Judge — April 9, 1932 — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

JUDGING tHE BOOKS as Mr. F. P. i e is fia a sorbing Mr. of the I A. has remarked, Boleslavski, after Richard Boleslavski's ncer” we'd like to add bowl of merry hell. Boleslav. it seems, was Polish Lancer fighting with the Ru sians on the Eastern Front. His experiences naturally included a large unpleasant stomachful of the War and were topped off by a large unpleasant stomachful of the Rus- sian Revolution. Being an emotional and literary fellow with a gift for situation, Mr. Boleslavski saw things shutter of special events and ted pretty fiercely to what he So his book becomes a dish of graphic horrors, each a sepa tity in itself, as perfect as seri of perfect short stories, yet held to- gether by Mr. Boleslavski’s high purpose. Which is, to be sure, to show the horror, hell and confusion of it all, and add another voice to the cry for peace and order in the world. Strictly speaking. however, this is not just another war book. In all honesty we don’t think we can ever struggle thru another war book, even if Remarque does it. True the war is here but does not comprise the best part of the memoir. The best comes in when Mr. Boleslavski gives his pulsating account of the mess that ensued when the Revolution hit the Russian Army. We don’t think ever read anything—even in e French Reign of Terror gives so acutely clear a ture of the way a great soc political change sweeps in and affects armies. And, even if we don't re- spond wholly to Mr. Boleslavski's at- ude toward the revolt w npathize with some of his fe about mob brutality. It is, case, a rousing good book. ing: in any HERE is a kind of honesty to the writing, a recognizable qual- ity to the people and what they do, n “Forever and er” by Warren Spencer (it’s jane, gents, hiding ir men’s pants and what are you go- ing to do about it?) that one is tempted to hail it as a fairish book. Telling the story of the pre-and-post- nuptial pains and confusions of a young advertising man, it is obvi- ously an attempt to lay out the least cammon denominator of the type cold before you, begging your pity at his struggles to find his emotional and financial feet in a tough, cruel, depressed world. But after a good honest beginning the book travels into a field of dullness, where the protagonist gets involved in some phoney ghost writing and married to a pretty lousy type of woman. It soon loses its human quality, and be- comes forced and special and un- natural. A terribly cheap emotional ending further pulls it down, drag- ging it into a theatrical futility However, it holds you to the end and that’s something. ee Iss PINKERTON” is like “The Door Mrs. Rinehart’s other murder mys- teries. There is a nurse and a doc- tor. There is a gloomy house. Doors blow open and innocent people are bunged on the coco at midnight just as they are about to discover what the plot is about. T' once was our practise to take a postprandial along Fifth Avenue (aha! the wealthy young clubman type!). During such healthful pur- suit we invariably passed a group of attractive young wenches, as Miss Spenc Schoolgirl swung out of the 50s onto the Ave- nue, themselves intent on morning exerci Our private opinion was that Miss Spence led them out hus- band hunting on the Avenue, but what we wish to point out, that there was always one girl amongst the orderly parade who did not enter into the girlish pants-snooting chatter, Rather, she held herself silent and meditative in the re aS if thinking. We never met this girl but we'd like to hazard the guess that it was someone named Devitt. For a book ishly labelled “The Aspirin Age” y appeared, written by one Tiah Devitt, who is described as a Miss Spence schoolgirl, who writes like one and must be the same girl. That is, “The Aspirin A is so curiously a reflection of what must have been going on in the mind of that young girl on the out- side left, we couldn’t be mistaken. The book is a mixture of young girl chatter, young girl drama, young girl's Ne York gangsters e represented) rather indecent reading it, tho we were peering places where no Princeton man would peer. However, the book, tho badly writ- ten has pretty good dialogue and if the authoress works like a little bull- dog she may yet become another Vita Delmar, which is somethi all about a young M rl who falls for a guy who loves nother woman; she has a near baby by him; he goes off with another woman because she is too gallant to tell him. —TED SHANE exactly and all of (even we felt and | Tiah | and a | feeling as | You will be amazed at how much you can see—even in two weeks. @ California... Hollywood... Olympic Games... Agua Caliente . Yosemite and Big Trees; Colo- rado Rockies, Grand Canyon, detours, and other N Indian- Jational Parks @ The Santa Fe cuts the cost. @ All- days this summer. Expense Tours on certain @ After Californie—Hawaii MAIL COUPON eC00cccccee e WJ. BLACK, Pass. Traf, Mgr., Santa Fe System L 1071 Railway Exchange, Chicago, Ill. Blease send booklets concerning Summer Xeur sions and Western Vacation regions. Nome Street No. comicbooks.com