Fiction
Mk. EVELYN Wsumi has an agreeable way of making his r feel that he writes as easily as people are said to fall off I His manner is vigorous, and unblushingly free of affectation hesitation ; it is clear that he could fool along indefinitely any of his chosen sets of characters without the least need economy in farce or jibe, his harlequin humour being extr fertile and his own confidence in it complete. The danger these qualities is a lack of shape, an ultimate vague sense aimlessness and a good deal of jolt as we are bounced alo But if on the whole the entertainment is good enough s menaces will not worry us very much, and usually with this au it is good enough.
With Put Out More Flags, however, some readers may that Mr. Waugh has been unlucky in his timing. We are s so near the Great Bore War of '39-40, and now so much than ever worried by the consequences of all the error fooling that it represented, that inconsequential mockery of is not exactly what we want ; and in any case perhaps at pr we are a bit off group-presentations of the inept, the irnmo the egocentric—however lightheartedly set out. For our h are not light, and somehow they are not lightened by w reminder of recent inanities, either our own or our friends'. S for the tough, here again are Mr. Waugh's smart sillies, going the war as inconsequentially, selfishly, absurdly and, in a cases, as sentimentally as we might expect. Basil Seal is h propped up through his schemings by his mother, his sister his rich mistress, the bogus Mrs. Lyne, who talks, we assured but not convinced, "like an intelligent man," and a takes to drink in a big way, for no very potent reason. runs a small blackmail racket with three horrible evacuee child for pawns, and though this idea gives Mr. Waugh scope f amusing incidental stuff, it is not in itself very convincing, are the three children credibly written. There are some elabo bits of fun inside the Ministry of Information and the War Ohi and in the bedrooms, bars and studios frequented by the Evelyn Waugh sets, the smart and the intellectual. And th is a new character, a whining pansy called Ambrose Silk, has an absurd adventure. Basil himself, as a great and awkA concession, actually attempts a lighthearted change of heart the second last page. Except for this the book runs true eno to its author's form, and often raises a good laugh.
Miss Edna Ferber has an experienced and competent hand the type of technicolor yarn she gives us in Saratoga T We have it all here: the beautiful, dashing, illegitimate (taught of an old New Orleans family ; her bold bid for fortune position ; the man with whom she falls in love—a Texan white hat, cowboy boots and diamond studs, whose habit it to " shoot his way through Crowds instead of shouldering it. There is also the faithful Creole maid and the grotesque in servant. The shape of the book diverges slightly from the us pattern of its type. It opens with the aged but still superb con —Clio and Clint Maroon are their names—being interviewed a group of hardboiled newspaper men, on the grounds that are rich, benevolent, respected and rising ninety. Old Ma loses his ancient head and suddenly attempts to tell them truth about his rise in life. The rest is flash-back to Orleans in the 'eighties and 'nineties. It is very -flam and Old South, and has plenty of incident • but unhappily young reporters are not in the least interested, and some m readers may share their feeling. But those who like opulent s will find Saratoga Trunk effective of its kind.
Those who' pursue the Whiteoaks family from volume volume will find them true to character in .Wakefie Course; Nicholas still virile and leonine, Alayne still teal Finch still neurotic and so on. Wakefield has lost his chil charm, and found little to replace it, and Rennie's Adeline is reincarnation of the centenarian grandmother. There is PI of movement and easy dialogue in the book, but perhaps it a bit rash to transfer Rennie to Ireland. But here are h food and climates vigorously described, and a set of penPlc move about the world a great deal and make energetic
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