New Utrecht High School - Comet Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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VIRIS ' RATIS CALL HER SAVAGE Tiffany Thayer WHEN I finished reading the book and began to collect my thoughts, I won- dered why I had gone through in it two sit- tings and still did not consider it of any literary value. It is not a mystery novel. There can be only one answer, as to why it held my interest so, and that I believe is Thayer's style. The book is interesting and above all well written. It is by far an im- provement over Thirteen Men , the au- thor's first book which created a sensation. What the book lacks is real character. Any author can picture a character who does things without rhyme or reason. Nasa is one of these people. She is temperamental and passionate. Therefore, anything that she does, which an ordinary person would not do, is ascribed to temperament or passion. There is no art in portraying a person who will do anything at any time. A real char- acter has limitations and will act in accord- ance to set characteristics. Nasa does any- thing which the author wishes to make her do. If Nasa were a real character she would not act in extremes at all times. When a book is built upon a character that is not developed but merely does out- landish things, then the book is certainly not a good character study but will be a good seller. Mr. Thayer's intention is to try to prove to you that the reason Nasa is called savage is because she will just do whatever he fMr. Thayerj thinks is the thing you least expect her to do or most expect her to do and you are left in just as much confusion as I am trying to explain the incongruities of the book. If you are very much bored and have nothing better to do, read the book. You will spend an interesting fbut not stimulat- ingj evening. After you have finished, try to piece together the character delineations of Nasa and you will then understand the job that this writer has had. GOD IN THE STRAIN PEN fofan Fort IN God in the Strain Pen , we are shown intimately the life of a group of people in the Georgia Mountains of 1830. A traveling methodist preacher, Ishom Gowe, and his assistant, john Semple come to Ryall Springs. The book tells us of those people who come to the camp meeting of the two preachers, and of the meeting it- self. By their reactions to the news of the camp meeting we learn to know the people spoken of, their lives, their thoughts, and their desires. The characters are expertly drawn, The woman of john Addis , a soul-starved being who has become a mere machine performing the necessary duties of existence without understanding them or caring about them, dull, lifeless, suddenly becomes alive to all the need and longing of her cramped existence when she hears of the camp meting. There is something eminently tender about the character of Sick Sam , some- thing pitiful about the way in which he longs to be of help to his family, but is prevented from doing so by his weakness. The most powerful character, however, is that of john Semple , the idealist, the dreamer, longing for the great solitude of Eleven

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THE LADY WHO CAME T0 STAY R. E. Spencer T is surprising that an author should produce, as his first attempt, such a mas- terfully written novel as The Lady Who Came to Stay . It is even more sur- prising when we look at the background of the author, R. E. Spencer. At ten, Spen- cer was forced to leave school and help in the family support. Being of a studious mind, however, he spent much of his time reading. Between the ages of 15 of 20 he clerked, read Emerson and Hugo, and stud- ied music. At twenty-five, he was married and earning S1440 a year. A few years lat- er, he began a college course at night in ord- er to gain advancement. Thus he spent his days at work, his winter evenings studying, and his summer evenings writing a book. At the end of four years, 1926-30, his book was finished. In October, 1931, this book, The Lady Who Came to Stay , was chosen by the Book League as the outstanding pub- lication of the month. 54THE LADY WHO CAME TO STAY is a psychological novel, a study of character. It is the story of a conflict that carries on beyond the grave. Supernatural occurrences, such as the return of the dead are used for the furtherance of the plot, but this does not make the story fantastic, add- ing rather to its power. The story itself is a simple one and the interest lies mainly in the characters. The outstanding feature of the book is the con- flict between Phoebe and Katherine, but it is also interesting to study these characters themselves and to note their effect upon the other characters and upon the house in which the story takes place. The book is indeed worthy of praise. Let Mr. Spencer but keep up inthe manner in which he has begun, and he will soon be one of the leading writers of the day. Ten ' PRO LITTE THE ALMOND TREE Grace Zaring Stone GRACE ZARING STONE brings forth a new novel, The Almond Tree . The set- ting is Washington where Mrs. Stone has been staying recently. The book deals with the aristocratic circles of Washington. Mrs. Stone is in a position to know this sphere of society, since she has spent much of her life in these same circles. The Almond Tree is a story of three sisters, their hopes, their disappointments, and their fears. Mrs. Stone treats each of the stories of the three sisters separately. Each of these stories contain in themselves the germ of an excellent novel, and offer great possiblities if properly developed. Mrs. Stone has done fairly well. However, she failed in certain parts. Her picturization is too vivid. The glimpses of Washington are kaleidoscopic and over-brilliant. The cherry trees are too picturesque, the homes too lux- urious, and the society too charming. Even the crises in the story are a bit too tense. In describing Washington, Mrs. Stone makes us feel that she has not lived there long enough to really know the city. We do not get the sympathetic understanding of the city, such as Strong gives in his de- scription of Ireland in The Garden. The Almond Tree is not all that might be expected of Mrs. Stone, but it is a com- mendable effort.

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itbe Qllumzt the mountains. His is a questioning mind as opposed to Ishom Gowe, the supreme, self-sufficient egotist. The character of john Semple dominates the story and lends it unity, the final touch which was needed to make the book a pow- david ignatow erful and masterfully written piece of lit- erature. No one who was not thoroughly familiar with the life of the Georgia moun- taineers could have portrayed them with such delicacy. john Fort was eminently fitted for the task. NIGI-IT HE night is a tomb . . . A pale disc, -shimmering in the heavens, encircles and crowns the moon, round and grin- ning. The melancholy glow the moon sheds, dances and wavers on my finger tips, then scurries away with the wind. The cold light lies calmly on the road as the jutting shad- ows lie black on its bosom serene. The shadows cut massive forms and squares and triangles while some lonely Hgures lie long and thin, heads above the mass. Grey giants are etched on the moonlight. They rise from the bowels of the night to stand towering among the stars. These monsters climb and climb through the abyss. They pierce the clouds and stand bareheaded, bathed in the moonlight behind the sispy, silvery clouds. A CAT stalks my steps, a black form upon which the moon plays its ghostly tune. The green eyes are lost in a wall of , imperceptible darkness and soon I heat a T spitting, snarling voice come from the ground and fade away in a wail. A gentlelwind caresses the night, and winds through trees and grass about me. Through the silence of the night a ship whispers hoarsely. I stand in fog and falling dew. A cloak has fallen. A clock strikes the hour, then silence reigns the night till morn. Twelve