Post-War German Scene By Noted Author, Hans Fallada

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 35, 10 February 1939, Page 12

Post-War German Scene By Noted Author, Hans Fallada

When Poverty Stalked The Whole Land And France Occupied The Ruhr Three notable books are reviewed on this page to-day: Hans Fallada’s "Wolf Among Wolves," a vivid and provocative picture of immediate post-war Germany; "The Story of a Lake," a "modern" tale with which Negley Farson follows his big success, "The Way of a Transgressor"; and "Entanglement," a cleyer study in which George Buchanan thoughtfully analyses, through his mixed characters, the effect of to-doy’s unrest upon "ordinary people."

gq ANS FALLADA’S notable new work deals with that chaotie period in Germany a few years after the War, when the mark was worthless; poverty and unrest stalked the land, plotters were planning the first putsch, and when "the French still oceupied the Ruhr with their black troops and not a man was working there, not a single factory stack was smoking."? Yet the depressing scene that enfolds ‘‘Wolf Among Wolves’’ might well, I imagine, reflect the ‘‘inside Germany’’ of today. . Outstanding Be that as it may, ‘"Wolf Among Wolves’? emerges as one of the outstanding contemporary novels. It was first published in Germany in September, 1937, but did noi appear in English until October of last year, when it created an immediate sensation and added immeasurably to the completely established reputation of the brilliant author of ‘"‘Litile Man, What Now?’’, ‘‘Once We Had a Child,"’ ete. There are few authors who have the same power as Fallada for creating atmosphere so realistic as to be almost uncanny, and for making his characters actually live upon the ‘printed pages. He spares nothing, yet at no stage in his lengthy and involved aarrative

does he mar his continuity or show the slightest evidence of striving for effect. For his characters are real, living people who need no false bolstering from him. The Characters In "Wolf Among Wolves," the principal characters are Wolfgang Pagel, former lieutenant of the German army, and Petra, his unlucky mistress, whom he has taken from the streets. Caught up they are in the misery, the intrigue, the tragedy of post-war Germany. They are, however, but- two people in a gripping narrative crowded with clear-cut figures representing an oil-and-water age, with the spirit of old militant, class-conscious Germany conflicting harshly with the new German unrest; in a picture of "a time that is both recent and yet entirely eclipsed," In a brief preface ("which can be glanced through in a moment in any bookseller’s") the author warns his public that " ‘Wolf Among Wolves’ deais with sinful, weak, sensual, erring, unstable men, the children of an age disjointed, mad and sick. But it presents also some upright and courageous people. All in all, it is a book for those who are, in every sense, adult." And, all in all, it is a great book by one of the great writers of our time. Story Of A Leake BADERS of Negley Farson’s first highly-successful novel, "The Way of a Transgressor" were no doubt eagerly anticipating his next. It has arrived-"The Story of a Lake."

I gather that to some extent this story of an American newspaper correspondent in Hurope (headquarters London) is biographical. It is in three distinct scenes which are well enough knit together to make an intriguing whole. The title comes from the fact that the focal point of the narrative is a. lake in British Columbia, to which haven of retired colonels, fortunehunters, and forgotten and forgetting men, hero Tony Lynd retires after a life of adventure, acute alcoholism and amatory upheaval, and complete disillusionment. In the story of his attempts to divide his love between his wife and two other women, one a pas: sionate White Russian, the other a hard-headed Australian, he intermingles some caustic comments upon the inner workings of international politics, and he paints a particularly enlightening and depressing picture of New-Deal America, to which he returns aiter a blustering "newspaper boss" has made his London job untenable. A curious mixture, "Story of a take" is well written, and while they may not like some of his characters-the hero in particular on occasions-Negley Farson’s admirers will welcome his latest. We teave Tony Lynd contemplating a new and less hectic existence on the shores of the iake; which suggests a sequel. T is, paradoxically, our misfortune that in these days of general literary competence, a firstclass novel is apt to be lost in the welter of readable stuff that pours from the publishers, One of this type is "Entanglement," by George Buchanan, a _ novelist whose clear vision is allied with a meticulous handling of prose. Through the lives ot forty odd characters drawn from varying social strata, Mr. Buchanan presents a picture of Hngland in the very present tense, an Mngland of social insecurity and under threat of war, an England whose men and women are driven by 2 dreadfal sense of urgency to live and achieve something before the deluge. We see this terrible threat translated in the gropings and questionings of Kevin, the ievel-headed leading character; in the puzzijed urge te action of Tom, the labourer, who goes to Spain to fight in the International column; in the pathetic endeavours of May, the comfortable country _ girl, turned London shopgirl, to make Kevin realise her love for him; in the vague mysticism and deliberate blind-fold attitude of Charles, the aeroplane manufacturer; in the useless escapes into romantic flights of Mark, the national air-man-hero, whose only desire is to get away from routine as often as possible, The only untouched people are the parasites, Lady Zia, for whom snobbery is a career; and her daughter Vela, pretty and shallow, living solely for the gaieties of a debutante season

In the background, and affecting all these lives, move the events of 1937-38, the Coronation, Armistice Day, the rape of Austria, and the daily bulletins of strife and tragedy and insecurity throughout the world. "Entanglement" is one of those diverse, intricate .novels that attain coherence only through the masterly handling of the author,

It presents-without heroics-2 cross-section of human life, of ordinary people baffled, defeated, cocksure, quixotic, selfish; thoughtful, loving, ordinary people finding an uncertain way through an extra-

ordinary age-

A.R.

M.

"Wolf Among Wolves." Hans Fallada. Putnam, London; "The Story of a Lake.’"’? Negley Farson. Gollancz, London; | "Entangle--ment." George Buchanan. Constable, London. Our copies from the publishers.