THL MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1922
mere pedantry. The saving quality in WAtLDO FRANK AND D. 11. LAW-
in i ///y u h r case is a toucht of anarcihy -ust REBCE
enougih to breathe the breatht of life f 'y l yI ) .
low does the Ameran language There has been during the past few
"THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE" tthings. Brander Matthews has always Mencken is talking about look hin years o strengthening tendency on
By H. L. Mencken taken it seriously but 1 understand print? (We all know how it sounts.) the part of a few talented writers to-
(A Review by Eva Anderson) his latest book, "Essays on English," Assuredly we shall not look for its Ward the esolving of a new type of
resolves itself into a brief against exemptfication in the writings of proO efiction. This fiction is written
The first edition of Mencken's "The "those unwise youngsters who declare Paul Lmer More. However, it would an n impressionistic wanner with un-
American Language" appeared three that the English language is degener- have suited admirably for the roaring sual, and in sone cases, very effective,
years ago. The enormous task of pre- ating." Mencken'doubtless comes in epic of Rabelais. Sandburg has made phrasal arrangement and word combi-
paring a book on so vast a subject for his share. some experiments with it in poetry nations. Mnoreover, the authors, in ad-
heretofore practically uninvestigated But in spite of this, the book cannon .nd a poemn by J. V. A. Weaver is in- dition to presenting the significant ac-
seems to have made even Mencken fail to impress an unprejudiced read- csludd in the appendix to show what ions and thoughts of their characters,
almost humble. At least, he offered er. It shows a sound understanding may be (lone with it tomorow. For assume a totally omniscient attitude
his production as a preliminary study of the principles of psychology under- extamples in prose the author has se- and give all the actions and thoughts,
only, in a limited edition, chiefly for lying txpression. Coupled with this cured a contribution- from Ring Lard- relesant and irrelevant. Marcel
scholars, with the intention of prepar- is information from every available ted and he himself has translated Piouast, the Frnch writer of many-
ing later in the light of their criti- source. The meticulous care with the 'Peelaration of Independence into salume novelt' ,dlvotes seventy pages
cism a revised edition for general cir- which every point is traced down be- American. to the description of a dinner. James
culation. speaks real devotion on the author's "The Amercan Language" as a Joyce, in his widely discussed 'Ulys-
In the earlier chapters of the book part to the task in hand. It never ap- whole is a valuable book. The bibi- se ," relates every move and thought
is a superb statement of the Amer- proaches the primer and yet it is in- ography of 855 titles at the end is the that takes up qts hero's day' Joyce
ican case, The author holds that the telligible to any reader of intellectual ost complete on the subject in exist- also experiments with word arrange-
American language is different from interests whether or not he knows ence. The book is a volpme to read, ments sfch as the following, quoted by
standard English "not- merely in anything about language. to refer to, to skip about in, to take-A. It. Orage: "Eglintoneyes looked up
vocabultary, to be disposed of to an The style is usually calmy scien- down from its shelf again and again. skybrightly."
alphabetical list, but in syntax, in tific, but it is imposible not to see the it is unique. It has been designated The methods of Proust and Joyce
shde, and habits of idiom, and even, refreshing personality of H. L. Menck- -and correctly, without a doubt - are, as yet, frankly no more than ex-
coming to the common speech, in en behind it. I have seldom found,"th'nmost pomprehensive treatise on ieriments. %Something more definitely
grammar, in pronunciation and inton- him nore delightful. He can't howl I the American dialeet of English ever successful has been achieved by Waldo
ation." He examined the grammar of here, so he sparkles. But usually he attempted." Frank in his new novel, "Rahab" (Boni
colloquial America, American pro- sneaks into a footnote to tio it. Ile Liveright). In borrowing from these
nunciation, American spelling, the has shown how a man can be vora- "The Revolt against Civilization," methods and yet in avoiding the ex-
influence of immigrant languages upon cious, systematic, indefatigable in his (Scribners) is a book by Lothrop tremeos both of detail and verbal eccen-
English in America, the mutations of actcumulation and organization of data, Stoddard, author of "The Rising Tide trity, Frank has accomplished an ar-
Amerian proper names, American without degenerating to the level of of Color." ,istiv and interesting novel,
proverbs, and American slang. To
do justice to the book would be to
carry illustration and discussion to
an impracticable length. To dwell
upon a few selected aspects of the
work would be to contract its scope
and comprehensiveness, So a few
general remarks and I have finished.
Throughout the book Mencken 4b
pleads for study of our language di- -Sa
vested of unintelligent prejudice. Hee Silk in e rie Sale
forsakes the safe ground of men like' -.
Krapp and Brander Matthews-ground
that can be explored in a study with-, A sale of the utmost importance to every girl who
out being caught in tine trong winds l"
of modern trend. In the second pre- would have a complete wardrobe for Spring and
face he maintains that "the grammar-Ss co
ian must go among men and women\ Summer. This sale will continue all of nextwee
and listen attentively to what they
say" He goes on to lament: "But and every woman should take advantage of this
the acaderpic prudery that I spoke of a
in my first edition still flourishes. It opportunity to buy dainty silk lingerie at bargain
would be regarded as infra dig., I am
told, for an American professor of prices.
English to concern himself too ac- Tj- '
tively with the English spoken by s2
nearly a hundred millions of his
countrymen. He may, if he will, de-
vote a lifetime to the English dialect
of Norfolk or Dorset, but he may not SILK VESTS
waste his time and dignity upon the
dialect of his janitor, his barber, and Glove silk vests come in pink in 32 inch For wear with light summer attire there
his trousers-presser. That dialect, it length in bodice top style with straps of
appears, does not belong to philoso- is nothing more desirable than glove slk
phy, but merely to humor. If it 'is the same material. This model is priced bloomers. They are made with an elastic
to be investigated, then the work must $.8
be done by such wags as Ring W. * at the waist and at the knee and come in
Lardner and such dilletanti as I."
In this investigation Mencken has Another model pink glove silk vest comes good full sizes. PFaced $2.95 a pair.
no fear of the grossest barbarism;
and no American worthy of the name in extra length and is hemstitched at the
can misunderstand a single one in the top. This model is also made in bodice top Another style of silk bloomers comes in
book whether he has ever heard it or
not. Yet at the same time, the "boob- style and is priced $2.35 ribbed silk in pink only and are made with
ery" and "gaping proletariat" are elastic band at knee and waist. The
held in cheerful contempt. To sum- For those who like the ribbed silk vestsThey
marize the course taken by the author, come in good full sizes and are priced
it may be said that he steers firmly there are garments in pink of the ribbed$ a
between the populace, on the one .$3.50 a pair.
hand, and the more prudish of the silk and they are priced $2.35
scholastic rhetoricians on the other.
What has been the reaction of philo- (Main Floor)
gists toward the work? Back in 1919
rhetoric professors treated the book
as a joke, the product of an outsider,
and turned it over to a few inquisitive
students with many a snobbish and
complacent smile. Almost to a man !X5..f
they bewail Mencken's lack of what
they term systematic philological
training, Because of this lack they
say he has a distorted view of many