Hanover Browsing
THREE BOOKS have been recommended by C. C. Hills '05 for alumni reading. He writes: "The pleasant remembrance of Paul Darrow 1904, by his college contemporaries of that period will give added interest to Clarence Darrow for theDefense. This biography impresses me as being the highly interesting story of a most unusual man. Leopold and Loeb of Chicago, the McNamara, trial in California, the coal miners East and West, William Jennings Bryan and his theology crossexamined by Darrow in the 'monkey trial' at Dayton, Tennessee; these and many other outstanding fights are all described in detail. Well worth reading.
"Shaker Adventure is a well-written account of the Shakers in America. For Dartmouth men it has added interest by reason of its complete story of the Shaker settlement on the shores of Mascoma Lake. In 1923 this property with its fine old stone buildings was sold to the Canadian Roman Catholic Brotherhood of LaSalette who now conduct a school and seminary for the training of priests. The Shakers sold these eleven hundred acres to the Brotherhood for 125,000 rather than to a New York Sport Club for $100,000 for the reason that the monastic order would use it for communal life and educational purposes and because, as they said, 'We would like to have our fields cultivated again.' This book records the story of what was probably the most successful American adventure in practical communism, an adventure which is now drawing to its close.
"Pardon My Harvard Accent is a delightful tale of the business man who went to Harvard as purchasing agent at a time when each department purchased its own supplies. His finally successful efforts to persuade the learned doctors that, for instance, a discount amounting to $30,000 on the purchase of equipment for a new building was not to be scoffed at makes rare reading. Incidentally the hot spots of Boston some thirty or forty years ago get sympathetic mention."
I'm sure Dean Bill will not mind if I quote a recent note from him: "I thoroughly agree with you that L. M. Nesbitt's Hell Hole of Creation (about the Danakil country of Abyssinia) is one of the best books of that sort that I have read. It is a wonderful picture of patience, fortitude, and determination. Please do not forget to read that book on the Lena Delta."
This I have done. In The Lena Delta by George W. Melville, who was an engineer officer in the United States Navy, tells of the ill-fated voyage of the Jeannette through the Polar seas and of Melville's search through the icy wastes of Northern Siberia in the Lena Delta for Lt. Commander DeLong and his companions. It is certainly one of the classics of Arctic exploration. I wish there were a modern reprint.
Just before the war there appeared Brigade of Spies by William J. Makin. (Dutton, 1938.) This is an exciting book, though undistinguished in style, of murder clubs, lone adventurers, scientific spies, how the dictators are guarded, and it relates full details of espionage in general. The author is not sensational in the telling, and with sabotage and spying before our minds at this time, the book is timely and may be read with pleasure and profit. Incidentally if any of you happen to see the fairly recent spy picture "International Lady" in the method of broadcasting information to the enemy depicted there was based on fact. My informant was Mr. Hopkins.
The recent death of William Alexander Percy, 56, reminds me to say that his autobiography Lanterns on the Levee (Knopf) is a book you shouldn't miss.
The necessity for saving valuable space in the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE may excuse me for running together information about a few more books I should like to recommend at this time. Ghost Town, by Ezra Dane describes life during the California gold rush and the book is packed with interesting and true stories. The illustrations by Fred Ludekens adds to the charm of the book. For a good yarn read Harry Hervey's School for Eternity. Various strange characters gather on a tropical island, by chance, and are entertained at dinner by a suave and sinister count. There is an earthquake, as there was a bridge at San Luis Rey, and the result is as devastating. Willard Price, who knows Japan extremely well, has written a timely novel called Barbarian (John Day, 1941). The saga of the life and death of Jonathan Boone, who first came to Japan with Commodore Perry in 1853, reveals all too clearly why Japan hates the United States, and why she is willing to risk national suicide in order to annihilate us. Richard Finnie's Lure of the North (McKay) tells of Canada's northwest. Amusing and truthful picture of Eskimos. Recommended by Dean Bill.
