Chronicle

THERESA--Arthur Schnitzler--Simon, Schuster ($2.50).

"Theresa was just sixteen years old, that spring. . . ." Theresa was soon seduced ; then she left the country and went to be a governess in Vienna. Before long she had a bastard by a rascal called Kasimir Tobisch; when the child was born she wished to kill him in her agony and sorrow. Instead, she sent him to live with some country people and went on being a governess. Lovers came to her again and she accepted them: Albert, who had loved her long ago; Richard, who thought that she was "too good for him," slept with her friend and committed suicide. Her son grew up to be a sneak-thief; to have him with her she rented furnished rooms and started to give lessons. For one of the girls who attended her classes, Theresa came to possess a deep and sacrificial love; it appeared that she was to marry the girl's father but when everything had been arranged he died and Theresa was left alone, unhappy, and growing old. Franz, her son, had by this time become a pimp and jailbird; he came home to his mother only when he wished to take money away from her. Finally, she refused to let him have any more. Then Franz, whom she had wished dead, strangled her. Albert came to see her in the hospital where she lay dying. Theresa said to him: "He has only repaid what I did to him. They must not punish him too severely."

That is the end of "the chronicle of a woman's life," the first full length novel which famed Austrian Arthur Schnitzler has written for 20 years. The book moves slowly with the pace of life in language that is bare and beautiful. Author Schnitzler does not blame Theresa for her tragedy, nor does he blame the circumstances which compel it. He merely understands that these things are a part of life, and writes about them seriously and gently.