II THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 1922
JENS PETER JACOBSEN translated for the first time into Dan-
s(A Review py R. D. S.) ish.
While he was carrying on his scien-
From the Scandinavian countries tiflic work he still retained his love
there has come, especially within the for literature. Consequently, when
"i.T E STORE OF1 0 IANIND" Some of his touches are excellent; past few years, a great deal of ex- tuberculosis forced him to give up
Botany, he at once turned to writing.
By llendrik Van Loon he recognizes that the late war was ceptionally fine literature. No doubt, He did not, however, become a poet as
(A e hew by .. B.) not so much the result of the innate the warding of the Mobel Prize to he had once hoped. Although he had
reed of ian as the result of nan oh- Knut Hamsun has awakened some of written poetry secretly two years after
"It is more important to feel his- sessed by the development of machine, tie interest in the Danish, Norwegian, lis graduation, he published only one
tory than to know it." lettig the machine become his master. book of verse. The remainder of his
History is the record of the attempts Van Loon realizes and portrays with and Swedish writers, while the recent work consists of two novels and a
and ailre of hiiinmanity at hisrmon- great clarity the gilt which today con- arrangements made by Alfred Knopf book of short stories.
eels thne weaknesses and rottenness with the Cyldenda publishing house Jacobsen was peculiarly well quali-
ious social organization. Histories, of people and institutions. He shows have made more translations obtain- fled to become a novelist. He knew
however, seen to have been written thatt this fails in its efforts. He states and loved nature thoroughly, and he
always by m hen better acquainted with it cleverly: " A Zulu in a frock coat stle. had a poetic temperament. Moreover,
books than with human nature. Conis still a Zulu"-perhaps he could have' However, one of the greatest of the he was infinitely patient and painstak-
illustrated his point by using a Con- Scandinavians, Jens Peter Jacobsen, ng. He worked slowly and carefully,
sequently, in re pedantic rubbish of Igressman. (It is the custom of the remains much less known in this weighing each word and scruulously
dates, periods and outlines,--all en- day to abuse Congressmen-even though country than he deserves to be. This choosing the phrasal combinations
veloped in the historians' foggy ide- we are responsible for their existence.) is probably due to the fact that he has that would most vividly transmit his
alism, the almost endless agony that Vani Loon has well revealed the fact produced such a small amount of work. thoughts. One word and one word
humannature has endured for a trans- that has been so beautifully stated by But that little is among the best of only would adequately express an idea,
WVI. H. Hudson in his "Purple Land": modern fiction. he believed; and he worked until he
itory miiiient of jay-- the terrible "At, yes, we are all vainly seeking: Jacobsen was born in Thisted, a lit- found that word.
price of progress--became obscured after happiness in the wrong way, the town in Jutland, in 1847. His Style should be objective, says
and the valuable lesson to be learned It was with us once and ours, but we childhood was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, "and it will never be ob-
was lost. despised it, for it was only the old the imaginative nature of his mother, jective unless the words are so set
One has often doubted if a history coimmion happiness which Nature gave and he early had dreams of becoming down that they directly force the read-
to all her children and we went away a poet. At the same time, his love er to think the same as the author
could ever be written which would from it in search of another grander: of nature made him turn toward sci- thought when he wrote them." This
not be too imtellectual to be applicable kind of happiness which some dreamer ence. Eventually he decided to adopt is the effect Jacobsen produced. Noth-
to human problems, or too academic,-Bacon or another-asusred us we: Botany as a profession. He became ing was beyond the range of his de-
to represent a record which could be- should find. We had only to conquer'intensely interested in this science scriptive ability. He created an atmo-
come an integral part of our living Nature, find out her secrets, make her and won the gold medal at the Uni- sphere vibrant with sounds and colors.
rather than a series of events to be, our obedient slave, then Earth would of for his thesis on tis stories throb with a sensuous
versity adhzl ere o oecl( Copenhagen frhstei nHssoie ho iha esosjoy
read and hazily learn d for icre col- be Eden and every man Adam and, a microscopic form of marsh plant-life. of living. They are swept along amidst
tre. We have long needed a history every woman Eve. We are still march- This study, together with his curiosity the luxurious play of sunlight, the opu-
that would intimate the causes and ing bravely on, conquering Nature. about the new ideas of the time, wid- lent perfume of gayly colored flowers,
remedies for the social iijustices that imt how weary, and sad we are get- ened his field of research and he soon and a chors of sounds, from the
have grosvii through the ages. 'ting! The old gay life and gaiety of discovered Darwin, whose works he soughing of the wind in the trees to
It was a task to write such a book. heart have vanished, though we some-
Wells made i worthy attempt inn his times pausore for a few moments hr111iIiHI111111111111110111111111111111111111I11h'
"Outline of History", but the delights our long forced march to watch the _
of Utopianism duped him and, begin- labours of some pale mechanician,
ning to babble about the future of a seeking after perpetual motion, and in-
perfect state, ie accredited humanity dulge in a little, dry cackling laugh
with more virtues than the best of at his expense."
men have ever had. Hendrik Vani "The Story of Mankind," primarily
Loon has also made an attempt. His, a "boy's book," Is written for chiYrlo r
"The Story of Mankind" (Boni and: dren of all ages, for all persons with
Liveright), seems to grow directly minds eternally young for all persons=
from human nature itself. who encounter the apparent incompati-
The healthy buoyancy of the book bilities of life. It is written with a ='1 jL Y our f e
is delightful. The reader can expect human understanding that is rare in I
a humanism that breathes tolerance this machine age. Minds which have
from one whose judges are Pity and been momentarily paralysed by an
Irony; not cruel and inexorable irony, infinite number of contradictory pana-
but irony that gins strength to smile ces for social problem. will ber-
and laugh where perhaps we would laxed and refreshed by the illuminat
be weak enough to hate and despise. ing content of this book.
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This is the seaon
for such photo-
Love at First Bitee graphs-toayis
the day to make
the appointment.
That is what you will think
when you first get one of Phone 598
those good old-fashioned
Wesimer Grilled Steaks
"One a day would make you a football man"
Get them opposite the D. U. R. Waiting Station-
Studio
= 121 EAST WASHINGTON
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