NEW FICTION

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27914, 10 March 1956, Page 5

NEW FICTION

The Jealous Mistress. By Paul Elbogen. Translated by Ruth Lachenbruch. Alvin Redman. 345 pp. The powerful character of Jan Alexander Dram emerges in this story with such realism that no reader could be blamed for wondering if he actually lived and was known to the world of art by another name. Paul Elbogen wrote this brilliant novel after reading the news of a fire in a huge exhibition of paintings, in which an artist lost the work of a lifetime. The author uses the theme of an artist, who believed himself to be beyond good or evil, being brought back to humanity through the symbol of purifying flame. If Elbogen did not pattern Dram, the tragic genius, on someone he actually knew and suffered by, then he is a writer of exceptional creative ability. Dram, who gave so much beauty to the world, brought only misery to all who were close to him because of his pagan-like sacrifice of their feelings to his own obsession. And to art alone, his jealous mistress, was he faithful. Too involved, too vast, too unfathomable to be understood, he might have been a criminal if he nad not been a genius. The course of this amazing story runs through Florence, Paris, London, and New York from the late ’nineties to the present time, and absorbs in its setting the most colourful incidents of each decade. In her translation from the German, Ruth Lachenbruch has captured the profound mood of the novel by her thorough appreciation of both languages. More Than You Bargained For. By Joan Aiken. Jonathan Cape. 190 PPAdults who no longer enjoy a fairy story are greatly to be pitied, their lives must be matter-of-fact affairs with very little of the lightness that remains for those who occasionally indulge in the more magical make-be-lieve. Joan Aiken, in a second collection of short stories, shows how easy it is to step over the border of the world we call real into a gay world of mystery, magic and mischief Her tales are beguiling in their humour and imagination and masterful ir their artistry. Simple line drawing:

by Pat Marriott, executed in a most haunting manner, add greatly to the charm of this book—a book for the more sophisticated addicts of “let’s pretend.” No Time for Sergeants. By Mae Hyman. Dent. 214 pp. This book achieved the notable record of remaining on the best, seller list of the “New York Times” Literary Supplement for more than a year. Some of the finer points rtiay be missed by readers unacquainted with American idiom. But generally the book has universal appeal. The story is about a backwoodsman, a fellow as ruggedly simple as the hillbilly types familiar in American cartoons. He is honest, most likeable, and possesses a mass of goodwill that is matched by his physical strength. Blithely, blandly and enthusiastically, he sails through an initiation period in the United States Air Force. He innocently causes all sorts of trouble for persons he tries to help and for whom he has affection. Persons who try to make him a butt are thwarted by a ponderous sense of right. In Will Stockdale Mac Hyman has created a grand character and, what was infinitely more difficult, has sustained his character without a false note through a lively story. Shut Out the Sun. By Lionel Alroy. Longmans, Green. 253 pp. This is Lionel Alroy’s first novel, and it shows a certain grip of narrative and some promise for the future. The story is set in contemporary Calcutta and round the interesting and somewhat worrying tale of the young Jewish hero and his Hungarian girl, is woven a fascinating picture of the life of that incredible city. Against a background of appalling squalor and sordidness—and occasional beauty—the two central figures lead a precarious life. Their insecurity results not so much from a lack of money as from their rootless social position. The novel reaches a tense climax when their position is taken complete advantage of by a group of political gangsters. Like so much of life, the story has an honest if unsatisfactory ending.