New Books

The following estimates of books much in the public eye were made after careful consideration of the trend of critical opinion:

THE GRAND TOUR--Romer Wilson --Knopf ($2.50). When a sculptor genius plays with the inkpot, unusual things are apt to happen; the grand tour of Alphonse Marichaud in the foreign field of the written word is extraordinary. Letters to a friend --to a mistress--sharp, vivid, merry, little incidents--characterizations of people, of places as clean and telling as if they were cut on a copper plate--a startling potpourri of wit, vigor, irony, tragedy, acute observation -- self-portrait of Marichaud himself that ranks among the few convincing descriptions of genius in recent fiction--all these jostle each other with all the inconsecutiveness of life itself in the pages of The Grand Tour. Beluga caviar for the appreciative, a discriminating and active talent experimenting successfully in an unusual medium, not to be recommended to those whose trust is in Zane Grey.

BLUE WATER -- Arthur Sturges Hildebrand--Harcourt ($3.00). The record of a 5,000-mile cruise from Gourock on the Clyde to the isles of Greece in a 19-ton yacht, the Caltha, under sail. The record of the sort of thing that all suppressed adventurers dream about whenever they pass the window of Thomas Cook & Son, and only the lucky and courageous few dare translate into reality. Blue water, grey water, storms and calms, the Balearic Isles, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Cartagena, Alicante, Civita Vecchia, Athens, Constantinople and its bubble-domed mosques, the men that go down to the sea in sailing ships, the adventures and wonders of the deep. A high-hearted, humorous sea-tale, simple and ably told, with the salt of reality to flavor it.

DEIRDRE--James Stephens--Macmillan ($2.50). The story of Deirdre, Ireland's Helen of Troy--the pursuit of her by King Conachur of Ulster-- her flight with Naoise, son of Usna--her life in exile with Naoise and his brothers--her ruinous beauty--the tragic end of it all and the tremendous last fight where the sons of Usna, caught in Conachur's treacherous net, were conquered at last by magic, after slaying their hundreds. And Deirdre died on her young husband's body, singing their keen. A beautiful retelling of one of the finest folk-tales in the world.