duce the anticipated clash of phil–
osophies and values. It is more like
Clne mist absorbing another.
In fairness to Wouk, it must be
admitted that
-l
novel in favor of
any set of principles, let alone Or–
thodox and -.:onservative ones, is
a hard thing to write. One must
be careful with the presentation of
contrary evidence: too little, and
the argument is loaded; too much,
and it tends to steal the show. In
general, the trouble is tha t virtue
is never as interesting as vi::e. But
even
if
the odds are 50 to 1, as
they are
in
the present novel,
where 417 pages are put against
8, a case can be made, and a fic–
tional tension generated to support
it, out of the author's conviction,
569
and his deepest need to make his
wish take on reality. But here is
where
Marjorie Morningstar
is
most fraudulent; for Wouk has
used his principles only for presti–
gious purposes, not even bothering
to state, define, or feel them
sharply; his object was to sound
like a serious writer and make re–
spectability respectable. Nor does
he write out of serious preoccupa–
tion with Jewish life, or its actual
social nature; or out of a genuine
religious abhorrence of what he
considers evil. He simply chooses
white, like a man who plays chess
against himself.
Assi~ng
the
worst possible moves to the other
side, he stakes fame and fortune
on a game he can't lose.
Isaac Rosenfeld
PERSPECTIVES USA
13
Circe
Charles lues
Poems and a Story
Football in America
George Santayana's World
Ernest Hemingway's Fiction
The Businessman as Philosopher
Contemporary American Drawings
EUDORA WELTY
H.
&
S. COWELL
ROBERT PENN WARREN
R. DENNEY
&
D. RIESMAN
IRVING SINGER
DELMORE SCHWARTZ
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH
UNA E. JOHNSON
Book Reviews
VIVIENNE KOCH· TELFORD TAYLOR· FREDERICK GUTHEIM
N otes on Recordings of Contemporary Music
•
ARTHUR BERGER
Letter from N ew York
•
F. W. DUPEE
49 I/IustTll/ions
$1.50 per issue
November 1955
$5.00 per year
Published quarterly by Intercultural Publications Inc., 60 East 42nd Str..t, New York 17, N. Y.
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