HANOVER BROWSING
OFF AND ON in the last few weeks I have been reading some of the novels which publishers turn out so abundantly. But, as happens often in browsing in this field, for every book of distinction I have to waste time in reading half a dozen of no consequence. There is a great deal of ephemeral matter without any distinctiveness of imagination or thought or style or characterization. Much of it lacks even any entertainment value. I enjoy reading occasionally a civilized book of a light, satirical nature. But I want the touch to be very light and subtle, not the brutal, raucous and malicious type of satire we have been having in the last decade or two. Satire with some mellowness and even obliqueness. Satire capable of passing over into irony with a salty tang to it. And the lighter and subtler the satire the better I like it. I am not fond of the kind patterned after the vicious kick of a mule. I prefer that which is more like a gentle poke in the ribs leading to a delicate ripple of interior laughter. Not that I object to the most brutal of satire in its due place and time. There are so many windy charlatans and flatulent ideas and fraudulent institutions in the world calling for rough and pitiless treatment; my browsing taste is not squeamish in this matter. I suppose Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry was of this nature.
In general Lewis is a master of this art. There are times, however, when violent satire repels a reader; when only an urbane satire can appeal to one's mood. The search for books of this kind is often fruitless. It is not easy to write a really good book in this field. It demands a rare combination of qualities of a highly civilized sort. And urbanity and civilized qualities are uncommon in this intolerant and rough and tumble world. Of the lighter and more entertaining of books of this nature I have read recently I enjoyed parts of Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. It is the best of his novels of this species. Decline and Fall is crude and clumsy and stilted, and BlackMischief also suffers from similar defects. But in Vile Bodies he came nearer to mastering the sophisticated form of satire. Parts of the book are really amusing, and some of the characters are charmingly naive in their ultra-sophistication. Yet, on the whole, although wit is there, it is frequently heavy and artificial. His other novels are spoiled partly by a streak of morbidity and eccentricity.
Mandoa, Mandoa, by Winifred Holtby, has a few elements in common with Waugh's Black Mischief. It is a satire on the gadgets of mechanical civilization and the hypocrisies of empire builders and the showy vulgarities of African natives in the forcing beds of British imperialism. I can recommend it despite its weaknesses, mainly due to the indecision and wavering purpose of the author. Its characterization is effective and its satire is sometimes gorgeous.
PASSING FROM these somewhat frivolous books to two or three of a totally different character I can recommend them to all and sundry. These are The Book of Talbot by Violet Clifton (Harcourt Brace & Co.) and Twenty Years A-Growing by Maurice O'Sullivan. I am confident that all lovers of good books will find them worth while. Twenty Years A-Growing is a translation from the Gallic. Any Dartmouth alumnus with Irish blood in his veins will have a treat in reading it. It is the simple story of the childhood and adolescent experiences of the author among his own people on one of the Blasket Islands off the coast of Kerry in the southwest corner of Ireland. The community and the boy are made vital in the story. It is a splendid first book. It is replete with poetry and eerie fancy, with gaiety and magic, with beauty and wisdom.
The Book of Talbot is also magnificent. It narrates the story of the wanderings and struggles and eccentricities of a high spirited English aristocrat born out of due time. It is written by his widow—a rare personality also in her own right. Romantic, sentimental, realistic, colorful, poetic, vivid, beautiful and strikingly individual, it presents a fascinating picture of a rare personality, indeed of two rare personalities mated together. Those who like a travel record with a flavor of individuality and a love romance of an unusual sort will more than enjoy the book.
In connection with the Arctic passages in The Book of Talbot let me recommend also Robert Marshall's Arctic Village. It is a thoroughly dependable picture of a small group of white miners and Eskimos in an Alaskan village. The author states of the group that they "have made for themselves the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." Whether this claim is sound or not I do not know. So many different factors enter into the making of a happy civilization. But I am tempted to say that the rest of the books I am recommending in this issue are concerned with a very unhappy country at a fateful time in an unhappy and perplexed continent. This is Europe and Germany and the Germans.
I HAVE TRIED to keep abreast with recent events in Germany in as open-minded a way as possible. It is easy to take sides for and against Hitler and National Socialism. A great deal of senseless intolerance and unreasoning racial fanaticism accompanied the rise and triumph of the Nazi movement. A notable awakening of the national spirit has undoubtedly been realized but at an exactive price in terms of the finest qualities of a high and liberal type of civilization. Perhaps it could not have been avoided altogether. Revolutions are at best dubious things, and at worst they are unbelievably turbulent and violent. The finer virtues of human nature do not appear to advantage in them. To an outsider, who has tried his best to put himself in the position of the Germans themselves, the fiercely intolerant racial attitudes with their accompanying expressions appear to have been stupid blunders in spirit and policy. It will take some time to undo the harmful effects already produced by these intolerant excesses. A certain amount of the goodwill of potential, if not actual, friends of Germany was alienated by these extreme policies.
Many of the national socialists might have regarded anti-Semitism as an important part of their campaign to root out from German life and culture all the forces and elements which they considered alien and antagonistic to national unity. But they will probably find out that it will cost them more in terms of the moral isolation of Germany than they had anticipated. This is seen in recent statements by such prominent English statesmen as Baldwin and Chamberlain, and an influential publicist like Garvin. National policies, even of an awakened Germany, should be framed and carried out with due regard to the losses as well as the gains both within and without the nation itself. This I feel was not the case in connection with some of the things which have been done by Hitler and the Nazis since their rise to power.
Of course now that National Socialism is in the ascendancy and is very unlikely to be displaced, it is possible that Hitler will moderate his policies and tactics. This will be the real test of his statesmanship. His qualities as a constructive statesman and as a courageous leader will be tested by what he will do and refrain from doing in the coming months and years. He may show he is more of a leader and a statesman than some of his critics think he is. On the other hand, he may prove to be deficient in constructive intelligence, and in that case, I see nothing but more unhappy years ahead of Europe. I have followed his speeches and actions carefully in recent months and I see a few glimmers of hope for some conciliatory modifications in his domestic, if not in his international, policies. Candor compels me to say, however, that there are still many disquieting elements in the situation.
Judging by analogy from the evolutions of Mussolini, even Hitler, once he gets over his initial assertions of will and determination, may turn out to be less of a menace to international peace than appears likely at present. Mussolini talked aggressively of creating in the Italian nation "a military spirit and a warrior mind". At the same time he has been less dangerous and more conciliatory than was feared a few years ago. I assume that a cou- rageous and intelligent leader will change his policies and strategy after having won and consolidated his position. Tactics which were useful in gaining power may be a hindrance when difficult constructive tasks challenge his abilities. Will Hitler also change? A lot depends on this, not only for Germany, but for the whole of Europe. He has already built up an all- powerful national movement. He can claim with some measure of truth that a real na- tional awakening has taken place in Ger- many, and that new and vital increments of hope and faith have been added to Ger- man life. But to direct these newly liber- ated energies and hopes along channels conducive not only to the best interests of distressed Germany, but also the rest of Europe, that remains yet to be done. I only hope that it will be done, and that racial fanaticism and military aggressiveness will more and more fall into the background.
BUT TO RETURN to a list of books which I can recommend on this difficult subject. It is better for me to group them.
A. BACKGROUND BOOKS: The most helpful of these for the general reader are the following:
1. Germany and the Germans, Eugen Diesel. Translated from the German and published in 1931. This is a splendid book and worth reading. It throws real light on Germany and the Germans. It contains very interesting chapters on the physical layout of the country, its towns, its varied peoples, its work, and its educational system and religion, and a helpful section at the end on "The New Germany".
2. The Germans, G. N. Shuster, 1931. This also is a readable volume, but not as good as Diesel's.
3. Modern Germany, Paul Kosok. University of Chicago Press, 1933. This is the most recent of the additions to the "Civic Education" series edited by Professor Merriam. It is a study of the conflicting interests and the loyalties in the old pre-war Germany. It is of assistance in enabling a person to understand the various interest and functional groupings in Germany. A good background book, although the style is somewhat heavy and academic.
4. Modern German Literature, Arthur Eloesser. Translated from the German, 1933. This is a creditable volume of literary interpretation. The most important German (Austrian also) writers of the last sixty years are discussed in a sympathetic and incisive way. It emphasizes the psychological, lyrical, and individual elements in the literature of this period. Here lies its strength and, to a sociological critic like myself, its weakness.
5. Contemporary Thought of Germany, W. Tudor Jones, 1931. I can give this volume only a mild recommendation. A firstrate book could have been written on the subject. But the author missed his chance and limited himself too much to certain types of philosophical and religous thought.
B. BOOKS DEALING WITH THE HARRASSEDYEARS OF THE REPUBLIC AND WITH THE RISEAND TRIUMPH OF HLTLER AND NATIONAL SOCIALISM:
1. Germany Puts the Clock Back, E. A. Mowrer, 1933. This is the best of the books severely critical of Hitler and the Nazi movement. It was finished in November, 1932, and for that reason is somewhat out of date now. Mowrer is a trenchant critic of both the old Social Democratic leaders and of Hitler and his Nazi followers. He views the awakening primarily as a reactionary movement. He stresses the illiberal and anti-democratic and intolerant elements in National Socialism. In general an able, though slightly journalistic, critical picture of the confused years of the German Republic. He describes very clearly the various elements in the population which supported Hitler. Some of his interpretations I think are open to countercriticism.
2. The German Phoenix, O. G. Villard, 1933. This is not so good. Villard is also bitingly critical. Some of the chapters in the volume are splendid, but others are not too convincing.
3. The German Crisis, H. R. Knickerbocker, 1932. Too journalistic to have much value.
4. Is Germany Finished, Pierre Vienot, 1932. A simple little book by a sympathetic French writer who interprets the German crisis as a crisis in middle class civilization. It limits itself to this phase of the situation —a phase often neglected by both the critics and the supporters of the German awakening.
5. Fever Heat by Franck. Translated from the German, 1932. One of the best of the novels treating of the growth of National Socialism and how it captured the students in the schools of Germany. Very interesting to a teacher.
6. Germany Enters the Third Reich, Calvin B. Hoover. Macmillan & Co., 1933. This is the best and the most temperate of the books in this group. It gives us a detailed factual picture of the intrigues and events which took place between the fall of the Bruening Government and the ultimate triumph of Hitler. The author does justice to the shrewd leadership of Hitler before and after his accession to power, without in any way minimizing his blunders. The aggressive militarism and the passionate nationalism of the movement and its threats to the peace of Central Europe are treated with knowledge and balance. The abnormal mass nature of the awakening is kept clearly in mind. So also are the abnormal economic and social conditions of Germany during the last fourteen years. Due place is given to their cumulative effects on various groups and interests in the German nation. The conditions were abnormal and the reactions of the people were abnormal. The student must keep this in mind all the time. I am not sure whether Hoover is sound in viewing the awakening as anti-capitalistic in its spirit and motivation. Neither does he stress sufficiently the moral and the spiritual elements in the awakening. The reaction to what is called "cultural bolshevism" is under-emphasized.
C. BOOKS DEALING WITH HITLER: I. There is no really first-rate biography of Hitler available. By far the best of the biographies is his own autobiographyMem Kampf. Of the biographical studies in English the best (but not at all satisfactory) is Hitler by Emil Lengyel (1932), the author of The Cauldron Boils. It has some good features but the better qualities in Hitler's personality and leadership are underestimated. It was written before Hitler rose to power.
2. Hitler, Wyndham Lewis, 1932. This in the main is a pot-boiler like Dorothy Thompson's I Saw Hitler. It is hardly worth reading. Lewis is an excruciatingly aggravating writer in any case. He is as tantalizing as ever in this book.
3. My Struggle, Adolph Hitler. Abridged and translated by E. T. Dugdale. Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1933. There is no substitute tor Hitler's own story. Unfortunately it is a very much abbreviated form of the German original. This detracts considerably from its value as a significant historical document. Many of the most fiery passages in the original are not included in this English translation. It contains just a little more than a third of the original story. At the same time, it is indispensable for an understanding of Hitler. The style is uneven and rhetorical. Hitler is much more of an orator than a writer. He is an actor and an evangelist and a highly histrionic propagandist. His best qualities are those of force, vividness, concreteness, rhapsody, clever repetition, intensity, emotional fervor, and a shrewd fighting psychology. He is weak in ideas and in rationality. His logic is compounded of emotional convictions and disguised rationalizations. His hopes, fears, prejudices, expectations, ideas are shot out with explosive force as a machine gun in action. And he knows how to direct them with leal effectiveness to the intelligence of the average man, and riot to the critical minds of the intellectuals. There is dynamite in the book. Hitler is an intensely dynamic leader with a dangerous emotional penumbra.
The anti-Semetic sections of the volume are not likely to appeal to the intelligence of American readers. They are extremely unfair and fundamentally unconvincing. Yet one can easily see that they made effective propaganda in Germany. The Nazi leaders undoubtedly made scapegoats out of the Jewish people. The Jews were held responsible for everything evil and intolerable in the German situation.
The intense nationalism of Hitler is in evidence all through the book. But even this consists to some extent of vague but perfervid references to the superiority of Aryan culture and to the necessity of maintaining the purity of the Germanic race. Hitler refers to "blood" and "race" continuously. He does not try to prove his assertions about them. They are axioms to him.
I GATHER, HOWEVER, that Hitler borrows his ideas on this difficult subject from some of the Nordic race theorists of the past and present, such as Chamberlain and Hans Guenther, the social anthropologist of the movement. To get a fair picture of this phase one must go directly to Guenther's The Racial Elements of European History, and his untranslated Rassenkunde desdeutschen Volkes. This question of the relationship between race and national culture is difficult enough for the most expert and balanced of anthropologists. In the hands of the inexpert it is full of dangerous pitfalls. It is easy to dogmatise about race. One is always tempted to go beyond the limits warranted by demonstrable ethnological and cultural facts. For this reason it is the essence of scientific prudence to be undogmatic concerning the importance of the racial element in the constitutions of nations and in the building up of cultures. In this connection I am reminded of the humorous lines of Belloc. They at least have the merit of humor if not of truth: "Behold, my child, the Nordic man,And be as like him as you can,His legs are long, his mind is slow,His hair is lank, and made of tow.And here we have the Alpine race,Oh! what a broad and foolish face:His skin is of a dirty yellow,He is a most unpleasant fellow.The most degraded of them allMediterranean, we call.His hair is crisp, and even curls,And he is saucy with the girls."
With reference to the Jewish aspect of the German situation, I can refer the interested reader to the simple book of Myerson and Goldberg on The German Jew, issued in the early summer. It shows signs of having been written hastily, but nevertheless it helps one to realize the real value of Jewish contributions to German culture in the fields of medicine, mathematics, science, philosophy, literature, music, and art. To say the least, the Jews in Germany have contributed their share to the best and the finest in that culture.
When one thinks of what is happening in Europe, one realizes how fragile and precarious are the treasures and liberties of modern civilization. Eternal struggle is the price we must pay for the preservation of the spiritual conquests of mankind. It is no wonder that the most optimistic of men are tempted to lose faith in man and his rationality. The half-sad pessimism of Walter Raleigh comes to my mind: "'I do not like the human race,I do not like its dirty face,I do not like the way it talks,And I do not like the way it walks;And when 1 am introduced to one,I wish I could say, 'what jolly fun'." It is the strange and subtle blend of noble and ignoble elements in man and his civilization which are so hard to understand.
IF ONE VIEWS the triumph of National Socialism in Germany as another instance of the spread of Fascism in Europe, the most vigorous criticism of it is found in The Menace of Fascism by John Strachey. This was published about a month ago. Strachey attacks Fascism from the point of view of revolutionary radicalism. He is one of the ablest of the LeftWingers of the British Labor Party. Fascism—whether in Italy or Germany—is regarded by him as a reactionary movement. Its aim is to salvage capitalism and its supporting ideas and institutions from the collapse that threatens it. He thinks Fascism is destined to spread even to Great Britain and the United States. However, he opposes it in the name of a revolutionary labor movement. According to him, the German Social Democrats made the mistake of following the line of least resistance. That is why they were defeated so easily. He also thinks that the British Labor Party made the same mistake. And it likewise was defeated. Strachey's analysis of Fascism leads him to a war in Europe. He only hopes that the revolutionary parties in the different European countries will be prepared to take advantage of such a war when it does come. I must postpone discussion of this phase of Fascism to a future issue.
In conclusion I can see many grounds for misgivings about the situation in Europe. It is a time to test one's patience and faith. It is above all a time for statesmen to keep their heads cool and their feet on the solid ground and their eyes not on the ends of the earth, but much nearer home. And the rest of us must keep outbalance and do all we can, not only to help recovery at home, but peace and international cooperation everywhere. And in difficult days like these we can all appreciate the words of Lawrence: "And now the best of all is to be alone, to possess one's soul in silence."
Tower Room Favorites Tower Room librarians list the following books as those in greatest student demand in Baker Library's browsing headquarters: Poe, Tales, illustrated by Harry Clarke Hemingway, Men Without Women Stokes, Dracula Huxley, Brave New World O'Neill, Strange Interlude Hindus, Humanity Uprooted Hamilton & McGowan, What'sWrong With Marriage Haggard, Devils Drugs and Doctors * * * Of books on the "new book" shelf, the most popular are: Allen, Anthony Adverse Kallet & Schlink, 100,000,000 GuineaPigs Stalling, The First World War O'Neill, Ah Wilderness
