Tue Oovseny oF A Lowety Wowtan—By.
Al Translated by Haile Burns, Gollancz, London, 18/-.
The first two hundred pages or $6 of this book go with a very definite Swing and anything in the nature for an interruption while reading is a distinct fevitation, After that "the "first One eateless rapture" wears off alittle, and' though never' produces moments of actual Boredom it does om occasion produce moments of impatience. The Etika typewriter, for instance, treasured possession, is. referred every. few pages. Surely alter six seven repetitions the wuther ight Have taken it for grant. ed that her readers "vould for themselves how much Walved itand that' i would continue to go with her every' time She moved. However, that is a very minor point, though it ts, unfortie so. often the small things that irritate.
The book tells of the adventures of the author, who sere out armed with the knowledge of mine long Sages, and Very litle money, to work her" way round. the world asa Journalist. "Tt sounds fairly simple ind full of fun. But her troubles start in Genoa even before she leaves Europe, and from that moment they practically never desert her. If an Sther young girl is contemplating similar trip, let her read of Miss Karlin's experiences and she will at feast fearn from her which countries avoid. rat and foremost of them is Peru, the land of the Incas, which to the: hopeful young voyager. was to be a land full of the romance fof an ancient civilisation, but-which actuality was a land of unspe sie th aod Totennens ahd can immorality "hardly to eved pact of this book of particular Inter: Perhapa what. takes. the. earlier
{at is the fact that it is while tra: felling steerage, first to Peru, and later' to Panama, and on to Japan that she meets stich varied and our: ious types, and gives auch excellent pictures and stories of them. Take, example, her description of the lus of one of her four cabin com= ions, a compatriot of her, an Austrian woman married to a Peru vian. Incidentally, the "husband used' to come to their cabin every night and beat his wife. They left the ship at Puerto Cabello and were going to walk through the interior was as far as from Palermo to North Cape and through primeval forest the whole way. She was wear riga black silk reas with yellow waterfall of faded Ince, neither them. ear cartying "anything, not n'a handkerchiefs they' were' going the new world Just at anyone might get" off 1 raw have murdered her before the week was at tantalising fo think we shall The sordid need of mone the gid to away" in. Peru {literally ju' late of abject tereu) "unt Jed sufficient to catch the next boat 7 teaching languages. she had earn:
to Panama, er one idea at. that the being io enh and oad Europeans. Even there, though infinitely better than Sri Peru," hee lot was anything but ideal. Iodged with'an old German and his. ite who kept a pawn shop and. gave her a Toom and keep (of a tost Jcualtd kind) in return for services the shop. Before long' the man expected her to carry ona love trigues. with him in' the shop and she was forced to seoke other id= kings. "Luckily, she was able to Secure the post' of " government Interpreter, so until how departure for Japan' the rest of her stay Panama was definitely less arduous, hough even in her new rooms the had the' same recurrent. trouble, namely, ejecting "men from "het bedroom. "Here let us tate that although swe have' every sympathy with the lady, and. the fact that she Was' obliged' to carts with hee a Poisoned dagger ae a weapon' of cence shows ow teal was. te these by dint "of the Manger 20 which she was exposed, frequent repeti on, become like the Erika 3 lisle wearisome, "We cond have wished by the end of the book that she fad given ne tore of her charming vignettes and' fewer Scenes with men, Nhat mates her love Japan more tun any of ite nataral beauties fact that during her two years? stay there she was never molested: to such a state had her frayed nerves been reduced. Happy as she. is there, her wander-spirit eventual:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.