The | Library Page
QUIET STREET
new way, in their own way. Then
having tried and failed and though
it over, they will reaize that no-
thing new can endure without old
formations . . .
profit from the war and the revo-
lution, The simple-minded Andrey
Kolchagin blunders through the
war, returns to Moscow, and en-
their part in the affairs of the [ideal but the German and English
Soviet regime. Astafiov, whose [universities are far ahead of the
{property has been confiscated by | American in the order named.
the new government, is hostile to-| The major flaws found in pre-
They will realize
too that they cannot do without
the culture of past ages... And
they will take up again the old
books and learn what been
learned before them and seek the
results of former experience.
(By Michael Ossorgin)
Reviewed by W. B. Dobson
Quiet Street is a novel of some
merit which treats of life in
Russia during the recent years of
war, revolution, and turmoil. The
author tells an interesting story |
about people of the middle and |
lower strata of society, and reveals | (
has
|
At the beginning of the story
1916) Tanyusha, the granddaugh=
the powerful influence of political | ter of the professor is sixteen and
disturbances in shaping their lives. |is fast maturing. “Rapid strokes
The story centers about the home | crossed out the writing on the deli-
of Ivan Alexandrovitch, an elderly | cate brain-childish thoughts and
ornithologist living in Moscow. The |simple beliefs; the untidy scrawl
professor, his granddaughter, and |of a child's diary disappeared bes
their acquaintances are the chief [neath the shorthand of new words
characters, though numerous other | and the gall of thoughts dropped
people struggling to ive amid the in to the honey of the heart.” She
chaotic economic and political con- | develops into a woman of fine
ditions of the time enter the story. character and intelligence; and
The interplay of their lives de- | though she suffers much as a res
velops the thesis that in the pass- | sult of the war and the hard timesy
ing of the centuries wars, civil |emains kind, friendly, patient in
strife, governments may come and her dealings with others, brave and
go, and being but human creations, resourceful in providing food and
amount to little; but they play a { clothing for herself and her grands
“tremendous and decisive part . { father, and cheerful in her attitud@
in the lives of all who plough and | toward life. The development of
write, sow and love, lived yester- her character in the story is ond
day and will live tomorrow”. An of the greatest charms of the books
examination of the principal char- |
acters of the book shows how this
theme is developed.
One of Tanyusha’s admirers, thd
| clever and ambitious Ehrberg, ent
ists i in the army and calculates td
win fame. But in the face of wag
human ingenuity matters littlej
Ehrberg's calculations hin}
his life. Stolnikov, the handsomd
“quiet street” in Muscow. He finds {officer whose dancing
happiness in living a simple life of wins Tanyusha’s admiration, pays
devotion to his family and his sci- [a still greater price for his adven$
ence. There is poetry in his birds; |ture In the war. Death-at firs§
there is joy in the realization that |not of the body - but of the
he has been successful in life. But|— is the cost to him.
in the course of years much comes ed by a bursting
to disturb his happiness, his wife lives, to be pronounced a
dies; the World War comes on; the |acle”.
October Revolution interferes with [a mere trunk bereft of
his teaching; the subsequent econ-
omic disorder reduces his financial
security; the new social and politi-
cal regime upsets the nation's |
scale of values, considerably less-
ening the prestige once given his
science. While out of sympathy
with the new order of things, he |
patiently attempts to adjust him- | the author, who regards political
self to existing conditions, but is | strife as being human folly, tha
forced to make many sacrifices. | the rewards meted to characters
Finally he dies, prophesying with {by the war and revolution are tres
his last words the future of Russia.
The professor is a peace-loving |
gentleman who with his wife and
granddaughter has long been a
resident in Sivtzen Vrazhek, a
Cost
graceful
Spirig
Wound#
shell, he
mir
Fa
iracle
arms and
He is indeed a m
legs, chagrined by his helpnesss
{ness, embittered toward li
tined to bemoan his fate
ing able to endure his tind
existence
headlong from an upperstory w
dow to his death.
fe, des
unt tl , be 1
no longer, he plunges
they
Stolnikov
mendously unjust. Thus while
capable Ehrberg
meet disaster, others less worthy
“People will come, new, people, | ¢ and
who will try to do everything in a
| jocular expression of his proposal:
\-fcrowded, disease-infested railway
It is in keeping with the viewds
gages blindly in the revolution.
In the disorder following the over-
throw of the czar he creates for
himself the position of comman-
dant in one of the soviet organiza- | Vassya introduced him, is a pro-|
tions, and prospers even through | ficient pianist; Together they per- |
the period of economic distress. [form before the Bolsheviks and |
Borya, the uncle of Tanyusha, like- | receive provisions in payment.
wise profiteers. Unsuccessful as |
an engineer, he manufactures |tafiey induces a neighbor, Caval-
munitions during the war, and|ghin, to take a position with
part in entertaining them at the
workmen's clubs. He can act fair-
the new government. | chicken-hearted, Zavalishin acks
will power to secure the place un- |
Upon Edward Tvovitch, Tany-
? ° |til Astafiev brings him under the |
usha’s music teacher and life-long
friend, the Russian revoution
weighs heavily. Though a very
queer individual, he is an excellent
musician with many fine composi- |
tions to his credit. His life cen-
ters in his music, and when the
Bolsheviks confiscate his piano and |
thus put an end to the practice of |
his art, his life is turned topsy- |
turvy. Tanyusha and others man. | €xecut tes human beings with no
age to have his piano returned. | difficulty,
Then he composes what he con- Astafiev is found to be an enemy
siders his masterpiece. It proves lof his government and is ordered
to be a jumble of harsh sounds— [to be executed. Confronted by the
the creation of a disordered brain. fone who has driven him to his
position, Zavalishin is powerless to
carry out his orders until once
more Astafiev with jibes restores
the coward’s courage, and the task
is porformed.
executioner for the government,
to those in power. At the home
while he is sober, Zavalishin lacks
{the nerve to stab a pig for his|
I mistress, but at work stupefied by |
liquor he stands a
“Civil strife has less” perceptible
effect upon the character of the
eager student Vassyo Boltanorsky.
To ‘Tanyusha he maintains that
the world has gone a little off its Ea fi
. stafiev’s supreme sacrifices
head, but that far from being a| A Sulreme Loe
: ea i {will mean little to future genera-
misfortune, it is highly inter-| Phd :
; .» (tions. They will forget him and
esting. He has a real zest for life SRG
i the folly for which he and thous-
and is one of the best-known char- J he:
; ands have died. Subsequent ages
acters in the book. He comes to |". : Th
will have their own miseries to en-
love Tanyusha, but she can never
regard him as being seriously in
love with her. This fact is not
surprising when we consider the
and to destroy those institutions |
which can be erected only at the |
cost of suffering and bloodshed.
“Tanyusa, I love you, like a hog.”
(She remains his friend and the
two aid each other in securing
provisions during the hard times.
Once Vassya makes a long trip in-
to the country to barter for feed,
and upon returning in a dirty,
UNIVERSITIES — AMERICAN,
ENGLISH, GERMAN
3y Dr. Abraham Flexner
(Reviewed by E. P. Fortson, '32)
[versity is vastly larger than that
of the “medieval institute expound-
ing Aristotle, the Fathers, and the |
classic philosophers!” It is this
growth of the university, in which
the trivial and insignificant have
not been distinguished from the
serious and significant, that is the
basis of Doctor Flexner's search-
coach, he falls ill with a fever.
During his illness Tanyusha visits
him often. She meets and falls in
love with his physician and later
accepts the physician's proposal of
marriage. Vassya remains a friend.
Of the numerous other chara-
cters of the book, Astafiev and |ing criticisms in his “Universities”,
ly well, and Tanyusha, to whom |
With his art of persuasion As-|
afterwards too is given a place in the Soviet government. naturally
power of drink. Then he becomes |
which is now slaughtering every- |
one suspected of being an enemy |
at ‘his post and |
dure for men will continue to build |
N «|
The realm of the modern uni- |
ward the Bolsheviks, yet he takes | sent day American education are
| the secondary school system, the
Imanner of selling a degree for so
(many counts and credits, the pre-
'ponderance of rubbish that is
| counted toward a degree, the ever
{increasing number of professions
lin which the degree is conferred,
and the university extension ser-
|vice. There is obviously some-
thing wrong when the great
Columbia and Chicago offer such
‘courses as “principles of home
|[aendering’, “Juvenile story writ-
ing” , elementary stenography”,
and gymnastics and dancing for
(men, including clog dancing” to
win their degrees.
In the Doctor's estimation, such
schools and departments as jour-
nalism, business, library science,
and hotel management have no
place in the university. In the
discussion of this subject a perti-
nent question is asked. “Does any-
one really suppose that Yale and
Princeton, having no schools of
business, will for that reason in
the future be less conspicuous in
business and banking than Hay-
vard and Columbia which have?”
Although there is much fault
found, the Doctor finds much to
commend in the American univer-
sity. In closing this part of his
discussion, he states that “it is un-
fortunate that the American uni-
versity, so open to innovation, is
the victim of the quack, the tech-
nician, and the clever salesman.”
The University of London is the
{only institution the Engish have
supporting schools of household
[science, etc, but it in no way ap-
| proaches Columbia and Chicago in
| €XCesses.
| The two center of learning in
| England are Oxford and Cam-
|bridge, and even in the critical eye
(of Doctor Flexner, they are above
reproach. He finds fault from the
administrative standpoint, but
[none whatever from the scholastic.
“Oxford and Cambridge train the
men that rule the Empire and the
results show the job is done well.
The discussion of German uni-
versities is confused and one fol-
lows it with difficulty. Neverthe-
less, one is deeply impressed with
the thoroughness, the exactness,
and the depth of German educa-
Zavalishin deserve mention for In his estimation none approach the
tion.