THE MICHIGAN~ DAILY
SL "-DAY, MARCIT,25. 1923
J0RJSZkN ES JENSlEN 'REALISM IS ART- LEO DRITRICJLSTEJN I menition to Lee _,dillar who plays the
(Continued from Page One) (Continued from Page Three) (Continued from Page Five) par't of the Chief of Police. His- part,
i ! in disguise as the Prefect, in the see-
contiolation. To tho,>e, of course, tempted to do this, but in doing so (as an actress..she w-as -so unimupres- hr c swl oe h
c nd andthraciswldoeTe
We may only hone that the present they have .passed their goal. Starting sive that already I have forgotten her p iiece is by no means an easy one and
whose philosophy is dynamic,_ evolu- with a desire to depict life, they have; name) might be perfectly cast in a1 he Dandles it with excellent taste. In-
gradually narrowed down until- now minor part yet I hardly think her, deed it is one of the finest bits1 of
tionry (f yu wil), itte daagethey consider no literature realistic!'ready to play leads. She has that very!I characterization I have seen in -a long
will be done; but any who long to unless it deals with the more sordid, affected manner that one finds so oft-! time.
gloss over what they consider a de- the grosser appects of life. They have en in the star-over-night type. The There is not much to criticize nor
gradin g truth had w best keep away I become psychopathic specialists,dal rest of the cast, although they make is there very much to praise, save
from "Fire eand Ice." Needless to say, ing to a great degree in abnormalities, no outstanding blunders of any ac- ; Dritrichstein himself. I would recoin-
J:.wc:.'s conception is the loftier; jlNo problem .is "real" to them unless count, are hardly worthy of the title 2Mend the play to anyone] even my,
there is something inspiring in man's it is the result, of bewildering corn- te eev nteavnentcs ls red ihu h lgts
constant attempt to create a more plexes,' unless it i~s a suyi b Already I have spoken of Ditrich- biL c-f hesitation; and to cite that has
nearly perfect God and a more nearly normal psychology!. sudn b stein's remarkable manner of portray- 11o, ;c ir yet had thewoppunityaofiseeiatng
true universe. Nor is the admission Teeraitso hsvrylin the-ideal lover. Yet I could hard- itrcstf wudadiethth
that the sexual urge ha-s not always scol{sc rtesalTedr say truthfully that he :is faultless. , frhstpoi ailydsp.r
scholsuc wrter : s TeodreAge knows no master and Ditrich- Ind'g from our stage and the memory
been as carefully restrained as our ad- Dreiser,L Sherwood Anderson, D. H. i stein, to me, is. slowly but surely fall- of him will always be a happy one.
vanced society demands, particularly3 Lawrence, and others, have apparent-,igvctmoi.Twyer.aoIsw
disgraceful. All these .remarks are ly forgotten that there is, another side tw ersaoIsw
him in the same play and already he
plaitdestoany masfclue n to life. In the~ir search for those high- ;shows signs of decline. It is noticed DcPerEporfBailwh
frtu-nateily, Americans' have for so' strung, sensuous, and horribly sexy1 immediately in the first act where he admired 'dTannhauser" V-ery; much,
long been dominated by narrow. and, creatures ; which go to make up the comes in as the collector who in his asked Richard 'Wagner to compose a
unedlucated writers, that_ they ai'e apt characters in their novels. thesemen day's work has had a bit too much _,___ - __.: 7 _. :a.1
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SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, lAICHIG &N, SyN\D AY, MARCH 25, 1923
johanne's"
Jensen'
to shy at authors of more liberal at- ;have become blind to the fact that a wie N oge os-ecmei i n.sic-lrama wulc x could. be prodtuced
titude.oge oe e oe nwih
t deicl, oiebl oeettwr very large number of us are not ac- the same old vigor of years ago, le'ill Rio de Janeiro. Wagner, who was
aii widerncture cotine nd totd'ie toated only; by our~ 'passion 3, are not iseemz a moretre and nervous char- at the time in love- with a certain
a widr cuture ontiue,,ant1_ creature entirely of imnulse, that on after than before and that is very dis- ' 1 Ule W't sendoc'-, forthwith dleve'-
A/,Iericans ;become more thewhoe a eatnumbr o uslead! appointing. Yet I do not nmean to i}fc - 1; Yzis"Tris~an and Isolde".
with the master1,pieces ot the Euro- te;oeagretnme fu fer that he is no longer the great ac<GOiihaou
T sane, well ordered, and more or less' e intended it to be simple. andl easy
I nand e , ecially the Scacina- tor; already I have said that his eqiuals ;
~ nveiss.Aleaywith the^ as_ enjoyable lives.- Let us hope that in are still few, but he is growing olfd of production, and hie worked at it
siti~c o T~. nopnot a little gfood the near future more of our young 'and it shows very noticeably to one( diligently with that end in view. The
1 4 tane omKphs.Te, rdc writers of real ability Will comp, to wh~o has seen him mnany times before. 1 result is the most complicated of all
has een ccoplised. he ~trouc-see this, and will give us a literature "I shollietreanfom en ofWgr'opasadwhntwa
tion: of K nut Harisun to the Unite-,dlietrerifrmzez f agr'opasanwhntUi-,d'l
more truly representative of life as ticuzing tlie Haines of the members of attempted in Vienna in 1361, it, was
Sttssm w rthe er g t is lived, the cast w ho 'did well' or were notice- pr onounced impossibile after fifty-four
started. things; and now the intro--tIcantto'whutivgreasl.
'duction of _ enson, Iiamsunx's pe-er,! P. W., '25. Iabl-le' vtIcno tnwtotevu eeras
comes to add force to the motion.'
Certainly no better writer than Jensen i : _ -= ~ -- = _ _= -=--- __=----_ - =--- ----_--
111OHIO
could have been chosen. He ex-16
einplifies the choice-t qualities- oft°j{
Scandlinavian. literature, and .yet is i~t il
among the, most cosmnopolitan and, n!
universal of contemiporary : authoxs.
WIThe culture world awaits with eager- + -na'
ness th~e pu~blication of the remaining ni' O
four patsof "TileLong Jurey"If i;; i
they are . at all comparable to "Fire 11aH1"'
and 'Ie",- Jensen's position as a mas-
ter. of world-wide prominence is as- I '
sured, Huai n
FROST TAND UN ITE'R1EYER041PR
(Continued from Page One) no
+ 11,14
"Portrait of a Machine",, and. the one n!..
he poached from Mr. Frost "The ,Hos- 1m~ e
tile Hills". In.,spitei of-the fact that n Nn
Mr. Frost considered "The Lost Jeru- ano""~
salem°" one of the best, INnen o H111110
HI.11
quote one that I enjoyed more, "Coun- Itl
try School-room. l ,
"Turn to page ten in your Arithme- BI
Rustloi of yellow pages like a snakea{I"MN
Among old leaves. The small boy Oi
yies to-: make hl
His mind go through its. jumbled, bag ml, rn AlVi -\ G
of tricks.:,-~ y
But ho~w can he lay hands on eight in- n c , f+ - "'''a
timnes six
Whe ;mountains fill tewindow and l um
a lake l* -J' Hm*
Nuzdgqs his dreams, wizen autumn.and o' 01
thxe ache j.0r.1 . ,;i
too ... 01
s.
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In "The Long Journey," the firstf
two parts of which have just =been-l
published in this country under the
title "Fire and Ice," Johannes V. Jen-
sen has attempted the most ambitious,
theme possible to any writer-an epic
of 'mankind. If "Fire and Ice" af-1
fords an adequate idea of the work,
as- a whole, Jensen has handled his
subject with the sureness, imagina-
tion, and sw eel)p found in the' great,
poetical epics of the world. He ap-
pears to have caught, as well as any:
man may catch, the essence of pre-
humatn and primitive existence;.
For the immxiense task which hie a
asumdJensen is ell prepar.i
li is trailed in both observa tion and
in!t,' 'z utio z: he is both scientist and
1± et . Atlhorough siu'4ntf arc'
eology, whose researcITc have takien.
hint all over the earth, he has ac- a
quired copious and, profound know-
Ieedge of prehistoric, anthropology;
which knowledge. his mastery of tech-
nique and his compr-ehensive iai -
aiation enable hinm to present in the true
Grand Style.
T'o 4nalyze fully this stylet wouldj
require much time and exten~sive
scholarship; it may becisaid, how'eer
that the source of - its strength liesl
chiefly in the concreteness, the vital-
ity, of the imagery employed. Jensen
avoids both triteness and the obvious
avoidance of triteness. So fresh is his
perception that metaphors swarm in
h1s brain; he 'does not confess hil
-bondage to the banal by a studious,
shying away from the banal. Even
when he avails hixmself of an o~ld
figure, he has genius for making itE
peculiarly his own.,
In other ways the author proves~
bis control over his medium; notably.
by his adroit use of slapping, epigram,
and rhetorical question. Adept shuf-
fling of long and short isentences, ap-
propriate, shift in rhythm with the
changing idea, nice sense of propor-
tion and emphasis, sure, deft -portrayal I
of character-all these attest Jensen's'
acquaintance with his craft, a craftE
in which he has long been recognized
throughout Europe as a master.
But craftsmanship alone produces
little lasting literature. Although it
is not impertinent to inquire concern-
ing the technical.. equipment and abilk-
ty- of any author, especia~lly of. an,
author essaying so difficult a task asl
Jensen's; yet our main interest, after
IS
j' V rer /
alllie elswhee. s th materj lir meritconist An nswr Et
and, ifesoeinewhatesr e s ten'satpeu ra m:eentsuggested;tnreainserto
Fro stndUntrnye
,LISLE ROSE
di~cuss the lan o- th.
detail.-
4"Fire and ice" treat,
-the paleolithic and nei
as symbolized by the
men: Frthle Scandi:
theus; Crl, iwho: is ti-
Teutonic myt4hology
Wolf, the horsebre ake
theC Seafarer. Fr sti
lHi Y.though 11even eo
Afer the latter'sdeaL
t! ,re wnd cried ,titol it
serves o elterthrelia{
Thi bre ie srmniflrg
Or<, teonme-tiicl
deparc~.Tueohe ne
he~wartd raeindtein
those twoh eaned t
pthy ispbries; umare
raneof the uetipldc
sth~gingsdtocrdibae.
sloe and lpaiful brgt
we-_as calncuirly hit
ets-l-lartrTe a
toiflycobatieognitof
romyanicris Pefrh
thes=oles wo hckeyed t
sibted-in citis ngarhs
tan dsicfre efrcon:
pectty isputes;nbtoth
' Wt-diithequlwuen-pase
asenof1 Jeitlse. d
Horefand Ielois wou
ofthe. lue) enen'ofs r
tere; and yet it neve
niand heroismffrthy
neCesron itidon Pof
Of color, noon andi numbiers meet. and.
mi~x? bt
Puzzled; he ask the tree-tops,bu
the sun
Covers his desk with blots and yellow
scrawls.
A wvoodchuck mocks him. If he had
a ~gun!
Last year he brought down two ort'
t,1m.t, , . The -walls
Ditssoil-e. Vague thoughts bemuseI
him, one by one,
As numnberless and nameless as theirl
calls.
ADVNTURES ABOARD -SHIP
(Continued from Page Seven)
less of artificiality that objection
mightj be waived for~ the sakie of . a
compljete picture of a, humna being.
Ulnfortunately he is at nmany points
quite obviously engaged in, writing a -
book, -
The;- story itself had great possi-
blitip-a new crew, and a -drunken
captain, a mysterious cargo- crossing
through the grey seas of ' winter.
"Tbe Ground Swell" is really worth
reading, but only for entertainment-
of a ;very transient character; it ap-
pearsto be the prod'uct of a weather-1
"Mfy, I'm 'glad to see you! I suppose you bou ghltall those good -looking,
clothes while you were East..
You're wrong ther,, bought t4her-~w hereI buy all of my-,cloths-a1
Greenwood and Kilgore's."'
N
"What do you think of the Ruhr, Mr.
Untermeyer?" asked Mr. F~rost. Eing in his joints, antd knows he's being]
"I'm in favor of it, Mr. Frost," re- eduicted again," said Mr. Frost.
plied Mr. Untermneyer. 1 At this point I made my sole con-
The whole of the "interview" was; trabution to the inter-view. I asked,
just like that; -Mr. Untermeyer, w -,,en , f or no reason at, all, if Mr. Untermeyer
urged on by Mr. Frost, exp ressed us Iknew 11. L. Menckien ersonally,
views on a multitude. of subjects in, "Y-.-, I know' him very well. TI call
the same charmingly irresponsible' I :im 'einie', and he -.comes over to.
way. He declared that. he was in! our house suite often and plays piano,
favor of King Tut-ankhi-amen; al- ' duets with me.;He alway's plays the;
though he- thought the t the hyphens- left hand, -because it's the loudest.1
ii the name should not be insiste-df He bangs away -a-nd. whenever he hits-
on too stron;ly. "One of the,. cures - I a wrong note, he yells out 'Wow! That-
have in mind for the world's ,ills,, one was a, sour,, one!:"
of the panaceas, Anyhow, is a. good.I Mr. Untermeyer describes Menckenf
liberal attitude toward Egyptology." as a big blonde with the bluest eyes I
Mr. Frost prodded his guest to say iIn the world--"bluer .than Robert's."
something nice abou-t education, but IjHe doesn't care how he- dresses, so.
the beat he could produce was- the he goes -around looking like the "Cap-~
remark "I favor flagellationl." - jtain in the Katzenjammer Kids" in aj
Later on Mr. Untermeyer plunged I long black coat that almost trails on I
into a gentle harangue of the younger the ground. He is full of the joyof-
generation, which he - accuses- of 'living. He can get away with hs
educating- him. "When. I was young, little eccentriities of,, character 'be=1
I, went to school and- learned, from cause he does everything with such~
ien considerably older than myself, tremendous gusto. He's just a great ]
about the past. Now I feel that I amn big kid. II
going to school again, and learning "Have you noticed, by the way, Rob-1,
from the younger generations-ab~out ert, that most of Mencken's stuff forj
the future." the last year, or two has been politicl t
FA \. \/ \ Lj A1
was. bett.er.- fitted ,for that than- liter- thought Vachel had
1ary- criticism.~ He lacks the finer, whale busineps for- him
sensibilities that he ought to }have--to Golden~ Whale -of- Ca-lifei
appreciate~ poetry. UBut Louis has gotten a
"Don't get- thel idea that I think aneniely dfe s-retes
iMencken hasn't done any good. Whe-anetrldifens
ther: his. criticisms are sound or not "The whole book isn't
'-and I -don't imply by-that that-thtey anyhow,"' said Mr . Unte
arel all unsound-l think he has done the title poem deals wit
lots~ of good just by stirring us up." of roy the others is poa~h
"You know oeo h ms neetertorRobert. Yoa
,on ofthemos inres rather sweeping, yoursi
ing things about an author is his:' ropedl off the whole of
Iwork," remarked Mr:- Frost. "Nobody f and claimed it. Everytl
ever thinks of connecting -him with -it, IBeaton'. So when I w-r
of course, but after all--. Louis has1u tyu anI u
just written a book-Roast -Leviathan.1W t h nd ontIk
-all -about a whale, -which is mueat, s~y f rtn h
you know, and he thinks it's- about usulay afteritingethei
fish. He really doesn't know- much i I thought I'd -batter
about it.' j that I was- poachig on
"Yes, I, a vegetarian, ha&ve writtenI ritory, though."
a book, on fish-" - "Wrell, I'vie got to tak
"M'eat; I tell.you-arid it's i1.n mter."lie 'sI going to a receptioi
s"Wow! Now, you're descending to,: the Whimsies staff."
the -level of: my lintelligence, Rohs"
"Well, anywy; it'sthe best book At the. recepton, M
Louis- ever wrote. It was just off icia- read from,~ and disused
The spring showing ,of Suits> and
Topcoats is now. comnplete
Greenwood & Kilgore
St~at~e Street; over Calkins
0