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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 6, 1963
Bible, Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Gogol, Lagerkvist, Tolstoy - All in Print
THE WORLD'S TEN GREATEST NOVELS, selected by W. Somerset Maugham (Premier, 50 cents).
This enjoyable group of literary essays formerly bore the title of "Great Novelists and Their Novels." In this book W. Somerset Maugham not only discusses the books he considers best but delves into interesting data about the novelists.
THE NEW TESTAMENT, REVISED STANDARD VERSION (Bantam Classics, 95 cents).
The books he discusses are Melville's "Moby Dick," Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," "Balzac's 'Pere Goriot,' Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice,' Dostoevsky's 'The Brothers Karamazov,' Stendhal's 'The Red and the Black,' Dickens' "David Copperfield," Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and Fielding's "Tom Jones." This is a list few will have reason to quarrel with.
Here, in an attractive volume free from the usual trade blurbs and titillating illustrations, is the authorized revision of the American standard version of 1901 and the King James version. Reading aids are by Frederick C. Grant. This is not the New Testament dressed up for the lowest common denominator of American readers. It preserves much of the beauty of the earlier translations.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Bantam Classics, 60 cents).
It is a platitude to single out the greatness of Dostoevsky. Bantam Classics has reissued this volume of a few years ago, and it should be greeted by many university students.
One of the best-known books in the world, it is the story of a man dogged both by his conscience and
an implacable pursuer. But the pursurer is no merciless Javert, and the hero, Raskolnikov, is no Jean Valjean. In this novel may be found the basis of today's great psychological fiction.
OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. by Thomas a Kempis (Mentor- Omega, 75 cents)—This compact paperback edition of the best-read religious book next to the Bible contains the translation of Abbot Justin McCann. Issued under the imprimatur of Francis Cardinal Spellman, it holds out the promise of greater appreciation for this classic of Catholic literature.
MADAME BOVARY, by Gustave Flaubert (Bantam Classics, 50 cents).
Here is a reprint, with a restyled cover, of a Bantam Classic of several years ago. "Madame Bovary" is the very model of fictional writing, beautiful style and well constructed. In Emma Bovary we have one of the most believable characters in fiction, a desperate, grasping woman, unhappily married, seeking out for new adventures.
The book is among the great works of 19th century psychological realism, one that should be known to all students of literature.
ANNA KARENINA, by Leo Tolstoy
(Bantam Classics, 95 cents).
This is the Joel Carmichael translation of "Anna Karenina" that Bantam first issued a few years ago. The translator has discarded the complex forms of Russian address, and from start to finish one may be able to identify with no difficulty the many characters.
As for the novel itself, it is one of the world's greatest, with magnificent sweep and probing characterizations. There is more to the novel than Anna and her impassioned love for Vronsky, for Tolstoy also gives us a full-scale portrait of Russia in the sixties and seventies.
BARABBAS, by Par Lagerkvist (Bantam, 50 cents)—This is another paperback volume, keyed to the new movie, of the book that helped to win the Nobel Prize for Lagerkvist. Too little known to American readers, "Barabbas" is a magnificent story, beautifully and compassionately written. Lagerkvist has enlarged considerably on what the New Testament has to say about Barabbas, the man whose place Christ took on the cross. It involves spectacle and splendor, but also insight into man and his relationships to other man.
THE UNDERDOGS, by Mariano Azuela (Signot Clasies, 60 cents).
It is always a pleasure to see an important work from Latin America made available to a wide body of readers in the United States. Such is the case with "The Underdogs," which was first published 10 years ago in an El Paso paper.
Since that time it has become known to some critics as the greatest novel of the Mexican revolution. It deals with a peace-loving Indian who is forced to side with the rebels to save his family, and eventually becomes a general in Villa's army—but then begins his fall from power and prestige.
TARAS BULA, by Nikolai Gogol (Signet. 50 cents).
Neither Hollywood nor the book publishers miss many bets. Here is one of those collaborations, the publication of a well known novel to coincide with release of a movie
The book is a new translation of the fiery days of the Cossacks, whom Gogol viewed as "an explosion in which the free, exuberant Russian character found an outlet."
Andre Maurois Essay Among Recent Volumes
SEVEN FACES OF LOVE, by Andre Maurois (Doubleday Dolphin, 95 cents).
First published almost 20 years ago, this collection of seven essays not only gives us glimpses into love as understood by seven writers but also gives us a good capsule history of French literature of the past 300 years.
Maurois starts with the age of chivalry, in discussing Mme. de la Fayette's "The Princess of Cleves." He moves into romanticism with Rousseau's "The New Heloise," cynicism with Laosel's "Dangerous Relations," passion with Stendhal's "The Red and the Black," idealism with Balzac's "Pere Goriot," escapism with Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," and skepticism with Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past."
He quotes copiously, relates each theme to the others, and gives new insights into these famous works. Much of it is delightful and worthwhile reading.
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR, by Thucydides (Bantam Classics, 95 cents)-The celebrated classic, considered by many the greatest of all histories of war. Hanson W. Baldwin and Moses Hadas provide introductory essays.
LES LIAISONS' DANGEREUSES, by Choderlos de Laclos (Signet Classics, 75 cents)—Richard Aldington's translation of this French masterpiece in evil includes a foreword by Harry Levin, Babbitt professor of comparative literature at Harvard University.
THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS,
by Alexandre Dumas, fils (Double-
day Dolphin, 95 cents).
Most readers, theatregoers, operagoers, and filmoogers know the story of Marguerite and Armand, which has been well known to many generations—from "La Tra-
viata" to Greta Garbo. This is the novel.
One cannot really claim for it great literary stature, yet it lasts, and lasts. Probably the tragedy of Marguerite, who dies of consumption, will always grasp readers and viewers. It is a moving story, and, one must confess, a bit corny too.
EIGHT GREAT RUSSIAN STORIES, with introduction by Daniel B. Dodson (Fawcett Premier, 50 cents).
This is a collection of stories never before in paperback in this country, with titles known to few American readers. The group includes "His Majesty, Kneeb Piter Komondor" by Boris Pilniak; "The Archive of Countess D" by Alexis Akuphtine; "A Specialist" and "A Creedy Peasant" by Alexander Ertel; "Death and the Soldier" by Alexander Afanasief; "The Sentry" by Nicholas Leskov and "Bound Over" and "The Magician" by Eugene Chirikov.
All are new translations, and all come from the pre-October Revolution era.
A few years ago, when the West cult was at its height, this short novel was hailed, along with "The Day of the Locust," as a representative work of Nathaniel West. Dated though it may be, it still holds up as one of the outstanding American novels of the thirties.
MISS LONELYHEARTS, by Nathamel West (Ayvn. 35 cents).
In mood it belongs more to the twenties than the proletarian thirties. Its story is that of a man, consigned to the lonelyhearts desk on a metropolitan newspaper, who becomes so involved in the problems of his correspondents that he no longer can handle the problems—or life itself—objectively.
It is a fast-moving, eloquent commentary on American life
HARPER TORCHBOOKS
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L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH: A Short History of the Chinese People.
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PENFIELD ROBERTS: The Quest for Security, 1715-1740. Illus.
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LEO GERSHOY: From Despotism to Revolution, 1763-1789. Illus.
TB/3017 $2.25
CRANE BRINTON: A Decade of Revolution, 1789-1799. Illus.
JOHN B. WOLE: France; 1815-1919: The Rise of a Liberal-Democratic Society. TB/3019 $2.95
HAROLD U. FAULKNER: Politics, Reform and Expansion, 1890-
1900. Illus. TB/3020 $1.95
FOSTER RHEA DULLES: America's Rise to World Power, 1898-
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GEORGE E. MOWRY: The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth
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ARTHUR S. LINK: Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-
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KENNETH E. BOULDING; Conflict and Defense: *A General Theory*.
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SIR LEWIS NAMIER: Vanished Supremacies: *Essays on European History*, 1812-1918. TB/1088 $1.25
ETIENNE GILSON: Dante and Philosophy. TB/1089 $1.75
FERDINAND SCHEVILL: Medieval and Renaissance Florence, Volume I: Medieval Florence, Illus. TB/1090 $1.75, Volume II: The Coming of Humanism and the Age of the Medici, Illus. TB/1091 $1.75
ERNST CASSIRER: Rousseau, Kant and Goethe. Introduction by Peter Gay. TB/1092 $1.25
PERRY MILLER & THOMAS H. JOHNSON, Editors: The Puritans, A Sourcebook of Their Writings, Volume I: TB/1093 $2.75, Volume II: TB/1094 $2.75
BERTRAND RUSSELL, et al.: The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell.
Edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, Volume I: TB/1095 $1.95, Volume II: TB/1096 $1.95
HENRY ANATOLE GRUNWALD, Editor: Salinger, A Critical and Personal Portrait. CN/18 $1.75
D. W. BROGAN: The French Nation: From Napoleon to Pétain, 1814-1940. CN/14 $1.85
NELSON ALGREN: Never Come Morning. (Fiction) CN/15 $1.75
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WILLIAM BENTON: The Voice of Latin America. Foreword by Adlai Stevenson. CN/16 $1.60
CHESTER WILMOT: The Struggle for Europe. Illus. CN/17 $2.95
JOYCE CARY: The African Witch (Fiction) CN/18 $1.75
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DOROTHY SAYERS: Strong Poison. A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel.
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JULIAN SYMONS: The Plain Man. A Harper Novel of Suspense.
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Available at the Book Store or write Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., Dept. 36, 49 East 33rd St., New York 16, N.Y. Catalog on request