NAW SU

by Harry I. Marshall 'oo. Falmouth Publishing House, Portland, Maine; 1947- 351 pages. Price: $2.75 (Illustrated by Audrey Rands).

East is East and West is West And never the twain shall meet.

Naw Su by Harry I. Marshall proves Kipling wrong. East and West have met in this novel, not only fictionally but in fact. "When I began my twenty years' service in Burma in 1919, I was greeted by a veteran of 40 years' service who said: "Human nature is the same everywhere but out here we have a little more of it." I can, personally, vouch for his masterly portrayal of Karen character.

A telephone conversation with the Burmese ambassador at Washington last month made me realize how timely is Dr. Marshall's novel, solidly based on the facts, in these days when we Americans are struggling to know enough about the world to take responsibility to keep the peace of the world. Business men or gov- ernment officials going to the far east will consider it "must reading" in a painless form.

Dr. Marshall is the well-known author of the British Government's monograph on the Karen People of Burma (2 million out of Burma's 15 millions). His mastery of Karen anthropology, as well as being the greatest white authority on the Karen language, has fitted him to write an authoritative book in sharp contrast to those by travellers who stay two weeks or less. The author's first novel has surprised his friends, not by its scholarship, but by its charm and delightful, gripping character portrayal. It is one of those few novels I find hard to lay down without finishing.

Foreign missionaries should be compelled to read Naw Su because it shows the new type of missionary needed who will prefer to play second fiddle and serve the indigenous people, not by domination of "white supremacy" but by superior worth of unselfish character. Unconsciously, some missionaries have been trouble-makers instead of peace-makers.

You will want to read this exquisite story, not because one "hears the East a-calling" but because it is a captivating tale well told.

Major Ch.C. Res., Minister of Calvary Baptist Church, Clarksburg, W. Va.