Letters to a Doubter, by Paul Claudel. New York: Charles and Albert Boni, 1927. $2.50.

THE Rivière-Claudel correspondence, already almost a French classic, gives us more than the arguments and advice of a thorough believer to an agnostic who feels an inner urge toward Catholicism but cannot bring himself to accept its doctrines. In it we get a picture of Paul Claudel as poet and thinker, we see the solid religious foundation upon which his character is based, and we can regard him with none but the highest esteem.

An interesting contrast is afforded in the character of Jacques Rivière, the sincere but vacillating doubter. Many of his letters to Claudel are filled with tiring rhetoric, which, strange to say, disappears after he has undergone his religious conversion. Toward its conclusion this correspondence deals more and more with such literary topics as the philosophy of art and life to be found in M. Claudel's poems and plays. But in order to understand the learned critical comments made by Rivière it is necessary to have read not only Claudel in particular but also contemporary French literature in general. The primary interest of the book lies in our being privileged to see the soul of the great man France has sent us as her ambassador.

not without bias a fact which is really in its favor, since no effort has been made to conceal its Gallic leanings. M. Bonnard loves his country so deeply that the French Academy deemed his book worthy of its Grand Literary Prize, though it is very doubtful whether the members of the Academy were less men of letters than men of France. In China presents that rare combination of beautiful prose with keen observation and sense for the scientific value of facts. The translation preserves all the grace and charm of the original, although the retention of French spelling for Chinese names is sometimes confusing.

The author sees the China that is decaying, a great civilization in a period of senility. It is this point of view, perhaps, which prevents him from fully appreciating the new spirit that is showing itself in the student class. This is more than an informatory travel book, for the author takes us beyond the surface and appearances of what he sees, whether it be a dead butterfly or a corpse floating on the Yangtze River.

The Last Salon: Anatole France and His Muse, by Jeanne Maurice Pouquet. Translated by Lewis Galantière. Introduction by Montgomery Belgion. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. $3.50.

A MOST delightful story, as well as a social and biographical document of real importance, is presented to the English-speaking public in Lewis Galantière's translation of Le Salon de Madame de Caillavet. The book gives an illuminating picture of the middle years of Anatole France, so largely moulded and influenced by this charming and intelligent friend. Her letters to her son Gaston (later a playwright of some note) have all the felicity of phrase and esprit for which the French are noteworthy, and one only regrets that in any translation some flavor is inevitably lost. The book was compiled after Madame de Caillavet's

death, by her daughter-in-law, with whom she was on terms of affectionate intimacy, and this fact gives to the pages a note of authenticity and truth invaluable in a work of this kind. A number of literary luminaries of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century flash in and out of the letters which compose a large part of the volume, adding the sparkle of their wit and wisdom to pages of real biographical importance. The glimpses of Marcel Proust, Dumas the Younger, Lemaître, Pierre Loti, the Comtesse de Noailles, and other frequenters of this 'Last Salon' are only less revealing than the more intimate pictures of Anatole France, for whose best work his clever lady friend was so largely responsible. The rupture that finally divided them, the drifting apart of two intelligences which had been bound so closely together for over twenty years, is the one note of bitterness and tragedy in a book that is otherwise pure delight from beginning to end.

The Marionette, by Edwin Muir. New

York: The Viking Press, 1927. $1.75. THIS tale of an idiot has not been written for those whose literary tastes are feebleminded. Although its actual setting is the region surrounding Salzburg, the broader background of the story is that wide world of illusion which borders so closely upon the world of actuality. The action is almost entirely cerebral, consisting in the changes which occur in the minds of the young idiot growing into manhood, in his father, and perhaps even in the marionettes themselves. Only Emma, his nursemaid, remains stationary. But since such a close bond of sympathy has been drawn between the reader and the feeble-minded boy, and since we see everything from his perspective, we feel by the end of this brief tale that we ourselves have changed along with the characters in the story.

Mr. Muir's limpid and faultless style is unmarred by tricks. His only tour de force is intellectual, and embraces the entire

story. Some people may read an allegory into the tale; others may see in the idiot many traits which mankind as a whole possesses but which may be perceived only from the new angle presented here. Be this as it may, the story is altogether worthy of an author whose reputation as critic and poet is already established.

The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars, by Maurice Dekobra. New York: Payson and Clarke, 1927. $2.00.

Ir is not hard to understand why this exciting novel has enjoyed a sale of more than five hundred thousand copies in France and why it has already been translated into thirteen other languages. With the sophistication of a Paul Morand and the narrative skill of an Oppenheim, M. Dekobra relates the adventures of Prince Séliman in his endeavors to establish the beautiful Lady Diana Wyndham's title to valuable oil lands in Soviet Russia. In Berlin we are introduced to a Bolshevist diplomat, whom Lady Diana vamps away from his dominating mistress, while the Prince sets out for Russia, breaking the journey with a pleasant liaison that lasts from Vienna to Constantinople. His blonde girl friend does not, however, succeed in keeping him out of Russia, though he is not long in wishing that she had. The descriptions of the Soviet prison and the activities of the Cheka are not calculated to arouse much sympathy for the present régime, and when the Prince finally escapes we are left thanking our stars that, however miserable we may be, they order almost everything even worse in Russia.

The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars is one of those truly engrossing books that lift you completely out of yourself. It may not be the highest form of literature, and it has incurred, we understand, the displeasure of the Watch-and-Warders. But M. Dekobra's touch is consistently light, and even the most squeamish sensibility will soon be hypnotized into greeting the purple patches with the warmest approval.

BELGIUM

Procession of the Wafers of St. Gudule, Brussels, July 17.

Independence Day, national holiday, July 21. International Regatta at Langerbrugge, Ghent, July 24.

Carillon concerts at Malines and Antwerp, throughout July. CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Commercial Fair opens at Brno, July 31. DANZIG

International Esperanto Congress opens, July 27.

International Congress of the Blind opens, July 29. DENMARK

Cattle Show and Agricultural Exhibition at Ringsted.

ENGLAND

Floral Fête, Birmingham, July 22. Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, Swansea, July 29.

Worcester Regatta, Droitwich, July 30. FRANCE

International Regatta, Bandol, July 13 to 21. Battles of the Flowers, Luxeuil-les-Bains, July 14, 23, and 31.

Local fête, Bandol, July 16 to 19.

Pilgrimage of Notre Dame du Closis, Vallée de Queyras, July 16.

First Battle of the Flowers, Châtelguyon, July 17.

International Athletic Convention, Tourcoing, July 17.

Horse Racing, Prix du Prince de Galles, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, July 19.

Kermesse for War Veterans, Châtelguyon, July 24.

Grand Steeplechase, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, July 24.

St. Anne's Festivities, Auray, July 26.
Children's Fête, Châtelguyon, July 28.

Fête of the Dogberry Queens, Quimper, July 31.

Country fête, Châtelguyon, July 31. GERMANY

German Light Athletic Championship in the Stadion, Berlin, July 16 and 17.

Tenth Congress of German Students, Wurzburg, July 16 to 20.

International Automobile Races for the Grand Prix of Germany, Nuremberg, July 17. Historical Festival Play, Dinkelsbuhl, July 17 and 18.

Wagnerian Festival begins at Bayreuth, July 19.

German Fencing Championship, Leipzig, July 21 and 22.

International Regatta opens at Bad Ems, July 23.

German Academic Olympia, Königsberg, July 23 and 24.

Heidelberg Festival Plays, Heidelberg, from July 23 to August 14.

Meeting of the International Committee of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches, Constance. July 24 to 26.

St. James Festival and bonfires in Swabia, July 25.

Mozart and Wagnerian Festivals open at Munich, July 26, to continue for one month. Congress of the Association of German Architects.

Salzburg Festival Plays and 'Faust' Exhibition, Salzburg, July 30 to August 28. HOLLAND

Trade Exhibition opens at Hertogenbosch, July 17. ITALY

Festival of Madonna del Carmine in Southern Italy, July 16.

St. Ignatius Loyola Festival at the Gesu, Rome, July 31. NORWAY

St. Olaf's Day, July 29.

POLAND

St. Anne's Fair with Podolian Costumes, Tarnopol, July 26.

SCOTLAND

Summer Race Meet opens at Lanark, July 20. SWEDEN

St. Olaf's Day, July 29. SWITZERLAND

Costume Vineyard Festival Parade at Neuchatel, July 23.

St. James festivals and bonfires, July 25. Swiss Costume Festival at Lausanne, July 31. World Conference on Faith and Order begins at Lausanne, July 31.

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