TWO YEARS TO LIVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 72, 27 March 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

TWO YEARS TO LIVE.

TRANSLATION FROM prp. ITALIAN. During the first half of the fourth century B.C. a Christian priest named Mutius lived in Egypt, and many stories were told of the miracles he wrought. Jn "Two Years to Live" (Cassell), which is translated by Mr. Arthur Livingston from the Italian novel "Due Anni," Alberto Albertini has transferred this character from Egypt to Rome of the same era, and makes him one of the central figures of his long novel. The story concerns a young man named Maximus, who in the open° ing chapters lies hopelessly ill. Mutius is summoned, and after prayer announces to the family that Maximus will live, but to Maximus himself reveals that he will live but two years more. The remainder of the book is a deep study of the spiritual struggles of this youth as he gradually marks off on his calendar the remaining 730 days of his life. There is the conflict between his family, his friends, and in particular his lover Monica, who all desire his companionship and his worldly happiness during his few remaining months, and Mutius and his fellow priests on the other hand, whose aim is solely his spiritual health. This long and painful struggle is told with an ability and power which overcomes the handicap of the reader's unfamiliarity with the setting of novel and with its outlook. Maximus is no very unusual kind of person, but he excites interest and fame through bis unusual situution. The spirit of Mutius dominates the book, and in him and his fellow priests are portrayed various antagonistic types that have recurred, with little variation, in all religious movements.