THE MICHIGAN DAILY ( WORLD OF BOOKS a -.-----+ Period John R. Tunis' Wars. Book Describes BESSIE: Writes Story Of The Americans In Spain ... mna, while that "inaccessible siren" ollows suit for David (or was it the Danby fortune?) For supposed se- crets as David's ancestry did not long remain secret when known to Mr. Martindale, who Sir Thomas had placed in moral, if not legal, guar- dianship over David. Mr. Martindale, a definitely Wode- housian character, enlivens this por- tion of the book with his pseudo- philosophic outbursts, his very gen- ial and, to David, crudely offensive, ribaldry and his man-about-the- world attitude. It is Mr. Martindale who introduces David to "society". It is Mr. M'Jartindale who takes a few months off to travel about the cap- itals of Europe, the better to know other men's wives. And, hypocrit- ically, it is Mr. Martindale who writes David a fatherly note concerning Di- ana, advising him to "Keep it quiet. Keep it clean. Keep it unproletarian (i.e., without offspring)." Throughout "Rejected Guest" Al- dington freely imparts his views on today's world, a heterogeneous col- lection of the same type of man, the way in which this man's character is revealed only conditioned by the amount of material wealth he pos- sesses. Aldington also leaves no doubt in the reader's mind of his feeling toward her, reminding one of the closing lines of his poem "For Remarque": Our noblest are gone, our heroes dead- Close the ranks- Fight on in the battle eternal, Of mind and spirit against force and hate, Close the ranks, Fight on. New Books RESTLESS IS THE RIVER, by Aug- ust Derleth (Scribner's, $2.50). The characters here move from the aristocracy of Hungary to the Wis- consin of 1840. In setting them up in the new land, Mr. Derleth creates a beautiful, tragic and moving situa- tion which thereupon remains almost unchanged for some hundred pages -too many for even the most effec- tive still life. THE DELECTABLE COUNTRY, by Leland D. Baldwin (Lee Furman, $2.75). A long novel of Pennsylvania in the 1790's. The hero is generally pre- occupied with losing and finding his soul, but that doesn't keep him from excise-tax rebellions, Mississippi Riv- er brawls, beautiful dangerous ladies and similar excitement. American history isn't often dug up with so much warmth and spirit. * * * SAM, by John Selby (Farrar and Rinehart, $2.50). Not Sam's first entrance into. fiction and hardly his last, but still one to command attention. He's the news- paper owner with tiny legs, five trumpets in his throat, and a mort- gage'on everybody's soul except his wife's. A forceful, faithful portrait, and American winner of this year's All-Nations Prize Novel Competition. CollegeAthlete Reviewer Finds'The Duke Decides' Demonstrates Poor Technique THE DUKE DECIDES by John R. Tunis. Harcourt, Brace & Com- pany, New York. By WILLIAM NEWTON Occasionally an author is able to achieve several ends in writing one book and to do it convincingly. Once in a while someone will be able to combine a fast-moving plot, an ex- pose of some deplorable condition and a psychological study of the growth of character More often an author will try to do all this and fail to succeed in his aims. This book, The Duke Decides, seems to fall neat- ly into the category of the result of the unsuccessful effort. John Tunis, long recognized as an excellent writer of sports stories, at- tempted, it seems, a bit too much in writing this novel. His writing so lacks excellence that it is doubtful that he could have achieved even one of the ends, if he had foresaken all others. He attempts, in one volume of rather "spottily" written prose, to depict the growth of the character of a young man, the corrupt state intercollegiate athletics, the thrilling vet heart-breaking episodes of a track man's career, the disgusting condi- tion of Olympic athletics and the pig-headed stupidity of the Hitler regime in Germany. I make no contention that all or any of these objects might not pro- vide an abundance of excellent ma- terial if handled properly, but I do contend that Tunis has mishandled and "miswritten" most of this book. One's attention is loudly called to what appears to be the author's first major attempt to record "stream of consciousness." One cannot help noticing the lapses into this style of writing, and one cannot help feeling that Tunis nBever before attempted it on a large scale. It has been said that the test of style is in its unob- trusiveness-the better the handling, the less noticeable the style. Stream of consciousness passages in this book fairly jump off the page at a reader. Regardless of minorgfaults in Eng- lish and proofreading, if Tunis had any light to throw on the present system of subsidization of college athletics in the passages he has de- voted to this, one might read on with interest. But he gives forth only the regular line of chatter, howled by nearly every sports columnist in the nation at least once every year. The dialogue of the college stu- dents who are the main characters of The Duke Decides falls short of what one expects of a writer of Tu- nis' experience. In order to give an impression of the nonchalance of speech of the younger generation, he puts harsh, clipped phrases into their mouths. These make them seem cyn- ical, caustic young animals-of course, they may be all this, but their other characteristics belie this im- pression. In one or two passages Tunis achieves the high level of description and impression at which his writing usually cruises. His descriptions of the races run by "Duke" Wellington MEN IN BATTLE, by Alvah Bessie, Scribner's, New York. Courtesy of the Book Room. By HARVEY SWADOS Lost causes generally do not make good reading. The one big exception is of course the American Civil War; but it may be noted that nine out of ten of the slew of Civil War novels written by Southern authors are shot through with "romanticism" (in its most vulgar sense). While the war was going on in Spain, it was being treated brilliant- ly, both in fiction and in reportage. But ever since Franco entered Ma- drid, most Americans have felt little but depression at the mention of Spain. This may be why Alvah Bes- sie's book on the Spanish war has been received so quietly. This reviewer, at any rate, was rather reluctant even to begin read- ing Men In Battle. And after reading it, he can say that there is not much enjoyment to be found in reading about men in a strange country fighting a losing battle. But that is not the point at all. Because if you want to find out what war is like, divested of its heroics and its glory, if you want to know why several thousand Americans went over to Spain to fight for a government which regarded them, most of the time, as intruders, you must read Bessie's book. Bessie is a good young writer-he has published a novel, a good number of short stor- ies, and was awarded a Guggenheim in 1937. Men In Battle, however, is not a writer's book. It is not fancy, there is no attempt at fine writing, and the introspection is the introspection of an average man. Bessie has writ- ten the story of the Americans in Spain as one of them, an ordinary guy with a wife and a couple of kids in Brooklyn, who happens to be a "fiction writer". There is no martial music in Men in Battle, there are no speeches. Whenever a bigshot came around from headquarters to tell the boys to go out and die for democracy, he was met with a chorus of unprint- able American slang. The boys had no illusions; all they knew was mud, hunger, and blood. But they went are vibrant with realistic detail. No one who has ever tried to go on with anything when dead-tired and ready to quit could help but feel himself in the place of the Duke. out and died (the Abraham Lincoln Brigade will go down in history As one of the great fighting units of all time) because they wanted to stop fascism, because they believed that the simple things which Americans live for are important enough to die for. Men In Battle is the best book that has appeared on the Spanish War thus far. And it is far more than that. It is an explanation, which should be read by all those who, are cynical enough to believe that ex- planations are impossible, of how ordinary, mediocre people can offer their lives for a principle, for the happiness of unborn generations. 4 op CONCERTS NO ADMISSION CHARGE Sunday, October 29, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium . . ORCHESTRA CONCERT MABEL ROSs RHEAD, Pianist, Soloist. THOR JOHNSON, COnductor Wednesday, November 1, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium... . . TOM KINKEAD, Organist Wednesday, November 8, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium.. FRIEDA OP'T HOLT, Organist Wednesday, November 15, 4:15 P.M. Hill Auditorium,. WILLIAM BARNARD, Organist Sunday, November 19, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium . FACULTY CONCERT KATHLEEN BARRY, Harp; MAUD OYKELBERG, Piano; HARDIN VAN DEURSEN, Baritone; AVA COMIN CASE, Accompanist. Wednesday, November 22, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium.... PALMER CHRISTIAN, Organist Wednesday, November 29, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium ..... HELEN CROZIER, Organist, Eastman School of Music Wednesday, December 6, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium ....... ALLAN CALLAHAN, Organist Sunday, December 10, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium . . HANDEL'S "MESSIAH" Choral Union-University Symphony Orchestra-and Soloists THOR JOHNSON, Conductor Wednesday, December 13, 4:15 P.M., Hill Auditorium.. ...... PALMER CHRISTIAN, Organist k CARILLON RECITALS-Recitals will be given by Percival Price, University Caril- lonneur, on the Charles Baird Carillon, until further notice, as follows: Thursday evenings at 7:00 o'clock, and Sunday afternoon at 4:15, except when concerts are held in Hill Auditorium, when an earlier hour will be set. The recital Sunday, October 29, will be given at 2:45. Short informal recitals will also be given each day except Sunday at 12:00 o'clock. I I U 11 1 i