last year, and by
his supporters which include
the Swedish and Dutch gov
ernments has brought forth
those who are skeptical about
his story. There is no doubt
that DR.. Kersten was a very
unorthodox man, and no
doubt he did save some lives.
But Mr.. Kessel's book does
not really satisfy anyone with
a passion for historical truth.
Mr.. Kessel is a very smooth
writer, and where we might
want Recommendation of many
of the claims he puts forth
on behalf of DR.. Kersten, he
gives us, instead, a romanti-
cized recreation of how Him
mler must have felt, must
have looked. But Mr.. Kessel
is not interested in writing
history, rather in telling a
startling story on behalf of a
quite bizarre man. The story
is amazing. If it is all true.
it is even more amazing.
BERNARD GWERTZMAN.
Evening star., 1961-06-11

an older woman in Rome,
the struggles of a rather ap-
pealing young actress in New
York, a screen-test in Holly
wood, a smattering of Con-
necticut cocktail parties, and
considerable leaping in and
out of bed everywhere.
The most frustrated char
acter of all the mothers and
daughters is a beautiful
blonde girl named Amanda.
She wants to be a composer
but gradually realizes that
she has no talent. The author
proves the point by the un-
usual device of printing sam
Piles of her music.
RUTH HUME
Evening star., 1961-06-11
Other Books of the Week in Brief Review

diction test by an Okla
homa University professor.
TALES OF ARAGON. BY Jo-
seph S. Salzburg. expo
sition, So Sketches and
"reminiscences.
THE LAND AND PEOPLE
OF NDONESIA. BY Datus
c.. Smith, jr. Lippincott;
$2.95.) Another of the
Evening star., 1961-06-11

the background of the art of
cookery with Vincent Bau-
doin, the patron, a man who
since the death of Fernand
Point, of the Restaurant des
PyramideS, is one of the two
or three most delightful
hosts to connoisseurs of
French cuisine.
Whatever happens to Mr..
SAMSON is recalled with
literary grace and unfailing
good humor. Among the
places he visits are st.
Tropez, Vienna London,
Minorca, Baden-Raden, and
Capri. The illustrs tions of
the book add much to its
interest.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
SutiricuI Novel
On Destruction
SILENCE IN HEAVEN. B!

SILENCE IN HEAVEN. BY
Michael Erlanger. (Athe-
neum; $3.50
The end of the world as
everyone knew it, occurring
at some unspecified date in
the future, is described in
satirical terms in this pro-
vocative novel.
Somthing which the 10
survivors whom we meet in
the course of the story call
the Great Sigh happens. We
never learn whether it was a
terrible new weapon of a
weapon of a post-hydrogen
era, or whether the Creator
simply got weary of people
Evening star., 1961-06-11
GENERAL

THE BAR AIN ERS. BY
George Cyriax and Robert
Oakeshott. (Praeger, So
A survey Of modern British
trade unionism.
A MANNER OF SPEAKING.
BY Carl B. Cass. wig
dahl, $4.50O A voice and
Evening star., 1961-06-11

arms against the Crusaders
who come in to crush the
heresy. His wife becomes a
nun. Their beautiful daugh-
ter, who also wishes to enter
the church, is instead mar
ried to a nobleman whom
she infuses with her fervor
for the cause.
Wrongly Condemned
They all suffer hideous
deaths. The father is tor
tured to death in a public
execution. The mother and
daughter, like many Of their
fellow believers, are burned
at the stake.
Miss luxembourg, is always
a believable recorder of these
bloody events, but not COM
passionate to her readers.
There is no reprieve at all in
this oppressive chronicle.
She lacks the humanizing
touch of another novelist Of
atrocities committed in the
name of God, H. F. M. Pre-
scott, author of "The Man
on a Donkey" Miss Olden-
bourg's characters speak to
each other in epic, exalted
phrases; they are racked with
scruples. There are pages Of
sermons, doctrinal argu-
ments, exhortation. The rea-
son for her book is in its
last line: "They were wrong
ly condemned" But she has
made her case without the
saving grace of warmth. She
will stir indignation, not pity.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
The Puperbucks

AMERICA GOES TO WAR.
By Bruce Cation. (Ameri-
can Century Series, Hill
& Wang; $1.25.) A COL
- lection of lectures delivered
three years ago at Wes-
leyan University on the
nature of the first modern
war and the people who
fought it. The fluent Mr..
Cation on subjects he
knows by heart.
LINCOLN RECONSIDERED.
BY David Donald. (Vintage
Books; $1.25.) Some pene-
trating new views are en-
compassed in II essays by
one of the foremost of the
younger Lincoln scholars.
Mr.. Donald's approach lets
a lot of fresh air ventilate
the legends of Lincoln, his
wife, the government and
the war they were all in
volved in.
PREMIER CIVIL WAR
CLASSICS (Fawcett Pub
locations: rs cents each)
numbers three highly val
liable background books in
its commendable series.
Two are reprints: GEN
ERAL LEE, by Fitzhugh
Lee, his nephew, and SOL
DER LIFE IN THE UNION
AND CONFEDERATE AR
MES, compiled from two
old standards, "Hardtack
and Coffee" and Detailed
Minutiae of Soldier Life in
the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia." Philip Van Doren
Stern edits the SOLDIER
LIFE selection and selects
and unifies the scores of
contemporary accounts
that com prise PRO-
LOGUE'S history Of the
period between John
Browns raid and the be-
ginning of war. ,..
Evening star., 1961-06-11

THE QUEST OF THE HIS
TORICAL JESUS. BY Al
bert Schweitzer. Macmil-
Ian, $1.95) The historical
personality of Christ and
his spiritual example -
written when the author
was 80 years old.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
PAPERBACKS
ELIZABETH TAYLOR. By

ELIZABETH TAYLOR. BY
John B. Allan. (Monarch;
35 cents.) The real scoop
on Eddie, Debbie and Liz
and other fascinating as
poets of the life of this
former child actress and
woman.
GREAT IDEAS FROM THE
GREAT BOOKS. My DR..
Mortimer j. Adler. wash
ington Square; go cents.)
More condensed culture.
FLESH AND BLOOD. BY
Francois Mauriac. Dell;
so cents.) A novel by the
Nobel Prize winner.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
READING AND WRITING
Zoe OIdenbourq
Arouses Wroth
By MARY McGRORY
Star staff Writer 4

Zoe luxembourg, Russian-born historical novelist is
counted by be the greatest artist in her field Surely
she writer of great force and knowledge but in DESTINY
OF FIRE Pantheon; $495 she advocate than
novelist
subject is the Abigensian heresy which fourished
during the 18th century and which put down with
speakabe savagery ten-year period She calls its
suppression one of the crueet episodes in the annals Of
Christianity" She has certainly made it seem so.
Evening star., 1961-06-11
BOOKS IN REVIEW
Precise Studies
OfModern Justice
By DAY THORPE
Star Book Critic

THE FACES OF JUSTICE. Travellers Report by Syblle
Bedford. tsimon and schuster s45O).
Justice is not single, mnutable, absolute concept
but rather what various societies believe the fae
the least arbitrary and the most servcahe protect
ing mankind from itself Justice thus has many faces
no one criterion Of beauty Sbe Bedford has INDUCED her
curiosity in seeing what justice like in the courts Of five
dnferent democraces and the result fascinating book
The theories of Justice in ENGLAND, Germany Austria
Evening star., 1961-06-11
Fabulous Years
Low: THE FEARFUL

L o W: THE FEARFUL
IFTIE S, written and
drawn by David Low.
(Sim on and Schuster,
$685. A collection by the
noted British newspaper
cartoonist. 1t covers the
SOS and has a succinct ex-
planation of the back
ground of each cartoon.
While this is probably
necessary it's a pity since
the main value of Lows art
is its unaided visual power.