8/20/2019 Books Abroad Volume 35 Issue 3 1961 [Doi 10.2307%2F40115986] Review by- Kenneth F. Lewalski -- Literature a…

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  oard of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

Literature as Prophecy: Scholarship and Martinist Poetics in Mickiewicz's Parisian Lectures byWiktor WeintraubReview by: Kenneth F. LewalskiBooks Abroad, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Summer, 1961), p. 288Published by: Board of Regents of the University of OklahomaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40115986 .

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8/20/2019 Books Abroad Volume 35 Issue 3 1961 [Doi 10.2307%2F40115986] Review by- Kenneth F. Lewalski -- Literature a…

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288

BOOKS

ABROAD

emeralds,

sapphires, jaspers,

calcedonies,

rubies,

carbuncle

garnets,

and

topazes (p.

72).

The translator

does not seem to be sure

of

them.

This

is

a beautiful

example

of

printing,

de-

signed

by

Jane

McCarthy.

The

ornaments

at

the

chapter

openings,

he

use of

red

and

black

inks,

the

balanceof each

page

on

cream

text

paper

are

noteworthy.

There

is a

limited

edi-

tion

of

650

copies.

It is

not

stated whether

there

is

also

a trade

edition.

Urban

T.

Holmes,

fr.

University

of

Norm

Carolina

*

Luitpold

Wallach.

Alcuin

and

Charle-

magne.

Ithaca,

N. Y.

Cornell

University

Press.

1959.

x

+

325

pages.

$6.50.

Knowing very ntimatelyheLatinvocabulary

and

style

of

Alcuin,

close

adviser to

Charle-

magne,

Professor

Wallach

is able

to

distin-

guish

effectively

he

part

that

Alcuin

played

in

the

important

mandates

and

letters

that

went out

from

the

court.

The

author

examines

also

Alcuin's

Rhetoric

as

a

treatise

on

good

government

or

Charlemagne,

and

he

dis-

cusses

the

source

and

character

f

the

treatise

on

Virtues

and

Vices.

Some

250

letters

of

Alcuin

are

extant;

t would

seem

that he

used

them

himself

as

models

for

later

writing.

Wal-

lach commentsalso upon the school of epi-

graphic

writing

at

Tours.

There

is so

much

minute

learning

packed

into

this

book

that

some

readers

might

be

repelled

at

first

glance,

but

this

is

not

right:

the

style

is

easy

and

clear

and

the

content

sharpens

our

understanding

of

the

Carolingian

Renaissance.

Urban

T.

Homes,

jr.

University

of

North

Carolina

*

Wiktor

Weintraub.

Literature

as

Proph-

ecy:

Scholarship

nd

Martinist

Poetics

in

Mickiewicz's

Parisian

Lectures.

The

Hague.

Mouton.1959.78

pages.

$2.

This

short

but

valuable

monograph

xamines

Mickiewicz's

largest

and

most

controversial

work,

namely

the

one

hundred

thirteen

lec-

tures

he delivered

between

1841

and

1844

as

professor

f

the

newly

created

chair

of

Slavic

literature

t

the

College

de

France.

Weintraub

begins

with

a

brief

account

of

Saint-Martin's

aesthetic

heory

and

proceeds

o

analyze

he

ex-

tent

to

which

prophetic

criteria

determined

Mickiewicz's

interpretation

of

Slavic

litera-

ture

and

history.

He

also

traces,

n

intelligible

and lucid fashion, the evolutionof Mickie-

wicz's

most

enigmatic

phase.

Kenneth

F.

Lewals\i

Massachusetts

nstitute

of

1

echnology

K

John

H.

Whitfield.

A

Short

History

of

Italian

Literature.

Baltimore.

Penguin.

1960.

303

pages.

$0.95.

Enthusiasts

of

Italian

letters

will

certainly

welcome

he

publication

f

A

Short

History

of

ItalianLiterature uthored

by

the notedBrit-

ish

scholar,

Professor

Whitfield.

As

the

book

has

a

modest

price,

lively

style,

accuracy

and

intelligence,

he work

should

enjoy

much

fa-

vor

among

students

and

the

general

public,

o

whom

this

reviewer

warmly

recommends

t.

Less

than

three

hundred

pages

may

seem

woefully

inadequate

to

cover

satisfactorily

such

a

rich

and

diversified

ield

as

that

of

Ital-

ian

literature.

It

is to

the

author's

redit

that

he succeeds

dmirably

well,

managing

o

stim-

ulate

and

challenge

even

the

teacher

well

ac-

quaintedwith the textsanalyzed.Asidefrom

the

few

omissions

(the

dialect

poets)

and

an

inadequate

emphasis

on

certain

important

critics

(as

De

Sanctis

and

Croce)

the

book's

most

grievous

flaw

is

its

fragmentary

reat-

ment

of

twentieth

century

Italian

poetry

and

fiction.

Despite

the

fact

that

Ungaretti,

Mon-

tale,

Quasimodo

nd

Moravia

to

mention

but

a

few

names

that

occur

mmediately

o

mind)

have

been

writing

for

several

decades,

Whit-

field

makes

no

attempt

either

o

describe

heir

work

or

comment

on

their

achievement.

It is sincerelyhoped

that

a

future

edition

of

the

History

will

contain

sucha

badly

needed

chapter

and

will

revise

and

bring

up

to

date

what

is otherwise

a

useful,

but

somewhat

pro-

vincial

bibliography.

Sergio

tacipci

Yale

University

«

Yael

Dayan.

Envy

the

Frightened.

New

York.

World.

1960.

187

pages.

$3.50.

The

title

is

based

on

the

Book

ot

FroverDs:

Happy

s

the

man

that

feareth

always.

The

author,

who

participated

n

the

Israeli

war

of

liberation,

eesthe

young

fighters weptaway

by

their

own

prowess

and

bravery.

The

story

begins

with

a

scene

of

small

Israeli

boys

play-

ing

a

game

of

courage

and

tenacity.

The

name

of

the

game

is

Who

is

strong?

and

the

fear-

less

participants

re

he

admired

winners.

Thus

the

children

neglect

their

truly

childish

games

and

they grow

up

in

a

Spartan

ife

of

compet-

itive

strength.

That,

however,

s not

the

ideal

of

Yael

Dayan.

She

would

rather

ee

the

chil-

dren

grow

up

with

a

little

fear,

a

little

softness.

Men

should

strive

for

some

tenderness

ather

than aggressiveness.The twenty year old

writer

grew

up

on

an

Israeli

farm,

studied

at

the

Hebrew

University

and

joined

the Israeli

army.

Her

grandfather

s

one

of

the

first

pio-

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