Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception - Annual Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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A N N U A L l 9 3 E5 0 ' Literary Review of the Year LITERARY review of the year, such as this, must necessarily be of limited scope. lt cannot be too ambitious. lt cannot detailg it cannot describe. lt must be satisfied to narrate and in some small measure to evaluate. American life seems to reflect itself most accurately in fiction. The novel output each year is prodigious, but it always finds a gullible, carnivorous and, unfortunately, often indiscriminating market. Out ot the hundreds of novels that are read and widely publicized, it is difficult to find a half dozen that are of distinction. This year our most artistic novelist, Willa Cather, brought out her first effort in some time in Lucy Gayheartf' a restrained and dignified romance. Miss Cather is somewhat of the Emily Dickinson recluse type and her work bears the stamp of a detached and sympathetic observation of life. Sinclair Lewis, whose recent novels were definitely on the downward trend tif ever they were really good literaturel addresses a prophetic warning to the people of the United States against Fascism and Communism in lt Can't Hap- pen Here. The most picturesque novel of the year, however, came out of England from thelbusy pen of the Empire's Poet Laureate, lohn Masefield. His Victorious Troy is looked upon by some as the best story of the sea since Conrad wrote his immortals. Historical fiction, usually a fertile field for a facile pen, was rather scarce. One very fine piece of work did appear, how- ever. Helen C. White's Not Built With Hands is a well built narrative hung about an accurate report of historical facts of Medieval Europe. Pearl S. Buck, Nobel prize winner of recent years, had a novel in the form of a biography of her mother, The Exile. lt is a tragic account of what destruction a frigid and sterile Protestantism wrought in a fervid soul. Finally the most heralded work of the year was George Santayana's The Last Puritan. From all accounts it is a very perplexing book. Mr. Santayana is a sincere philosopher and he has set down here the paths of his odysseical ruminations. li is characterized by a silent and resigned frustration. One reviewer said that in his heart of hearts he longs for the substance of Rome. ln recent years the booksellers have noticed an increased interest in bio- graphical reading. These tastes were well taken care of in the past year. Stefan Zweig, whose Marie Antoinette achieved such renown a few years ago, set his hand to the precarious task of writing the life of Mary Stuart. The result, Mary Queen of Scotland and the lsles, although it has enjoyed a large sale, was a disappointment to many. His biography is hardly objective. Among other biographies of an historical and political nature, Mr. George Seldes' Sawdust Caesar, the story of ll Duce, was one of the most important and certainly the most controversial. Suffice it to say that it was banned in Italy and accorded a very Warm reception in England. Another no less re- nowned ltalian was the subject of a distinguished book. Atturo Toscanini by Paul Stefan is destined for a permanent success among the Italian genius' many admirers. ln the year of his canonization St. Thomas More was treated by William Chambers, a non-Catholic, in an authoritive and sympathetic book. The most notable work in hagiography, remarked of very highly in the book 89

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00CATl-IEDRAL COLLEGE world, for its breadth of vision and scholarship, was Father Francis Talbot's life of his fellow lesuit, Isaac logues- Saint Among Savagesf' With each passing year the Catholics of America are becoming more book-conscious. Consistently, the type of Catholic books is improving. This year a book appeared that is at once a landmark in Catholic letters and a handbook for all students of contemporary literature by Catholics. The Cath- olic Literary Revival by Calvert Alexander, SI., proved a revelation to many, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. A year would hardly be complete without a book from the ever-enthusiastic Chesterton. The Well and the Shallows is characterized by his customary brilliance. Father Fulton I. Sheen, our most in- spirational radio priest, has a book of sermons of great theological worth called The Mystical Body of Christ. A contribution to the field of apologetic literature came from the fighting Arnold Lunnq Science and the Supernatural is a correspondence between Mr. Lunn and I. B. S. Haldane, rather of a free thinker, in which Lunn defends the thesis that the principles of modern science are compatible with the tenets of organized religion. lf Haldane remains un- convinced, he is at least more tolerant for the experience. In the field of science, the most sensational, if not the most scientific, book of the year was Dr. Alexis Carrel's Man, the Unknown. Dr. Carrel speaks fav- orably for the miracles at Lourdes but in other instances gives manifestations of some rather hazy and distorted notions of religion. Dr. Ray Forest Moulton augmented the production of popular astronomy with Consider the Heavens. Then too every year there are a few notable books on scientific subjects that are written in an appealing and less technical style. The most important this year fto all .ostensible purposesl were books of travel. However, Admiral Richard E. Byrd's Discovery and Father l-lubbard's Cradle of the Storms impart in a very palatable manner some very scientific and absorbing facts about geology. Definitely in the field of travel books, we find by far the most celebrated non-fiction book of the year, Mrs. Lindbergs North to the Orient. Her work is a very graphic and readable account and has sold so well on its intrinsic merits rather than on the name of its author. There was a regrettable dearth of good poetry, Arthur Guiterman's spirited Death and General Putnam being the only noteworthy new volume. But this deficiency was compensated for in a remarkably large production of scholarly .works on history and politics. Mark Sullivan finished his Our Times, a twelve volume work, in which he has recorded over a period of years and in popular journalistic style, the politics, culture, eccentricities and, unfortunately, vulgari- ties, of American life. From a standpoint of unemotional record and persistent research, William H. Chamberlains History of the Russian Revolution was the outstanding contribution of an American to permanent historical reference. Finally in politics, a very fine and revealing book, was Walter Millis' Road to War in which he has retold the story of our entrance into the last war in order that now we may better understand our ground and so lessen our chances of being involved in another conflict. The reading tastes of a nation reflect how that nation believes and thinks and feels. lt is encouraging for the future of America to note that the popular trend is definitely toward more serious reading. 98