Judge — September 1937 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

GOOD READING Mase JOHN ERSKINE has done it again, He has delved into his- tory once more, and come out with a sparkling, racy tale. ‘The Brief Hour of rancois Villon” is all too brief, and its 365 pages seem to fly, so engrossing is the telling. Perhaps because Villon is a secret fav. orite of Frskine's, or because the author knows and loves the France of the fif- teenth century so well, he is more sympa- thetic than usual with those he has selected to pillory, and here all but en. shrines. The bite and satire of his earlier works are reserved for lesser characters, and Villon emerges a finer and more lov- able fellow than one remembered him, though all his faults are there. One thing that does not emerge—and that is true of most biographies of literary ple—the poet that was the greatest of is age in France is buried under the loves and escapades of the man Villon. True, there are free translations of his verses before each chapter, but Erskine reveals only one contemporary who seems to recognize Villon’s genius, and gives us an eye witness picture, not a his. torical view. The result is an exciting adventure story of a fascinating lover and tufhan, and a most entertaining book. (Bobbs-Merrill. $2.50). JN “Jill, Somerset’ that fine English novelist, Alex Waugh, described how three children in one family became re- spectively a Fascist, a Communist, and a tolerant Liberal. Now another English novelist, Ruth Adams, in a brilliant first novel “War on Saturday Week" does this and more. She shows the beginning of the next war, the tragic results of fear and martial law, and—most poignant of all—the inevitable kicking about the Liberal suffers from both Communists and Fascists. Her story is written so convincingly, with such gentle irony that its publishers are justified in calling it the English “It Can't Happen Here.” (Lippincott. $2.50). DP you know that Syphilis kills every year more Americans than were killed in the Great War? That one out of every ten adults suffers from it? That fifty percent of its victims have acquired it innocently? That eighteen percent of those on relief are in a stage of syphilis? Dr. Thomas Parran, the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Serv. ice, has written “Shadow on the Land” as part of the government's campaign to stamp out this plague. It is a book every American should read. It is shocking to compare the rarity of this disease in the Scandinavian countries, where education and candor have all but stamped it out, with its prevalence here where until re- cently the disease was unmentionable and ignorance multiplied its horrors. (Reynal and Hitchcock. $2.50). 22 'HE most fabulous figure in the mov- ing picture industry emerges from “The Great Goldwyn,” Alva Johnston's brief biographical sketch of Samuel Goldwyn. A boy who left home to be on his own at 13, whose only schooling is a term at night school, who made his mark as a glove salesman and was on the point of going into gloves himself, when he was interested in pictures, Goldwyn early saw the possibilities which led to his pioneering at the very beginning of his picture career. He is still pioneering, still striving for quality with an artistic sense which he has developed amazingly. The book is delightful for its fand of Goldwyn stories, real and tacked on, which have grown into legend because of the producer's unconscious witticisms. It is rich in the details of the rages with which Goldwyn smashed his way again and again to the top. It is nearly unbeliev- able that such a man could have reached such eminence. It is entertainment on the gtand scale. (Random House. $1.50). RICHARD HALLIBURTON outdoes Ripley in his “Book of Marvels,” written for children, but so intensely in- teresting that adults both with young and grown up minds will devour. Instead of the original seven wonders of the world, Halliburton presents thirty, and these all in the Occitent. Which means, that one day he will choose perhaps an- other thirty wonders in the Orient. Only an inveterate traveler could have written this book, only one who has seen and relished them all, could write with the sense of personal joy which Hal. liburton brings to each marvel. He makes one share his thrills. He has found hun. dreds of interesting stories to make each marvel seem freshly discovered and alive. (Bobbs-Merrill. $2.50). IF one actually got away to that desert island with the beloved would it be as joyous as one has imagined it? Eliza. | beth Etnier and her husband, a talented young painter, found an island in Maine which brought happiness beyond their dreams. “On Gilbert Head” is Mrs. Et- nier's journal of their precious days there. It is written with the unselfconscious gusto of an eager and observant person- ality. (Little, Brown. $2.50). SV OMEN Also Dream,” by Ethel Mannin is feminist propaganda. It makes use of woman's problem of in- tegrating her biological heritage with her dreaming self. The heroine, who looks like Amelia Earhart, seeks escape from the failure of a romantic love and the sense of doom which this generation faces by wilfully flying the Indian Ocean with the odds against her. The story is not without drama, sensuousness, and romance. (Putnam. $2.50). —V. K. MANLEY. Highland River, 47 Neil Gunn. The growth of a boy's individuality from boyhood on the river inks in North Scotland, through the Great War, and thereafter as a scientist, told in a quiet, introspective style, that seems to have caught the rhythm of the river. (Lippincott. $2.50). Cathedral Close, 47 Susan Goodyear. ‘Wherever there are human beings there is excitement of their adjustment to each other and even within the solemn walls of an Eng- lish Cathedral one finds drama, humor, and Beaty in this compelling study of character, (Scribners. $2.50). Allah Dethroned, 4y Lilo Linke. A spirited, courageous personality who takes people ‘at their face value and invariably makes friends, has just completed a trip through Modern Turkey on $50 and de- scribes her experiences with pleasant verve. (Knopf. $5.00). For Immediate Release, 6y Rion Ber- covici. A racy, witty low-down on the press-agent racket. (Sheridan House. $2.50). The Nutmeg Tree, 47 Margery Sharp. Julia was the sort of woman anybody talks to about anything, but her daughter was a lady, so between engagements in night clubs, or menages a deux with casual pickups Julia’s endeavors at acting the lady are hilari- ous entertainment. (Little, Brown. $2.50). Guilty in the Tropics, 4y Edmund Whit- man. For sheer excitement, vivid adventure, color and earthy realism, here is the tops in uninhibited, effective writing. (Sheridan House. $2.50). Zeppelin, by Captain Ernst A, Lehmann, The noted commander of the Hindenburg leaves a loving and loyal testimonial to the fifty-year struggle for the conquest of the air by lighter-than-aircraft, which cost him his life. (Longmans, Green. $3.00). Child of Light, 6» Mrs. J. L. Garvin. Chantal Cook becomes a Catholic and finds the role of friend and comforter to Mariella Buckland, her unhappily married childhood friend, beset by difficulties that try both girls, but faith brings final happiness to them. (Longmans, Green. $2.00). Mystery Puzzles, 4y Austin Ripley. Sixty more minute mysteries full of fun for the home detectives, easily worth the price of admission. (Stokes. $1.00). As | Look Back, 43 Oscar M. Ridge. Did yen know there wis so much manos in the appenings of the days just past? nm acute observer distills it all in this pleasantly hilarious current history. (Doubleday. $1.75). Sally Lunn, 4y Leo Walmsly. Salty, sim- le and sincere are Sally Lunn and all the inhabitants of her Yorkshire fishing village, but there is little in their lives besides fishing in the daytime and loving in the nights. (Macmillan. $2.50). Eve's Doctor, 4y Signe Tosvig. The real- istic story of a handsome gynecologist with whom every female patient was bound to fall in love. (Harcourt, Brace. $2.50). The Making of a Hero, 4y Nicholas Os- trovski. The hero, a son of a peasant. vali- ant worker for the revolution, lives through a succession of hardships, sweetened cal y love for a rich man’s daughter. Difficult to i use the translation is so trite. $2.50). enjoy (Dutton. Judge comicbooks.com