“The idea of receiving wages for work done seems to give him positive pain, but his attempt to formulate a practical alternative is a sad failure, though it is veiled in obscure terms.”
− Spec 124:281 F 28 ’20 200w
“Admirably argumentative book.” W: L. Chenery
+ Survey 45:288 N 20 ’20 180w The Times [London] Lit Sup p111 F 12 ’20 40w
“It is long, controversial, ill-knit; lacking in clarity of thought and expression, and in consecutive argument. It gives the impression of being made up largely of fragments written at different times and strung together, not worked out in logical sequence. The writer seems to be striving all the time to get his own thoughts clear as he goes along, and to find the right words for them.”
− The Times [London] Lit Sup p132 F 26 ’20 1050w
HOCKING, JOSEPH. Passion for life. il *$1.90 (1c) Revell
Francis Erskine was given a year to live by his doctor and chooses the Cornwall coast to pass this year in quiet rural seclusion and in finding out, if possible, if there is any hope for a life beyond. He is an unbeliever and has no faith whatever in immortality. His secluded hut on the cliffs turns out to be almost directly over a cave used by the Germans for their secret operations and he soon begins to sense the presence of German spies. He spends his time between cultivating the village folk and clergy, in his quest for a life after death, and in trying to discover what the Germans are doing at the cave. To this last he consecrates himself in patriotic fervor, and succeeds, but apparently dies in a struggle with a spy. During his death trance he has a vision of the two worlds and becomes conscious of the presence of God. He awakes to find that an operation has been performed on him and that a new life and even love is waiting for him.
“There is material for a really worth while book in this novel of Mr Hocking’s and the tale begins well. If the author had only been able to restrain his fondness for sugar and sentimentality he might have been able to maintain the whole at the level of the beginning.”