Yea, and our ears found sorrow in the cries
Of moor-fowls,—and the darkness wheeled above.
WINFIELD SHIRAS.
Book Reviews
Abbé Pierre. By Jay William Hudson. (D. Appleton & Co.)
“Abbé Pierre”, by Jay William Hudson, is altogether a delightful and charming book. It may not be called very subtle, nor humorous, nor dramatic, nor sordid—qualities which most modern novels seem to imbibe; but that it is delightful and charming no one may deny.
In one respect the book is a picture of a Gascon village—its customs and its traditions, its thoughts and its dreams. These walks with Abbé Pierre along the dusty roads of Gascony, these glimpses of its hills and valleys, these insights into its daily life are most interesting and picturesque. Furthermore, such a background is ideal for the unfolding of the romance of Germaine Sance and the young American, David Ware.
In another respect the book is a picture of life viewed broadly and sympathetically. Abbé Pierre left his little Gascon village when he was quite young; he has given the best of his years and strength to the world; and now he returns to spend his last days in this place that he loves above all else. Here he sits in his garden house and writes down some thoughts and ideas about life born of many years of living. And these thoughts of his give the book, along with its beauty of description, its beauty of spirit.
I wish that all of us who aimlessly rush about this world with no time to read anything but an “exciting” novel would pause and read this book. I suppose my wish is ludicrous, for does not Abbé Pierre himself say that “Americans always seem to think that unless one is bustling about all the time one is doing nothing”? And then he immediately adds: “Some of the best deeds that I have ever done have been the thoughts I have lived through in this same old garden by the white road, where wooden shoes go up and down”. He who can appreciate such a philosophy will read “Abbé Pierre” with much interest and delight.