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38 WILMETTE LIFE January 24, 1930 IL 'tMM1N WAJ!.· tv~ COMMENT on BOOKS and AUTHORS not "trans lated from the Russian," but ers, in their camp~ign against the Poles THE TRAVELS OF BAR 0 N CORONET. By Manuel Komroff. New RED CAVALRY. By Isaac Babel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. York. Cowa'rd-McCann. MUNCHAUSEN. With an introThis novel of adventure (which is Babel's stories of Budyenny's troopin '20, remind one of those worm's eye view cartoons which used to be published in Life years ago-or ranching stories told by the st~ers themselves. Babel is a clever young Odessa Jew who has ma'd e him self one of the fictional voices of the new order in Russia. · He wrote these sketches, published· in Russia under the title "Konarmia" (Horse Play), as a result of his own experiences with Budyenny's Cossacks. They are, that is to say, a nolshevik intellcctua_l's attempt to express, in Bolshevil~ jargon and in Bolshevik ideology, his interpretation of the actions and feelings of a pack of semi-savages in the thick of an active campajg-n. Possibly these tales are, as some of their admirers ha ,·c suggested, "Homeric"-although the comparison isn't very flattering either to Homer or to a human race which fancies it has made certain advances since the ninth centurv B. C. 'fo this reader they seem. ~!lthqugh certainly not without a curious talent, affected, disgustingly brutal and touched now and then with degeneracy. written in its original English) has the richness of background, the strength of individual characterization, the sweep, and narrative interest, that the revived historical romance of the last few years has too frequently lacked. It belongs with that excellent, and not sufficiently appreciated, story, "General Crack," now in the movies, and if it is by no means so original as the historical stories of the German, Feuchtwanger, it is closer to the ideal of pleasu:-e giv~ng which was the star of Sir \Vatter Scott. "Coronet" has its own special machinery which the reader is advised not to take too seriously. A coronet made in Florence for the Count oi Senlis, an aristocrat of the old order of birth, and a silver whip mended in the same Florence for a Russian barbarian despot, are the symbols of aristocracy which through all its transformations from dependence upon blood, through military power, "·it, and the intellect, down to monev, retains or assumes the same characte-ristics of dominance hy pride or by force. It is a philosophy of history which holds this long story· together for four centuries in \\'hich the same families appear and reappear with the whip and coronet, but the holding together is its only important service. The narrative i the thing. The breadth and varietv and richness of this narrative arc rather remarkable. Wilmette l700 BOOKS The Voyage Home .. Storm Jameson Alfred A. Knopf ........ $2.50 River House Stark Young Scribner ............... $2.50 3 Against the World Sheila Kaye -Smith Dutton · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2. 5o Young Man . of Manhattan Farrar ~ Katharine Brush Rhinehart ...... Sz.oo The Universe Around Us Sit James J ean1 Macmillan Co . . . . . . . . . . . $4.50 duction by Carl Van Doren, and engravings by John Held, Jr. Designed by W. A. Kittredge, printed by Lakeside Press. To those of us who were early initiated into the life stor.y of the great Baron Munchausen, this new edition will be thrice welcome-once for the text of the Baron's experiences, once for Carl Van Doren's introduction, and finally for John Held's pictures. The text needs no word from me. If you dn .1't know the Baron you have still tu taste the joy of life. And from the introduction let me quote: "The win<.ls of lying blow where they choose. And, like the winds of poetry, they have their favorites. Often as the.y have stirred this or that ordinary liar to a single triumph, they have blown their richest gifts upon a few masters, from Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back from Troy, to Aloysius Horn, Lancastrian trader, back from Africa . . . He (the Baron) has lost himself in the great cause of exact untruth. Munchausen is the Euclid of liars." But the glory this edition of Baron Munchausen is in the pictures"elegant engravings" bv that master wood-gouger, John Held, Jr. Never have I seen Mr. Held's pictures in such appropriate company before. If ever the delightful Baron had a perfect illustrator, it is John Held. Not only have his pictures the requisite Germanic flavor of an earlier day, but in ~l:e faithful worship of untruth in line and perspective and mass they are a triumph. Their inclusion in this volume makes it a book worth having, and a rare example of good illustration. · of THE WONDERFUL STORY OF SCIENCE. By Inez N. McFee. Crowell. This is a delightful and absorbing hook and the mystery story must he a thriller indeed to be able to entice one away from it. For- here are thrills and wonders in plenty, ~ncl presented in a most readable and untechnical manner. To put into one, not over large, Yolume the story of seven different sciences in a W!il.V that is neither superficial nor just a recital of facts means "ttrmounting tremendous difficulties. Miss McFee, howt: '>·er, has written with such clarity and apparent case that we feel as though she \Vere actualh· present talking to a group of ymm ~ people and answering their fl11Cstions. The book has many interesting and helpful illustrations and ought to receive a warm welcome not only from young people, for whom it was especiallv written. hut also from those of any ag·e eager to gain knowledge . POLLYANNA'S WESTERN ADVENTURE. By Ijarriet Lummis Smith. Page. Pollyanna goes " ·est in thi latest. and the sixth, of her incarnations. Rut west or east. life is pretty mnch the same for Pollyanna. She continues to be glad herself and to make glad all around her. \Vhen she goes to her lonely ranch house ·w ith her young husband, her friencls mourn her as 0nc lost to life and happiness. But they reckon without their heroine. Pollyanna makes the ranch to blossom both physically and spiritually and has her finger in the sundrv match-maki ng plots that all turn out well. Eve;·ything is suitahlv arranged to make the readers of these glad books glad once again. The Philosophic Way of Life T. V. Smith University of Chicago Press. S 2. 5o New Mysteries Three Pamela Frankau Doubleday, Doran ....... $2..oo Eves that have IT" . . . that subtle something which attracts others .·· usually lies in the eyes. Don't be discouraged if your own eyes art dull, lifeless and unattractive. A few drops of harmless Murine will will brighten · them up and cause them to radiate "IT." Thousands upon thousands of clever women use Murine daily and thus keep ~heir eyes alway& clear, bright and alluring. A month's supply of this longtrusted lotion costs but 60c. Try it! 44 The Black Edgar Wallace The Crime Club ........ S 2. oo "IT" The Life of MARY BAKER EDDY Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science FICTION CONEY ISLAND. By Homer Croy. New York: Harper and Brothers. NEW YORK. By Nat ]. Ferber. New York: Covici-F[iede. BROADWAY · INTERLUDE. By Achmed Abdullah and Faith Baldwin. New York: Pays_pn and Clarke. By SIBYL WILBUR , An Authentic Biography Mrs. Eddy's life is here depicted with illuminating clearness. The author, carefully avoiding invention, has presented the facts in a refreshing manner. Miss bur was not a Christiah Sci· entist when she wrote this biography for publication in a magazine of leneral circulation. Published by Blood Royal Dornford Yates Minton, Balch Co. . ..... $2.00 SAVE ,. The Manning. Burke Murder Louia Tracy Edward J. Clode, Inc ..... $2..00 wn. 25to40% Fitted Overnight Cases Traveling Bags Suit Cases Wardrobe Trunka Slightl:v shopworn Lord' a-Book& Juat Imide the Weat Davia Street Door lJ{liNL r.oR'(OUR THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY BOSTON, u.s. A: 408 Pages - 18 Illustrations EVES Cloth Edition: $3.00 Ma.y be purcha..9ed a.t a.ll booknore· a.twl lea.tU"tt depa.rtmeftt ·tore· ~ ,. £ST 188. CHICAOO