Show THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE SUNDAY MORNING JULY 26 7 1936 Books and News of Literary World Focused Deal of Greed i A Son of Maine New Novelist Furnishes Strong Depiction of Down-EaIslands Family Against Background of Off-Coa- Light On Candidate’s Achievements st st By E E HOLLIS THE ISLANDS By Gerald Warner Brace Publishers G: P Putnam's Sons New York City FOLLOWING a number of notable writers who have interpreted the people of the Maine coast as Rachel Field Mary Ellen Crockett and others Gerald Warner Brace a new figure in the field of the novel has here contributed several excellent portraits of down-easte- rs and exhibited a sympathetic understanding of Maine life and traditions More than that Mr Brace has the gift to make us see his islanded bay with forests crowding down to the cliffs above it under the muffling “wool-whi- te fingers” of the fog the bright frosty sunlight or the smother of falling flakes to hew “the sustained far rote of sea on granite coast’’ the ripple of the long tides on the ledges the hushed roll of the groundswell the roar of a northeaster making firm-bui- lt houses tremble Mr Brace a Long Island man in the habit of summering on Penobscot Bay has become well versed in all aspects of Maine waters and coast and weather Of clarity and veracious drawing are his pictures of Thurlow’s cove “a bite in the seaward end of Moose island” of Herring island with the yellow-blinof its lighthouse of bay and sea and shore life These things in the course of the history of his protagonist Edgar Thurlow of the Cove are brought in contrast with a Beacon Hill environment a world measured and conventional and crowded where his had been free and solitary and secure The big white house at Thurlow’s Cove had been hewn out' of the forest by Edgar’s ancestors 90 years before John Thurlow had brought his bride competent wholesome daughter of the lighthouse keeper on Herring home tb it But few had followed the Thur-low- s to the silent cove the Browns and the Todds were the only neighbors who shared this solitude until Nancy Everett Beacon Hill spinster persuaded her brother the Harvard professor that the spot with its odors of spruce and fir would be cure for his nay fever The Everetts built a summer home on the point and the forthright Nancy who appreciated solid worth and John Thurlow’s dry ironic humor was neighborly — even the cultured Mrs Everett agreed that “the natives” were very friendly When John Thurlow out in his fishing boat tending his trawls is drowned with none but the Edgar as witness Nancy’s kindly interest prompts her to take the boy back to Boston with her to educate him Nancy having recognized the father’s strength and envied his achieved serenity desires to assure the son an easier less vulnerable future and as a Bostonian sees a college education as essential beginning For eight years this process of fitting a square peg into a round hole goes on the silent stoic Edgar heroically trying to adapt himself to a life wholly alien to his instincts and desires wanting to fulfill the hopes of the woman who has been so generous to him and whom he respects and loves and uncertain of the wishes of the mother back at Herring island who since John’s death has retired behind a shell of reserve not eVen her son can penetrate With every summer that he returns to the Maine islands Edgar becomes more conscious that Harvard and the career of a civil engineer promise nothing of the satisfaction and sense of well-bein- g that he finds in the sea and boats and the fashioning of boats Perhaps it is Hanson his roommate who prefers his father's Vermont farm to loafing at college and probably Edgar’s encounter with Isabel Minister Allen’s daughter has something to do with his eventual decision when Unde Moses offers him a partnership in his boat building business Nancy Everett swallows her disappointment realizing it is Edgar’s heritage that speaks the young man being as Jane Banks says “so utterly damned down-east- ” His down-easteare interesting characters these Thurlows and the Unde Moses whom Edsquare-bui- lt gar so strongly resembles The democratic Bostonian Nancy is well characterized also but with his younger women the three girls in Edgar’s life Mr Brace deals less capably “The’ d Islands” is a undramatic hovel but of worth and substance For some readers even more than his character aketches will his descriptions of the island scene and moods of the sea be memorable GERALD WARNER BRACE Ww W'SV' rs slow-pacfe- Among Current Fiction Titles — — WHAT SHALL WE STEER BY? By Diana Patrick Publisher E P Dutton k Co Inc New York City What shall wa steer by Having no chart But the deliberate Fraud of the heart? —Humbert Wolfe It is the foolish impulses of the heart that fraudulent guide to which women trust unwisely rather than to wait for the mind’s considered Judgment This Is the old truism which furnishes Diana Patrick the thesis of he newest novel a thoughtfully presented story with a heroine of genuine charm and the courage when she found that her heart had betrayed her and led her into uncharted waters to seek return to her true course Irene Bancroft living in the dreariness of an industrial town of the West Riding with a selfish silly grasping mother found life dull and unpromising yet could not accept the possible escape offered through marriage with e David shrewd son of the millionaire who had been her father’s partner David her friend from childhood was not her ideal of a husband grateful though she was to the Engle-dew- s for their constant kindness to herself and mother since the father’s death David was commonplace of the beauty with which she would fill her life Accident brings the handsome Guy Tarrant a young architect from the south of England into her life and it is love at first sight Married to Guy Irene sees not only fulfillment of romance but also escape from the ugliness of the West Riding into a life surrounded by beauty a life of self-mad- The Bookaneer Sosa belonged wholly to Aunt Ellen - die- seems to be a eovery for a girl barely 18 so devastating that Gail to escape her shame and mWery promises hurriedly to marry Tom the young man met on the train whom she had known but three days As a matter of fact one need not be too much alarmed at Gall's situation—youth can forget And there is Theodore Strong that big football coach who has such an unusual influence over everyone he meets to show her the folly of marriage without love and to send her back to the father she had deserted in New York with the purpose of trying to be real friends with him The father’s seeming indifference had humiliated and antagonized Gail but now she means to make it up to him "looking at the view out of another of life’s windows" as Strong had counseled "Life is for living and you ran't live without knowing soma jsnhappi It full-siz- or 16 pic- d tures LIFE IS FOR LIVING By Kay Lipk Publishers Frederick A Stokes' Company New York City From Southern California orangt groves to New York’s luxurious penthouse apartments and Bohemian quarters ranges this story of a young girl’s experiences with love and a way of living In an agony of homesickness Gail Kincaid rushes back unexpectedly from a New York finishing school to spend Christmas At the Valle Verde ranch which hap been her home since she was a small girl— and discovers that her intense longing for the Valle Verde household had been really a longing just for Peter— the Uncle Peter whatever his love and sympathy for the girl left in tjjelr charge- With them you can take 8 : light-hearte- who SEE THE NEW ANSCO CAMERAS half-size- security and happiness Guy’s auctioneer uncle to whose wealth he was heir had accustomed him to an atmosphere of- ease and beauty and grace Unfortunately Guy is too accustomed to the idea of wealth and Irene's anticipations fail Uncle Cyrus having secured to Irene the lovely home at Breen himself marries and dying uddenly without a will his wealth goes to the widow Guy's animosity prevents any understanding With her and the young couple are left dependent on his earnings as architect Of what life becomes’ under these new circumstances when the gay d Guy's inadequacy and instability appear of the way in which the young wife makes use of her writing gift and finds herself a national figure yet at much coat to herself and of her final awakening and drastic redirecting of her course Miss Patrick makes her story It is told with her accustomed sympathy and skill with reality given to her picture of the ugly textile town on each roll of film soul-racki- New Regime Opponent Assembles Major Arguments Depicts DESPOTISM DEMOCRATIC By Raoul Desvernlne Publishers Dodd Mead A Co New York City This volume is Ho all Intanta and It purpose a campaign document thesis is that there is a growing tendency in the United States to Impose despotism on theMmfrlcan political institutions of tiijjfjdual freedom and through the veiled manipulation of democratic processes THIS MAN LANDON By Frederick Palmer Publishers Dodd Mead A Co New York City ' Governor Alfred M London Republican candidate for the presidency is after all scarcely known to the majority of the people of the country In fact until 18 months ago few outside Of the Middle West had heard much of the Governor of Kansas and only for a few months has attention been focused upon him And for some reason or other the news stories the "intimate” snapshots the publicity have all pictured him as a bluff rather unprepossessing caricature of tha “100 per cent American” Far different from all this is tha picture presented by Frederick Paimer in ‘This Man Landon" a restrained and careful analysis of Landon’t background his accomplishment iq tha Reid of industry his political actlvltiea and his record as the Governor of Kansas Everyone hears of the "cash basis’ law of Kansas which Governor Landon put on the books and enforced bringing his state "out of the red" and actually balancing its budget But along with to references the law vague everyone also hears rumors that tend to taka a away good deal of the credit due its and the distortion of democratic ideals The author undertakes to depict a paradox in American political developments by demonstrating the inconstitutional compatibility between democracy and the new despotisms: fascism nazilsm communism and rn He has plodded through a mountain of writings on these new philosophies and has described lucidly their fundamental essences In brief chapters he presents each dictatorship in sufficient detail to make clear to any American how repugnant they are in both theory and operation He then looks at the legislative record begun in congress in 1933 and from it argues that the American system is imperiled by a new directive force diametrically opposed to constitutionalism and tendstrongly toward the philosophy of ing the totalitarian state Mr Desvernlne ha had exceptional opportunities to gather his material In sponsor For four years and more the Democratic candidate has been in tha public fye Everyone knowa him what he has done what he has promised to do Of the Republican candidate this is not true and intelligent voters will welcome an unbiased report on his activities and attitudes Reading “This Man Landon” one is apt to sigh and wish he had many duplicates among the executives of tha country One is bound to approve tha good sense the lack of fhghtiness the sturdy honesty that has characterized Governor London's work in Kansas If only these qualities chn be carried into the higher office! A brief review of the volume cannot do justice to the achievements of tha man but it can ppint out a few salient law facta For instance that cosh-bas—was aver anything more direct? Aa soon as Landon was in office tha law was passed requiring every governing unit in the state to make a complete report oflt financial standing All debts were then paid by bonds issued for from two to 15 ydars Then wth all debts paid it became illegal for any unit to issue warrants orders or checks in excess of the amount of cash on hand for that purpose Violation meant immediate dismissal from of- By GEORGE DIXON SNELL STRANGE HARVEST By Mildred Burcham C&xton is -- fice Will I&ndon carry over some such We idea into government taxation? ean judge only by his record and his attitude He says: "The tax burden of the United States is crushing There Isn’t ftold enough in the world to pay the country’s tax bill for a year” During recent years tha issuing of government jobs outside of civil service examinations has grown to enormous proportions What does Landon think a'hd do on this question Palmer says "Some oldtimers thought that if the Governor were allowed to have his way altogether there would not be an opening left in ail Kansas for a bit of playful extravagance which would provide a sinecure at public expense for a friend who became distressingly fatigued if he had to do a full day’s wbrk” Relief? Landon holds "that thrifty administration in relief as in other affairs getting your dollar’s worth for the object in view is as sound practice for the government as for the His motto "We can't spend what we haven’t got” might well be taken to heart by all But “This Man Landon” tells the story clearly entertainingly slightly apologetic for the enthusiasm ths Govd ernor has evoked in a newspaper man Before voting everyone should read some account of London's work should gain some idea of the man other than that presented in brief news stories and "cartdid" pictures 'This Man Landon" is one of the best things for the purpose— O W B hard-boile- Poetry Contest Open To State’s Writers Announcement is made by the Utah Federation of Women’s Clubs of the 7 poetry contest for the best unpublished poem submitted which is It is open to all poets of the state sponsored by the department of fine arts of the federation with Miss Myra Sawyer as chairman The following summarizes the rules governing the competition: Prizes will be given to the best poem and to the second choice made by the final jury No entrant may submit more than four poems each manuscript on a separate paper with name and address of in a separate sealed envelope No manuscripts will be returned The contest closes January 1 1937 Miss Frances Qualtrough 541 South Main street has been appointed as general chairman of the receiving committee with Mrs J L Gibson and Professor Sidney W Anglcman of the University of Utah as assistants Professor Angleman will select the final jury from the English department of the university and will be chairman of that committee 1D38-193- au-th- ness" Gail wisely concludes and her' philosophy enables her to meet brave- ly new experiences In the penthouse home of Brian Kincaid whose love affairs are equally— and m6re tragically —as complicated as his daughter's between the beautiful model of whom he has tired and the strikingly unusual and outspoken Martha Evennew view of life tually Gail from-'hc- r finds love in different guise Kay Lipke writes with sprighthness and a certain easy charm of manner when the times though thpre are sparkling dialogue goes flat She creates likable people and if her charae-te- r study goes not erv deep still their romanee makes enjoyable entertainment lor summer readers Hart Printers Publishers Ths Caldwell Ltd Idaho This calm purposive story moves with an eveh somewhat pedestrian gait toward Its not unexpected resolution often with bright flashes it insight and happy moments1 of earthy humor but on the whole so quietly that on puts the book aside with the feeling that it Will not linger very long in the memory This is not to minimize the author's achievement on the contrary everything that happens in the book seems so near the possibilities of everyday experience that it tends on that account to loss sharpness: the level of our common experience is for the most part monotony and when we encounter it in fiction our reaction is often very like that The' which we feel toward reality works' of the Goncourta are a case in point They too so closely approxi- mate the dead level of living that aa fiction they retain that monotony Whether this is a virtu or a fault will depend upon the individual reader Certainly ofle may say that life is imitated very closely in the art of Miss Hart And yet when one reviews the particular incidents that makt up her narrative some of them teem not at all common August Spengler rich German farmer of the Midwest is virtual autocrat In hia circle and his passionate dream is to bequeath to his sons and grandsons his own wealth and power The story grow out' of this fierce determination and its effect upon his children how he frustrates their lives and turns them from him through his inordinate love of money Marta the meek complaisant daughter marries Adolph FInkle whom she because her father doesjs not love wishes it Heinie the son who turns away from the farm ip brought back and forced into the mold his father had set for him Paul the favored son is killed in an accident (which by the way one may think turned out a little too conveniently for the author) The pattern of ihft story is not new-hu- t Miss Hart's treatment of it is competent enough particularly when she shows what life was in a German family of the era — the 1900s The quality of reality is genuine and One's only objection to the story lies in the direction of its somewhat uninspired reality The moments of bright incisive knowledge while present are too infrequent and the resultant picture stands a monotone ’&f grays One gleans from the novel however a good delineation of what wealth and property may do to people how it may distort and maim the lives of those who have given themselves up to it and made it their god The tragedy that overtakes Miss Hart’s characters is legitimate and shown in all its Inexorability South and West Present Poets SEVEN SONG By Patrick Dacu Publishers Doubled v Moreland Doran & Co Inc Garden City N Y From the Southwest comes a nsw voice in poetry whose utterances as revealed in thie volume suggest that here Is one destined to take prominent place in the chorue of our poets Here is tufe melody richness of Imagery a sensitive beauty of phrase and a Here perceptivity that It not dulled boundis vision reaching beyond the aries of personal experience as well as awareness of all lift about him tte tragic moments jsnd Us ecstatic In "Seven Song” the third of Patrick Dacus Moreland's collections of poems the universal theme are employed often but there is freshness of concept and sometimes fancies delicate as gossamer as in "Listeners” For Mr not always is Spring the Moreland season of renaissance He says: Spring does not rise again to the withered itaik Rekindling white and magic flame Never the same bees come to the blossoming night I knew the weariness And heard the cry of the sea Yet it was only a keening wind All Ip a winter tree that went Searching far &hd Wide For a day or a dream long lost long Wind like a roving soul wept Or a hope that Des-vernl- w Brcad Loaf Conference died WEST' By Pearle R Casey Publishers The Caxton Printers Ltd Caldwell Idaho Western-bor- n and living much of her life in the mountain country Pearle R Ca3ey in these verses expresses something of what this western land holds for her and her response to the grandeur of its mountain heights the illimitable sweep of its plains its freedom She knows “the color am mystery silver-gra- y of rain-wsage” the aspen's "misty hordes of green” woods like "cloistered sanctuaries where one’s feet Move soundlessly above "the and cient beat Of Life” and vastness" It is of these that very largely she writes here with sincerity and with easy rhythms If her imagination does not exactly soar it is at least very pouch alive Many of the poems gathered here have appeared in poetry magazines and most of them have been accorded honors In state and national contests “j3prng Comes to the Hills” is a sonnet sequence that pleases and her “Pioneer Mother” is a portrait that has strength Although mountains and dfsert engross her and claim her first allegiance nevertheless something in her inheritance makes her responsive to the voice of distant seas "the wide sea lanes” call to her Inlander as she is she writes: FACING et Staff for the eleventh annual Bread held Loaf Writers’ Conference- to be 3 at Middlebury August DeVoto Julia college includes Bernard Peterkin Josephine Johnson Edith Mirrielees Helen Everltt and George Robert Stevens in fiction department Frost the poet John Farrar founder of conference and Raymond Everett will bfe visiting speakers Error Corrected “sun-bake- Love on Altar ' Theme Treated ‘By K JOHNSTONE SACRIFICE FOR LOVE By Harriet Publishers DoubleT Comstock day Doran and Co Inc Garden City N Y Of the sacrifices of three victims upon the altar of three different kinds of lov and of their eventual salvation through a fourth type of love Harriet T Comstock prolific author of fiction write with 'a skillful and practiced hand in this latest romance performer Emily Thorn a tight-rop- e is taken in from sympathy by thfe Although young dqctor Eric Lane falling passionately in love with Eric Emily leaves him not wishing to expose him to 'disgrace when she realizes they are to have an illegitimate child The day before his marriage to Jeffrey brilliant adopted daughter of his patron and friend Eric discovers the son Peter existence of his Romantically in love with Eric Jeffrey- sacrifices her own prude and chagrin to adopt his child and rear it as her own Beginning their married life in North Dakota where Eric is doctor in a small mining community Jaffrey finds many compensations in life culminating in the birth of her son Roderick And at this point the third person's sacrifice begins Peter is fervently devoted to ghe only mother he has ever known and although only a child understands that Jaffrey gives the new baby a love she has never given him As the two boys grow up more and more Peter is asked to aatrifire first his toys thn his time and money even his life work to Roderick's m-- bough Murmuring beauty's name A ekillful craftsman Mr Moreland' forte seems to be the pregnant short-lin- e lyric euch as "Grave" “Diminution" or that ha&ntlng “Ballad of Jennie" With the sonnet form ho has less success but there is In many of his poems a captivating quality whether he merely palnte a colorful picture or expresses tome upsurging "Seven Song" is a of the emotions book of sustained poetic atmosphere wherein numerous lyrics Impel to quotation One is "Insomnia": the active practice of law in New York he has been counsel for several foreign embassies in Washington and spent many years abroad negotiating loans for American bankers in many European countries and principal countries in South America He has also appeared before committee of congress at hearings on all major New Deal legislation on behalf of hie clients In Washington he has gained professional experience of their administrative workings He ha also acted a counsel in a number of cdhgresslonal investigations Mr Desvernlne as chairman of the National Lawyers’ Committee and member of the American Liberty League has written profusely and has made many speeches throughout the country and over the radio in opposition to New Deal legislation The Liberty League is distributing large numbers of the book remarking that: "This book is conspicuous for the clearness the balance and the fundamental soundness with which it depicts a serious crisis In the life of our nation" The title page carries a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would glv up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” In his foreword the author points to accusations widely voiced that “the Roosevelt administration has adopted measures is pursuing policies and is engaged in activities which are Intended to transform our political institutions and' to remodel oiir social and economic order in a manner absolutely incompatible with our traditional American ideals" The accusationi Include the charge that the New Deal has a clear and definite tendency toward the totalitarian state in one or other of its modern European verelons— fascism naziism or sovietism Mr Desvernlne' book is the result of his explorations in "the record" to sec what truth pervades these implication “Ae far as possible" he writes "I have chosen the method of letting eome of the offline! leaders of the New Deal peak for themielvea and explain their Ideas and actions in their own Words have called attention to the decisions of the courts comparing some of the chief Itemi of their legislative program with the principles of our constitutional sysssm and have briefly re1 corded the attitude of tho court have Intended to express no opinion as to the wisdom or the feasibility of the social and economic aspects of the problems discussed but only qs to their political and constitutional Implications and consequences My concern is with principles not personalities" “Democratic Despotism” presents little that ha not been eald before as the author admit Perhapa Mr ie to be credited with saying It better than many have done to have imparted continuity and cohesion tb ths whole argument Also h bas Deal argument brought ths antl-Nebook together into a single readablevolumes It is perhaps one of many which will come forth’during tb cun rent political campaign but It deeeryes to be listed as an Important campaign document a syllabui of the basic political economic and social points of view of opponents of the New Dea who will go forth to' offer “an appeal to reason” during the battle rather As than to besmirch personalities such a book It has uncommon merit nature this Wholly controversial In It conreviewer declines to evaluate the or tent matter In respect to rightness offers wrongnees of the argument but manthe author commendation for the ner in which his material la present- Across the desert miles thie In the review of Robert Frost’s new“A Further of poems est volume isRange” which appeared in a recent sue of TheTribune the name of the as publishers was erroneously given The MacMillan company Henry Holt & Co published the volume as they have all of Frost’s works salt-spr- comes to me From pounding surf and Harbors where strange flags are flown: I may not question my strango paL- sion for the sea The blood remembers what the mind has never known -- tcrestq until filially a new and enlightening love and understanding brings them all together again As to the style of the writing itself it is perhaps better to let the author speak for herself through the wvds Of Jaffie her main character who also is a writer To her adopted father a famous surgeon Jaffie says: “Oh Jimmy how little you understand after all I know you can take our poor bodies apart and wash the bits and put us together again better than before but there’s something else Jimmy Something that" escapes you I reallv - I know I'm middle am not conceited class mentally but I do have the power to gel over to the noncritiral often the hungry ones something they want’’ WILD WEST DAYS "Brincho Apacha” Willman by Paul (bO AT "Cowboy Lingo" 'by Ramon F Adams (tO CA "Tradars to tha hlavajos” by Gil’mor & WetherilL (t'O ”A fJ-- "Tha Wait Is Still Wild” (0 by Harry ’A b a£W Carr TT owman's Wife” Mary Kdder Bookshop CQ Rale Main Floor |