Life — December 14, 1928 — page 42: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ECHOES SES ae ASLEVAS ——_ Savats di Argent ROGER @ CALLET PARIS © Roger & Gallet 1925 NEW YORK LIFE 7|READING MATTERS! “Giant Kitrer” (John Day) is the story of David, who Perry could always get someane else q to kill his giants for him, Githens but Elmer Davis has made Joab the hero of this, his best book. It is Joab, the man of blood and battle, who builds the Kingdom of Israel for David to get the credit; it is Joab who kills the giants while David makes the songs. And it is Joab who, at the last, is beaten, betrayed, and slain before the Ark of God which he lived only to preserve. Davis has taken that period in the history of Israel when the Chosen People rose from a gathering of quarrelsome tribes under Saul to the unity of a king- dom under Solomon. The dim canvas of | he Bible story he has repainted with calm, | sure strokes; the uncertain record of the past he has brought within modern under- standing; and this without recourse to | anachronistic catch-phrases, or artificial | injections of comedy in the manner of less scholarly attempts at modernization. But for all his adherence to the record, | Davis has written a novel as well as a | history, and the characters he has re- created become more like real people and ‘less like historical personages. The Phi- | | listines, for instance, turn out to be a cul- | tured people and Joab, fresh from the | comparative barbarity of Judah, is aston- ished by the clean-shaven men, and the women with their hair clipped boyishly; the temples, the shops, the music, and the wonders of the palace. “Well, David,” he says to the yet un- crowned King of Israel, “what do you think of it all?” But David stands un- secing in the midst of the evidences of civilization, “The women are too thin,” he observes, “but I suppose a man could get used to that.” | I doubt that it was the purpose of Mr. | Davis to exalt the glories of the Philis- | |tines, or to expose the shortcomings of | David; I doubt that he had any other | purpose than to tell an interesting story. He has succeeded at that. “Giant Killer” is long, and there is little of humor in it, |but it is never dull. “Ortanvo,” by Virginia Woolf, is prob- ably a work of really magnificent propor tions, and members of a certain limited group in London will no doubt take it up with exclamations of glee. But for most of us in the cruder outlands of Chicago, Kansas City, and Manhattan, “Orlando” (Harcourt, Brace) is a long, dull book. By “magnificent proportions,” I mean Just a Few Hours* to Good Times It's just overnight to an In- dian summer that lasts all winter long . . . to golden days of golf and outdoor sport + «+o perfect, bracing climate . . . where deep draughts of pine-scented air are a daily tonic. For 30years Pinehurst has stood first in the hearts of the better type of sports lover who wishes an outdoor background for a pleasant social life. For booklet or reserva- tions address General Office, Pinehurst, N.C. inehurst NORTH CAROLINA America’s Premier Winter Resort *Only 15} hours from New York City on through Pullmans. The luxurious Carolina Hotel, famed for its cuisine and thoughtful service, now open. Attractive: ly furnished cottages for rent reasonably. a big-hearted disregard for the limitations A holiday ' remembrance “I can never forget, nor would I if I could, the packages of ALLEN’S FOOT= EASE that were sent to us in France from the U.S. A. about Holiday time during the War. While we were shaking in our shoes this healing, antiseptic powder for the feet, the remark frequently went ‘round: ‘It ain't the A.E. F. that’s winnin’ this war — it's the A.F.E.! So now, as during the war, Allen's Foot=Ease makes a Satisfying, Soothing, Holiday Remembrance. At all Druggists —and a 2c stamp mails a package. (Signed) BUDDY ENUF SAYD" comicbooks.com I