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1 [ BOOKSfl (MAKE 1 1 A ( HOME u 'lAJriterd nd l^eadt erA EDITED BY LEO J. ZUBER 2332 North Decatur Rd. Decatur, Georgia A. M. D. G. For the greater glory of God and for the spiritual benefit of authors, publishers, review ers and readers. MARGARET ROPER Illustration from the book— MARGARET ROPER, by E. E. Reynolds, Kenedy, 1960, 149 pp., $3.95. Reviewed by Elizabeth Hester Sir Thomas More had sev eral children, the oldest of whom was Margaret. She was married before she was twen ty to William Roper, a lawyer. As was not unusual in More’s t time, place, and social level, daughter and son-in-law made their permanent home with the father, Sir Thomas. What was unusual about More’s re lationship to his daughter was the education he saw fit to give her. He believed in scho larship for women at a time when all women were general ly thought to be simple-mind ed; in the event that one ob viously wasn’t, the tendency was to discourage any move to develop the wits a clearly disguided God had made the awkward mistake of giving her. More, convinced that God had meant his bright Margaret to use her gifts, made of his daughter a scholar who be came his nearest and dearest, not merely through ties of blood, but through intellectual companionship. Unfortunately for lively reading, the extant records of Margaret’s history are meager. And, as author Reynolds is scrupulously exact and not given to salting the facts with his own imagination, this bi ography is something less than marvelously suspenseful. It is, however, an eminently respec table addition to that body of scholarly work devoted to the person of St. Thomas More. ABRAHAM. LINCOLN, by Carl Sandburg, Dell Publish ing Co., 1960, 3 vols., $2.95. Reviewed by Msgr. George J. Flanigen Here is a real pocket book bargain. Carl Sandburg has re duced his monumental six- volume work on Lincoln to this 430,000-word biography in three small books. Vol. I, The Prairie Years, traces the antecedents and early life of the future presi dent, follows him in his terms in the Illinois legislature and Congress and brings the story up to Lincoln’s election as president. Vols. II and III, The War Years, trace the evolution of Lincoln’s war policies, the Emancipation Proclamation, the bitter election of 1864, Lin coln’s reconstruction policies and finally the terrible assas sination. Necessarily many details of Lincoln’s life have been omit ted from this new edition, but MORSE & McELVEEN PHARMACY PRESCRIPTION EXPERTS 810 N. Highland Ave., N. E. TR. 6-8836 Atlanta, Ga. Best Wish eA PREMIUM DISTRIBUTING CO. PHONE LI. 6-0066 235 SO. THOMAS ST. ATHENS, GA. The National Bank Of Athens AN ATHENS INSTITUTION SINCE FEB. 20TH, 1866 ATHENS, GEORGIA Thornton Brothers Paper Company WHOLESALE Paper Products :: Specialties PHONE LI. 3-5204 P. O. BOX 111 Corner Foundry and Broad Streets ATHENS, GEORGIA I was glad to see that Sand burg quoted in their entireity Lincoln’s letter opposing the Know-Nothing movement and his statement on the rights of Catholics. Photo by Mark Gerson, London HELEN FOWLER Author of “The Refugee” (Macmillan) THE REFUGEE, by Helen Fowler, Macmillan, 1961, 249 pp., $4.50. Reviewed by Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew Miss Fowler tells a moving, even compelling, story. An al ready tormented refugee be comes unhinged at the loss of his wife, left behind in Bul garia, and murders the wife and children of the family who had given him employment and shelter. Through the in strumentality of the murdered woman’s priest brother, her husband is led to accept the tragedy in a humane and Christian spirit, which involves a drastic re-assessment of bas ic values on his part. Here is another case in point (if anyone needs one) to prove that an interesting story is a very different thing indeed from a good novel. The cha racters are absolutely lacking in depth and dimension. Their motivations remain a closed book, whose very existence Miss Fowler does not seem to suspect. The story founders amid the polysylabbic pontifi eating indulged in mainly by the priest and his mother who continuously declare, but nev er show, the slightest human feeling. There are several ex cellent set-pieces involving an Australian working class fam ily but these have little bear ing on the narrative. THE REFUGEE is a Catho lic Literary Foundation selec tion. One would like to know what criteria dictated the choice. On lack of profanity the book rates one hundred percent. It is filled with pat pseudo-pious formulae. The denoument is happy and satisfyingly moral. Of literary merit, however, there is little trace. It is a pity that once again “Catholic novel” should mean Catholic dramatic per sonae plus mediocre novel. THE FRANCISCANS, by Alevandre Masseron and Mari on A. Habig, O.F.M., 518 pp., illus., $5.95, and THE FRAN CISCAN BOOK OF SAINTS, by Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., 1,006 pp., illus., $12.50 (regular edition), $15.50 (deluxe edi tion), Franciscan Herald Press, 1959. Reviewed by Leo J. Zuber St. Francis of Assisi, the Poverello, was the founder of a vast and varied family which today responds to the name Franciscan. Considering the abject poverty which Francis preached by deed and by word, the first miracle is that his religious family survived at all. But increase and multiply it did and its members and works are universally known and , loved and respected. There is every reason to think that the founder had no in tention, certainly no ambition, of starting a religious body of the magnitude or importance of that which has evolved from his simple, threadbare begin nings. THE FRANCISCANS is a fairly complete, without being an encyclopedia, volume com prising three parts, a history of the Friars Minor, the life of the Friars Minor, and fin ally treatments on the Second and Third Orders. The hand ling in a single volume of so complex a subject is little less than a further, maybe minor, miracle. It is factual and in terpretive. The table of con tents is a joy. The two appen dices are well burdened and valuable; one is a bibliography of English Franciscana which, admittedly incomplete, runs to 25 pages. The author, regarded as the chief authority in this country in the field of Fran ciscan history, readily admits the complexity of his subject and works manfully, capably and successfully to make it in telligible. THE FRANCISCAN BOOK OF SAINTS presents a saint associated in some way with a Franciscan order for each cal endar day; the typical presen tation is a short biography of the saint followed by a medi tation or instruction related to that saint’s virtues concluding with an appropriate prayer. Thomas More, a layman, ap pears for the date July 31, Joan of Arc for June 3, and Pope St. Pius X for September 3; each was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. On August 28, the Servant of God Juniper Serra, neither blessed nor a saint as yet, is remem bered; few who know of his work in the West and South west doubt that future editions of this worthy work will rec ognize him as blessed and saint. Appendices list Franciscan saints and blessed, special Franciscan feastdays and a Franicscan composite calendar listing saints and blessed by date according to their Fran ciscan classification, Francis can, Conventual, Capuchin, or Third Order Regular. All in all, this is a right re markable volume and one for which the Poverello had an idea he was laying the ground work. One cannot seriously handle and use these two volumes without gaining a sincere re spect for Father Habig’s abili ty, skill, dedication and devo tion to Franciscan history and all that it entails. He clearly must be the envy of the sec ulars and of other orders. THE BULLETIN, April 15, 1961—PAGE 7 April 16-22 Catholic Groups Support Library Week Program Religious reading and parish libraries will be the theme of special activities planned by major Catholic groups, the clergy and laity in celebration BEST WISHES BEN T. HUIET Commissioner of Labor JACKSON READY-MIXED CONCRETE Phone LI. 6-1221 Tracy Street Athens, Ga. BRIDGES FUNERAL HOME, Inc. Only Ambulance Equipped with 2-Way Radio 256 WEST DOUGHERTY STREET ATHENS, GEORGIA FULCHE Electric Service 2161 WEST BROAD ATHENS, GEORGIA HORSEMEN BLUE AND GRAY, pictures by Hirst Dil lon Milhollen, text by James Ralph Johnson and Alfred H. Bill, Oxford University Press, 1960, 233 pp., maps, illus., $10. Reviewed by Msgr. George J. Flanigen This large, handsome book is a pictoral history of the cav alry in the Civil War. My first reaction, in thumbing through the volume, was: Where did they get all these wonderful pictures and how did they get them to come out so clearly? It is a real pleasure just to turn through the book and ex amine the rare photographs — some of them never before published — and read the cap tions. It is a graphic story of a by gone era. The Civil War was the last of the great conflicts in which the cavalry played a dramatic role. Both sides num bered among its horsemen some of the most daring and glamorous figures of the war. Here one finds Nathan Bed ford Forrest, John Hunt Mor gan, Jeb Stuart, John Mosby, George Custer, Phil Seridan and other immortals. This book tells of their exploits through a panorama of pic tures and narrative based on the words and deeds of the men themselves and on the photographs and sketches of the artists who were on the scene. The Confederacy with its “enterprising wild horsemen of the South” was the first to recognize the possibilities of the cavalry in scouting and raiding and in the beginning out-rode and out-fought thier Northern counterparts. But the Union forces soon caught up with “the Rebels” in their use of the horse. Everyone inter ested in the Civil War and horses will find this book a de light and a treasure. THE BALLAD OF PECK- HAM RYE. by Muriel Spark Lippincott, 1960, 160 pp., $3.75. Reviewed by Elizabeth Hester The meaning of this truth is no problem for this modest column to wrestle with, but it is a fact that a great deal of the most richly comic litera ture of our time is being writ ten by Catholic authors. It is equally true that the only se rious Catholic writers—which is' to say, those who can be taken seriously—are almost to a man spinners of comedy There are Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Flannery O’ Connor, J. F. Powers,' to name a few of the best. Admittedly there are also Mauriac and Julian Green, both of whom are everything but comic, but Mauriac seems spent and though Green’s work is im pressive, it is not widely known. But whatever the list signi fies, to the roster of first-rate Catholic comedy artists must now be added the name of Muriel Spark. THE BALLAD OF PECKHAM RYE is the third of her novels to be pub lished in this country, and it is funny enough to cause great rejoicing among all the suffer- of National Library Week, April 16-22, 1961. Keyed to the theme, “For a richer, fuller life — Read!,” the annual ob servance of the year round reading development program will seek to expand every phase of its activity, with em phasis on reading for youth and on school libraries. This provides cooperating religious groups with an op portunity to relate the aims of their own youth, family formation, church library and parochial school programs to the community - wide effort. Participating groups include: Catholic Library Association, National Catholic Welfare Conference, National Council of Catholic Men, National Council of Catholic Women and National Council of Cath olic Youth. Local units are being urged to cooperate with citizens’ committees in their own com munities and editorial features are planned for national pub lications. Bulletins and news letters are alerting leaders to availability of a special $1. Religious Kit which includes suggestions to stimulate inter est in religious reading and church library programs, a colorful poster, streamer, four- piece mobile and 50 book marks. National Library Week, now in its fourth year, is celebrated in well over 500 communities nationwide and is sponsored by the National Book Com mittee, an independent citi zens’ group, in cooperation with the American Library Association. NATION* L tifiRARY WcEK-APRJ $-72 Sisters Of Saint Joseph Hold Biennial Conference ing victims of Bennett Cerf. As for those who dote on Cerf, we dare not say she will charm them because Miss Spark is nothing if not subtle. Never theless, to the trained ear her jokes, whipped out lightly as ping pong balls and bounced with sharp fastidious scoring against the hard blank bastions of contemporary pagan vulgar ities, can be heard a mile away. Miss Spark has taken a look at 1960 England’s common man and decided the devil has more moral sense. To illustrate the point she has created a devil named Dougal Douglas and in troduced him into the industri al community of* Peckham Rye. He up-ends it in a matter of weeks, notably not by se duction of the innocent but simply by acting as a blithe catalyst to the corruption al ready at hand. Yet among the multiple cast of the seething little book, only Dougal and one pleasant fellow named Humphrey Place sense •• the moral rot. But Dougal, of course, is as happy as a mgg- got in carrion and poor Hum phrey is not by temperament a martyr. At the end of the book a triumphant Dougal marches away into the depths of an old tunnel — his natural element — and with good- natured resignation Humphrey marries a symbol of the de caying chaos. Her name is Dix ie Morse, and she is a sort of Woolworth Marilyn Monroe with overtones of Hetty Green. This is not all accomplished, though, before Miss Spark has taken some hilarious swats at Gerold Frank style biogra phies, juvenile delinquents, 20th century social climbing, industrial employment practic- tices, and a score of other sit ting ducks, all too fat to fly. The biennial National Edu cation Conference of the Sis ters of St. Joseph of Caronde- let was held at the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, on April 8-9. Designed to stimu late professional growth among the sisters, who staff 335 schools throughout the coun try, in Hawaii and Japan, with a combined enrollment of over 150,000 students, the meeting developed the theme “Our Commitment to the Mandate of the Church.” The conference opened with Mass celebrated by the Most Reverend William O. Brady, Archbishop of St. Paul. The Reverend William J. Dunne, S.J., associate secretary of the college and university depart ment of the National Catholic Education Association, gave the opening address. Sectional meetings on the elementary, secondary, college level, and on hospital admini stration were conducted by Sisters of St. Joseph from each of the five provinces of the Congregation: St. Louis, St. Paul, Troy, Augusta, and Los Angeles. Speakers on the first day discussed the community’s commitment to the mandate of the Church; on Sunday the emphasis was on each Sister’s personal commitment to this mandate. Sister Mary William, presi dent of the College of St. Ca therine, is president of the Conference. Other officers in clude Sister Alfred (St. Louis), first vice - president; Sister William Pauline (Albany), sec ond vice-president; Sister Ger maine (Los Angeles), third vice - president; Sister Grace Marie (Georgia, secretary- treasurer. Attending the con ference was Reverend Mother Eucharista, Superior General. Sister Helen Margaret, reg istrar of the College of St. Ca therine, headed the planning committee for this year’s meet ing. Delegates from the Augusta Province included Mother M. Eulalia, Provincial Superior; Sister Mary Louise, admini strator of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Augusta, Georgia, and Sister Grace Marie, Superior of the Sacred Heart Convent, Atlan ta, Georgia. ART UNDER GLASS LUNSFORD’S WEST END PHARMACY SUNDRIES — DRUGS — PRESCRIPTIONS PL. 3-3161 805 Gordon St., S. W. Atlanta, Ga. HILLIARD HEATING & PLUMBING GO. 287 NORTH AVENUE, N. E. TR. 2-9464 ATLANTA, GEORGIA Foujita, one of the seven painters who worked on this elab orate volume of the “Apocalypse,” gazes at the book on ex hibit in a Paris museum. Valued at $250,000, it is the only copy of its kind in existence. Seven writers and seven en gravers worked with the artists to produce the volume. The plastic shell covering the book was designed by Salvador Dali, one of the artists. (NC Photos) BRADLEY PROVISION CO 247 E. Broad St-. Athens, Ga. Phone 1446-1447 Giilooly Corp. Mechanical Contracting, Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning TR. 3-3291 125 MERRITTS AVE., N. E. ATLANTA, GA. FARMERS HARDWARE OF ITIBK, INC. BROAD AT OCONEE ST. Telephone LI. 3-3681 P. O. Box 472 ATHENS, GEORGIA