Life, 1928-12-14 · page 43 of 48
Life — December 14, 1928 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains book reviews and advertisements rather than political cartoons. The main content critiques Virginia Woolf's experimental novel "Orlando," dismissing it as obscure and self-indulgent—a veiled jab at Bloomsbury Group intellectualism (the fashionable literary circle). The reviewer suspects it's merely a vehicle for Woolf's wit rather than a genuine book. A more favorable review of "Way for a Sailor!" notes it only became compelling when real events—the sinking of the SS Vestris—gave the adventure story tragic relevance. The page includes advertisements for a Bermuda hotel and jewelry as Christmas gifts. The illustrated couple exchanging jewelry reflects 1920s-30s consumer culture messaging that jewelry represents sincere, lasting sentiment—a deliberate sales pitch targeting holiday gift-givers.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
of time, space, and sex. “Orlando” be- ins as the biography of a young Eliza- bethan nobleman, and rushes over three centuries in a whirlwind of anecdote and hyperbole. “Lam not saying that “Orlando” isn’t a good book. I am merely warning you that if you aren’t in the know you won't get a great deal out of it without a lot of reading, and traveling to Bloomsbury, and such, and frankly, it isn’t worth it. Indeed, | suspect that “Orlando” isn’t a book at all, but a ventriloquist’s dummy for the witty but obscure reflections of Virginia Woolt, and that we have all been taken in by a take-off on biographies in general. “Way ror A Sattor!” by Albert Richard Wetjen (Century), is a modern “Two Years Before the Mast.” Extravagantly writen, and heavily hand-colored, it nevertheless deserves a place beside the aarlier classic for its portrait of life at sea in the age of steam. The story is that of young Jack Lassan, son of seafarers, who came “over the bows,” {rom for'castle to four-striper, playing and fighting around the world; living high, wide and handsome. Told in a crude and boisterous manner, the book might casily be dismissed as just another “heman” history, but beneath the sur- face roughness lies a real feeling for the sea and those who toil on it. “Way for a Sailor! seemed unneces- sarily theatrical until the reports of the sinking of the “Vestris” began to come in. With a real drama of the sea unfold- ing as I read the closing chapters, the book itself became real, leaped into full size, became magnificent in its strength and sweep and color. And what I thought was going to be a tiresome yarn from a ulkative mariner grew to epic proportions. Right now, “epic” is the word. THE most distinguished adress in Bermuds. The rendezvous for the Island's whirl of so tayety. Beautifully situated amidet 6f- acres of tropical gardens. ° Dancing, golf, tennis, sailing, swimming, riding, Gsbing Fires. proof construction. Luxurious accommoda- thons for Sve hundred guests, For Booklet and Reservations address J. A. SHERRARD, Managing Director Hotel Bermudiana, Bermuda, or BERMUDA HOTELS BOOKING AGENCY 565 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. SS or any euthorized Tourist Agent _____— | WE, ... JEWELRY this (Christmas| HAT to give.... what to give.... Our thoughts may travel a dozen trails, but they center always at the jewelry store. Only jeweled pos- sessions seem, somehow, to truly reflect the sincere sentiment, the lasting love we put into the present. A treasure from the jewelry store is indeed a 7) present with a future. Each passing year will &g find your jeweled gift increasingly beloved. *> Zp of T GIFTS tat LAS Consult pour Jeweler NATIONAL JEWELERS PUBLICITY ASSOCIATION comicbooks.com