davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1962-07-22
BOOKS IN REVIEW
Genius of James Agee
Reflected in Letters
BY DAY THORPE
Star Book Critic
LETTERS OF lam

LETTERS OF JAMES AGEE TO FATHER FIVE. George
Brsziller; So
critic without prejudice invariably without temper
and therefore worthless dangerous is the critic af
feced by sympathy for he go astray STILL criticism
not being exact science like the assayng of gold
pathy be tolerated when leads to deep Of
probation of book author do hesitate
to of feeling my subject when say that
the present volume Of letters from Agee James
century American author.
James Agee. born in Knoxville in 1909 died in New
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Pere TeiIhurd
Writes About
His Journeys
LETTERS FROM A TRAv-

LETTERS FROM A TRAV-
ELLER is q poSthumous
collection from the pen of
Pierre Teilhard de Char
din. (Harper & Bros; $40
Pere Teilhard was q Jesuit
paleontologist, the discover
er Of "Pekin man." His efforts
to reconcile the discoveries of
evolution with his faith
brought him into conflict
with his religious superiors
and he was forbidden to pub
lish during his lifetime. The
Vatican has issued q warn
ing" about his writings, which
have caused something Of a
sensation in his native
France.
Pere Teilhard's expeditions
took him frequently to the
Far East. He was q born
traveller who records the
most interesting and pictur-
esque aspects of the countries
he visited. He was also q
distinguished scientist, e.
questing soul. and q human
being Of enormous charm and
delicacy.
Although much made Of in
scientific circles. he remained
always o priest, concerned
with giving glory to God.
II have absolute trust in
Him." he wrote shortly before
he died, Whose greatest pos
sible exaltation is my only
care" M. Meg.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
PAPER BACKS
ANDRE GLIDE. BY Jean Hy

ANDRE GIDE. BY Jean Hy-
tier, doubleday Anchor;
$1.25) The first English
translation, Of the book
which Andre Glide himself
lauds as presenting "a per-
feet knowledge of all my
works." ....
THE GATEWAY TO HIS.
TORY, By Allan Nevins.
Doubleday Anchor; $l.45O
This Is a revised edition Of
the 1887 book which ap-
proaches history from bio
graphical, cultural, INTEL
lectual, geographical and
political standpoints and
discusses the goals, prob
lens and development Pc
culiar to each.
DINNERS THAT WAIT. By
Betty Wason. Doubleday
Dolphin: 95 cents0 Offers
the perfect solution to the
problem Of preparing COM
pany dinners and being a
gracious hostess at the
same time. (Reprint.)
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Cobrus in Bed!
THE PASANG RUN. BY Ell
lesion Trevor. (Harper g.
Row; $3.50

The PASANG KUN. BY Eli
lesion Trevor. (Harper g.
Row; $3.50
An airport in the middle
of a terrorist-infected Malay
jungle turns out to be ex-
actly what Hugh COPELAND
needs to help him forget an
unhappy past. AS the new
manager Of the PaSang ter
minal Hugh faces an asSort-
ment Of occupational hazards
guaranteed to keep a mans
mind off his troubles: Spies
in his hangar, cohras in his
bed, bombs in his airplanes,
etc. There is also a luscious
airlines Stewardess, named
Santha Mae Swee, who keeps
flying in and out Of Pasang.
AS a means of distracting the
manager she is even more ef-
fective than the cobra.
This is a good, straightfor-
ward adventure story, told
with such admirable econ
omy and understatement
that we should excuse the
author his use of that YEARLY
predictable character, the
doctor who has fled from
civilization and become a
shambling ruin. He's back
again! RUTH HUME.
Evening star., 1962-07-22

law is moral courage found
close to home.
The pure example of moral
courage related by Mr.. Mac
kenzie is the story of Doug
las Home, an Englishman
who told his draft board be-
fore the last war that al
though he would try to do
his best as a soldier, he
could not be relied upon in
all circumstances. " He fought
bravely, but shortly before
the attack upon lie Havre,
in which he was to partici-
pate, learning that a Ger
man request to evacuate
civilians had been turned
down although there was still
time, he went to his COM
manding officer and with
drew from the fight. After
ward, though he had reason
to believe the incident would
be forgiven if forgotten by
him, he nevertheless wrote a
letter to the press about the
affair, and was court-mar-
tailed and imprisoned.
One does not have to ap-
prove of Mr.. Homes action
to recognize it as a good ex-
ample of moral courage. On
the other hand, Mr.. Mac
kenzie makes no distinction
between Homes bravery and
the courage of Claus
Schenck Graf Won Stauffen-
berg, the German general
who plotted the assassina-
ton of Hitler, and carried a
time-bomb in a briefcase
into a conference room with
the Fuhrer. This was an act
Of the greatest physical
age, not moral, for
Stauffenberg knew that if he
were successful he would die
cherished and admired and
understood by the world.
The dozen or so stories
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Milk and Honey
THE HITTITE. BY Noel B.
Gerson. Doubleday; $3.50

4AAG IA i i Gs ny NOCl d
Gerson. doubleday; $3.50
Marduk is a soldier in the
armies of the great Hittite
empire that lies to the north
Of the land flowing with
milk and honey" The forces
Of Israel run head-on into
these armies to the north.
The Jewish leader is Joshua,
who prays for victory in the
name of Jaweh. Eventually
Joshua forces his armies to
accept an alliance with Mar
duk's country against the
threat of Egyptian conquest.
Though aging, Joshua is
strong enough, with his God
given strength. to pin the
younger Marduk to the
ground in a duel to the death,
but spares his life. Marduk
eventually becomes ambassa-
dor to Jerusalem and weds a
beauteous Jewish maiden.
H. A. LYON.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Jungle War
Recalled
In Novel
AN AFFAIR OF MEN. BY Er.

rol Brathwaite. (St. Mar
tins Press; $3.50
A New Zealand writer,
Enrol Brathwaite, offers q
better -than-average novel.
TIL scene is q Bougainville
jungle during the last World
War. Capt. Itoh, the tough
and merciless leader Of a pa
troll of japanese Imperial
Marines, is enraged at a ma
tive headman. The headman
is a Christian, and as such
will not help Itoh Cor the al
heS) in the war.
Although to Itoh this i'm
pass is IAN affair Of men," it
becomes eventually a contest
of cultures and religious val
ues.
The sequence Of events to
illustrate this theme is clev-
erly worked. Unfortunately,
except for occasional periods
when the story is going well
enough to carry both it.
self and Mr.. Brathwaite, one
is seldom free from feeling
the author at his work.
Moreover, Mr.. Brathwaite
records all Of Capt. Itoh's
thoughts with such "factual"
detail that there is no room
to wonder. A more artistic
writer might permit a little
mystery or even fantasy. At
the very least this could re-
lieve the reader Of suspecting
that all those facts" on
japanese thinking could not
be straight. And at most it
might imply rather than
hammer at the supernatural
forces at issue.
The best characteristic Of
this book is its compassion
ate treatment Of the doomed
captain. The compassion is
SO effortless and restrained
that here at last one may
forget the author at work
and sense the Christianity
which he chose for his theme.
MARY FAITH WILSON.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Story Dromutizes German
Views on Anti-Semitism.
IN FICTION

THE SINS OF THE FA-
TIL E RS. BY Christian
Geissler. (Random House;
$3.50
Influential groups in the
Federal Republic have de-
manded that I be convicted
of treason for writing The
Sins Of the Fathers" says
the author of this shattering
indictment Of the maniacal
anti-semitism of prev ar
Germany. The German title
Of the book was "Anfrage," or
Inquiry" and it is as an in
quiry rather than a novel
that it makes its impact. The
prose is ragged and the me-
chanicS Of the plot are con-
trived. But literary flaws do
not obscure the authors pur-
pose in his investigation Of
present-day German atti-
tudes toward the mass mur-
der Of the Jews.
A young physicist named
Klaus Kohler learns that the
laboratory in which he works
was once the home of a jew
ish family Of which all the
members but one were ex-
terminated. He becomes OBJ
sessed with the idea of find
ing the survivor. During the
course of his search he un-
covers some Illuminating and
blood-chilling reactions to the
crushing burden OF guilt that
the present generation has
inherited from its fathers.
Geissler and other young
writer's Of his school have
been accused Of adhering to
a "cult of anxiety" If the
opinions that the physicist un-
earths during his tortured
Evening star., 1962-07-22

Myth" promises what he calls
''the inside story of the Gu
ban fiaSco and the Vienna
Conference"
The Presidents brother
Robert is the subject of one
forthcoming book and the
author of another. Next
month will see publication of
the Attorney Generals re-
port of his good viii round
the-world trip, "Just Friends
and Brave Enemies"-a IL
tie derived from jefferson,
who wrote, I'VE must meet.
our duty and convince the
world that we are just friends
and brave enemies"
What Makes Bobby Run?
In Robert F. Kennedy:
The Brother Within" due in
September, Robert E. Thomp-
son of the Los Angeles Times
Washington bureau, and
HortenSe Meyer of Unite d
Press International tell the
story of Bobby's young life,
not overlooking his prospects
of succeeding his brother as
Chief Executive.
The cabinet will have fur
ther representation with "The
Creative Woman" reflections
on her life and times by Dor
othy Goldberg, artist-wife of
Labor Secretary Arthur Gold
berg.
Louis Untermeyer. poetry
consultant of the Library of
Congress has been busy an
thologizing, and new and en-
larged versions of two of his
most nous collections,
Modern American Poetry"
and Modern American Poe
try and Modern British Poe
try" are promised for next
month.
Huntington Cairns and
John Walker, riding the great
wave of culture cresting in
the Capitol. have edited
Treasures from the National
Gallery of Art" an institu-
ton which both gentlemen
serve.
Another entry from the
Evening star., 1962-07-22

told with relish by Mr.. Mac
kenzie include fascinating
and often ittle-known tales
Of the Lady Chs tie r ley"
trial, of the supporters of
Oscar Wilde (some of whom
did not even know him), of
the Irish patriot Roger Case
ment, of Conan Doyle, and,
rather mystifyingly, of the
TV program This Is Your
Life" The book is by no
means a treatise, but though
it therefore does not cover
its subject Systematically, it
unfolds with the greatest
charm.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
FICTION

EUDORA WELTY. BY Ruth
M. Vande Kieft. (Twayne;
$500
The first comprehensive
study Of Miss Welty's fiction,
this book by the professor of
English at Queens College is
No. is In the Twayne's United
States Authors Series which
will include $50 volumes when
completed.
GENERAL
EDUCATION: An Instrument
Of National Goals. Edited
by Paul r. Hanna. INC
Graw-Hill; $4.500 In the
summer Of 1861, more than
800 educators gathered at
Stanford University for the
annual Cubberley Confer
ence. The views presented
by these distinguished edu-
Gators and national leaders
who addressed the confer
ence form the basis Of this
book.
ETHICS AND BIGNESS:
Scientific, Academic, Re-
hgiOus, Political and Mill
tary. Edited by Harlan
Cleveland and Harold D.
Lasswell. Harper; $7.50.)
Are the norms Of official
Evening star., 1962-07-22
New RuciuI
Plot Turns
The Tides
THE LONG WINTER. BY
John Christopher. (Simon
& Schuster; $3.50

& Schuster; $3.50
A new idea is hard to find.
When a writer comes up with
something different, we have
occasion to rejoice.
How happy we should be
when personalities are
brought onStage who are
lively and speak with an
urbane wit that comes off
without visible strain. "The
Long Winter" balances such
people with the greatest of
ease. Too often in a novel we
are forewarned that the
principals are beautiful and
intelligent and vibrant and
naturally, we expect them to
be all these things, only to
find their conversations
withering on the vine.
John Christopher has pre-
sented us with truly interest
ing and articulate men and
women in a situation that
upsets all their usual stand
ards because for the first
time in their lives, the black
man not the white man is
boss. How civilized people re-
act when the establishment
is literally frozen out and
the EngliShman finds him
self a refugee in the land of
the black man and at his
mercy, is an intriguing sit
uation. Better yet, we have
an author in Mr.. Christie
pher who does more than
promise to intrigue us with
his story. He actually does.
-INNA UHLIG.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Other Books in Brief

conduct more rigorous than
the standards Of private
life? Should higher ethical
standards be expected Of Q
person because he Is q pub
lie official? In this COM
panion volume to The
Ethic Of Power" 3S diStin-
guished leaders in various
fields investigate whether
large scale organization
poses moral conflict.
FOUNDATIONS OF WEST
ERN THOUGHT. Edited
with introductions by
James q. Clapp, Morris
Philipson and Henry M.
RoSenthal. (Knopf; $l0.750s
Six Of the greatest philos-
ophers in the history Of
Western civilization are
brought together in this
volume; Plato, Aristotle,
Descartes, Berkeley, Hume
and Kant. Selections are
presented, each introduced
by an essay making clear
his position in the devel-
opment Of philosophical
thought.
THE UNITED STATES IN
WORLD AFFAIRS, 1861.
By Richard Stebbins. (HaE-
per; $60 The aim of the
volume is to present a con-
else, interpretive record Of
the International activities
Of America during the year
1861.
DICTIONARY OF CORRECT
SPELLING BY Norman
Lewis. Harper g. Row;
$3.50
NEW PATTERNS IN GE-
NETICS AND DEVELOP
MENT. By c. H. Wadding-
ton. columbia University
Press; $l0O Treats the {
problem Of arriving at q
genetical Interpretation of
differentiation. This is vol
ume XXI Of the Columbia
Biological Series. r
Evening star., 1962-07-22

known and unexplained. His
trapeze could swing in the
greatest arc, as when in con-
secutive paragraphs he shows
a passionate delight in the
cynical Swift and the all-em-
bracing Schiller Of the "Ode
to JOY"
He was meticulouS In his
writing, whether for ''him-
self" or for his employers,
whose assignments that made
him book or movie critic, or
economic or social popularizer
may have depressed him but
which he never spurned. He
was cursed with idealiSm, an
absolute, extreme, unquali-
fled, implacable idealism, and
it was undoubtedly the source
not only Of his pitiless self
recriminations but of his
overhanging sense Of destruc-
ton and his urge toward
suicide.
The issues Of war, race
hatred, religion, communism
were things he could take no
part in, for always he found
the right side shot through
with compromise. 81 feel
bound to be an anarchist in
religion as well as politics
and to feel that the effort
toward good in both is identi-
cal, and that a man who
wants and intends good can
not afford to have the slight
est respect for that which
is willing to accept itself as
it is, or to be pleased with
a successful compromise. -.
If there were q law which
condemned every school I
know Of as a lethal cham
ber, and another which in
terdicted the use Of all words
to which the reader cannot
give a referent, and another
which established a staff
whose constant vigilance was
an analysis and rectification
Of the corruption of facts
and ideas through miscom-
munication, and Of the in
evitable tendency Of all au-
thority to crystalline and
petrify and another which
disbarred any lawyer or Judge
who made use of precedent
that would be a little
more like it, though I grant
it would be even more steep
ly subject to misuse"
In 1851 Agee suffered q
heart attack and seems
thereafter to be quite unable
to follow the doctors fiat
against alcohol and tobacco,
although the few letters that
follow may not bear complete
witness to the situation. In
1855 the attacks became more
frequent and Agee died in a
New York taxicab.
The major fault Of this
magnificent book Is an al
most complete lack Of notes.
Three wives are briefly men,
toned in the text and the
reader is entitled to know
something of their history, as
well as the identity of many
other people Agee speaks of.
Father Flye's reticence leaves
the reader in the dark about
the realization Of many prof.
ectS Agee discusses and about
many important situations in
his life. Comment on some
collections of letters is doubt
less superfluous. but Agee
always writes, directly or in
directly, about himself. The
reader wants to be told all.
The minor fault is that in a
book where grammatical and
spelling inaccuracies may be
part Of the true text, the
many typographical errors
(even including the mis-
spelling Of Agee's own name)
are confusing.
Evening star., 1962-07-22

prominent long-ago, WASH
ingtonian John Adams" has
won the first $1,000 Kenneth
Robert Memorial Award. Page
Smith, a descendant of the
great Colonial divine, In
crease Mather, has written q
two-Volume biography of the
second President, the first
work printed since the great
treasury Of Adams papers and
letters became available to
scholars.
Evening star., 1962-07-22
Mr.. Mackenzie Looks Back
From the Heights of 80
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF
MORAL COURAGE. Ry

CEhTA1N A , + + Z 3 OF
MORAL COURAGE. BY
Compton Mackenzie. (Dou-
bleday; $4.50)
AT 80, Compton Mac
kenzie has written more
books than the average man
has ever read, and has been
in the mainstream of Eng
liSh literature, a friend of
Shaw, Lawrence, Churchill,
Conan Doyle, longer than
any man alive. Many Ameri-
cans know him in one of his
left-handed roles-editor of
the Gramophone, when, 80
years ago, that magazine was
one Of the few periodicals on
either side of the Atlantic
devoted to reviews of new
phonograph records. For all
his years, Mr.. Mackenzie
shows no trace of senility,
and his latest book, ranging
in reminiScence and reflec-
tion far beyond the limits of
its title, is sharply and en-
tertainingly written.
Moral courage is the cour-
age Of a man who performs
an unnecessary act volun-
tarily and without outside
compulsion; it must be an
act that will result in popu-
lar opprobrium, and it must
be one the motives of which
can easily be misjudged. Of
ten given life by a surge of
anger in the breast of the
courageous one, moral cour-
age at times is indistinguish-
able from physical courage.
The latter, however. is a
quality of the hero; the for
mer, that of the individual
ist. In the recent "Topic of
Cancer" case in Montgomery
County, the calculated de-
fiance by the owner of the
Airport Bookstore of what
he believed a misuse of the
Evening star., 1962-07-22
TO BE REVIEWED

The following books will be re-
viewed on the editoFioI poae Of
The Stur this week:
MoNDAY-"The American COL
lsse and University" BY Frederick
Rudolph. lKnopf9
WEDNESDAY-"The Gruvesids
Companion" edited BY J. Froneis
MecOmos. (obOIensky.)
FRIDAY-"Writins." BY Dovid
Dirinaer. lPraeseE.)
Evening star., 1962-07-22

Executive Department is But
are the Natives Friendly: How
We Look to Tourists Abroad"
a study Of a new agency by
its first director, Volt Gill
more, Director Of the United
States Travel Service with
Phillips Russell.
Clark Molenhoff, corre-
spondent of the Cowles Pub
lications takes a long hard
look at secrecy in the Gov
ernment in washington
Cover-Up."
Andrew Berding, former as
sistant Secretary of State for
Public Affairs, tried to ex-
plain the State Department
in Foreign Affairs and You"
Up Mount Parnassus
Moving up to Capitol Hill,
we find several chroniclers.
Neil MacNeil has written a
history Of the House of Rep
resentatives which he calls
Forge of Democracy" Mr..
MacNeil, H e correSpon-
dent for Time Magazine, goes
along with the 1908 estimate
Of the House by Josiah Quin-
cy, who called it "the solemn
assembly. the representative
of the people, the repository
Of their power, and the image
of their wisdom"
Former Senator Burton K.
Wheeler Of Montana, one of
the most colorful and con-
troversial members Of that
body in this century has rem
inisced in Yankee from the
West" with the assistance Of
Paul Healy of the Washing
ton bureau of the New York
Daily News.
Karl Meyer of the Wash
ingto Post has edited and
introduced the speeches of
the Chairman Of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
in "Fulbright of Arkansas:
The Public Positions Of q
Private Thinker" for which
Walter Lippmann has written
an introduction.
The Washington Scene
A general view Of 80 years
in Washington is provided by
ABC Commentator Edward P.
Morgan in Clearing the Air"
"a Tragedy Of History: A
journalists confidential role
in the Hiss Chambers case"
by Bert Andrews. the late
New York Herald Tribune
correspondent, will recall
memories Of a previous dec
ade. The book was edited
by Mr.. Andrews son, Peter.
Even earlier memories will
be evoked by 1.-The Priceless
Gift" a collection of the let
ters Of Woodrow Wilson and
his first wife, Ellen Arson
Wilson. Eleanor Wilson Nc
Adoo, their daughter. is the
editor.
Washington will be very big
on fiction lists this fall. Al
len Drury, author Of Advise
and Consent" has ready for
September a novel about the
United Nations called "A
Shade Of Difference"
Fletcher Kne ebel and
Charles w. Bailey of the
Washington bureau of the
CowleS Publications have col
laborated on a political-mili-
tary thriller, which has al
ready an advance sale Of TO-
900 copies. It's called "Sev-
en- Days in May" and it tells
about what might happen
some day if the boys at the
Pentagon decide to take mat
ters into their own hands.
Mice in. the Library
There's a juvenile, too. Ann
Sanders Of Arlington, Va,
has contributed "The Library
Mice" the story of seven
mice, brothers and sisters
who derive much nourishment
from the books among which
they live.
Finally, a book about a
Evening star., 1962-07-22

- S@ - 80 &SCS - - AASNAA Nv
tack. He left three books-a
volume Of poems, a COM
mentary on a social segment
Of the South, Let Us Now
Praise Famous Men," and
two novels, "a Death in the
Family" and THE Morning
Watch," and also a quarter
million unsigned words in
Time and Fortune. 1t is true
that he would not have
written for magazines if he
had not needed money to
stay alive, but what he wrote
that is identifiable is very
good, and that it was anony-
nous scarcely matters,
though it shocks some people.
Times policy of unsigned
articles may be open to as
Sault, but on the whole it
seems more reasonable than
that Of most newspapers.
which have almost reached
the point of printing nothing,
no matter how trivial, with
out a by-line. At any rate,
Agee since his death has come
to be regarded by many as
one Of the most powerful and
original writer's of his time,
and the present letters, al
though they bear traces of
lack Of revision Certainly not
a cause for censure) are the
unfolding Of the development
OF an individual of extraordi-
nary perception and remark
able articulation.
\
Father Flye. a high-church
EpiScopalian who celebrated
mass and called himself
priest "a word colloquially
reserved for Catholic clergy
mem, was o teacher in the
st. Andrews School in Ten
nessee when he became the
friend Of Agee, a pupil not
yet 10 years old. The at
tachment developed into mu-
tual devotion, unintermittent
and lifelong. Agee during
his life moved in a not very
predictable cycle, between
feeling relatively uninvolved
religiously and very much in
volved," but he was alien to
churches, with their mock
revival Of mock-religion." It
is not TO suggest that because
a political and religious an
archist cannot have a pro-
found and genuine associa-
tion with an orthodox clergy
man that one feels regret
that Father Flye, to whom
Agee wrote three or four
times as frequently as to any
other correspondent, included
in this volume only two of his
own letters. Agee's responses
often make the reader
curious to know the incite-
ment that provoked them.
From his days at Harvard,
even from his days at Exeter,
Agee knew that writing was
his vocation and his goal to
com bin Shakespeare with
Chekov. He read widely
but I am sick of the illusion
OF reading which comes of
somewhat intelligently skim
ming a great work, being
somewhat excited by it, and
thinking from that that you
know or understand it,
Exact analogy to those who
meet at receptions and
thenceforth claim to know
such men, calling them per-
haps by their private nick
names. I could be glad not
to dare use the name Shakes
peare or Joyce ever
again." His appraisals were
invariably precise and illumi-
mating. His paragraph on
Kafka's "The Castle" too
long to quote, is amazing
when you think that it was
written Of a new writer, un-