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Sun Spots, v. 7, issue 1, whole no. 27, Spring 1946
Page 14
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Spring, 1946 SUN SPOTS Page 14 BOOK REVIEWS TWILIGHT BAR, By Arthur Koestler...New York, Macmillan, 1945, $2.00 The renowned Mr. Koestler has wandered far from his usual haunts in turning out this fanciful satire, but his supple touch is evident throughout, and brings off with a great deal of success what might otherwise have been a rather flat venture into the realms of whimsy. He seeks to apologize for his "escapism" in an Author's Note, but the fantasy enthusiast also appreciates good writing when he can find it and will be pleased with Twilight Bar. The book is in the form of a play, set on a mythical island republic in the not-too-far-distant future. To this republic, beset by its share of the world's woes, suddenly arrive two strangers from afar. Named Alpha and Omega, they come from a system of completely happy planets. Requiring more lebensraum, and having no empty planets convenient, these happy people are forced to send investigators such as A. and O. to discover which of the planets is the least happy. This body, then, will be instantly eradicated of all life by a painless gas. The earth, it is quite obvious, a is leading candidate for repopulation. The republic, however, being taken for a test sample, is given forty-eight hours in which to become happy. A Tory cabinet which thinks in terms of mass education and "the good old infantry" can do nothing to achieve this end, and a Socialist opposition which offers remedies such as free toilet paper for all factory washrooms and compulsory dental examinations can do no better. The job of achieving happiness eventually falls into the hands of the gossip columnist, Glowworm, who gives every community a "happiness quotient," and sets about raising the same by every possible means. How he succeeds, and if he staves off obliteration, we may safely leave to the reader to discover for himself. In the progress of the play, however, it is easy to trace the author's successive disappointments in the various methods by which man has tried to achieve his ultimate goal, happiness. Disgust with capitalism came early in life, but disillusionment in more radical political theories arrived in their time as well. Now one feels that perhaps Koestler would be willing to give it all up as a bad job, feeling that mankind is inherently incapable of enjoying himself. Yet Koestler is anything but bitter. His smile is sad, but it is a smile nonetheless, never a snarl. If he has grown discouraged over the means of attaining happiness, he has not lost his determination as to the necessity of that attainment: "We lived in blindness and ignorance. We believed that happiness is an indulgence, perhaps even a sin. Today we know that it is Man's one and only duty on this earth; his only way to repay the labour which nature invested into his making." ---James Breckenridge
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Spring, 1946 SUN SPOTS Page 14 BOOK REVIEWS TWILIGHT BAR, By Arthur Koestler...New York, Macmillan, 1945, $2.00 The renowned Mr. Koestler has wandered far from his usual haunts in turning out this fanciful satire, but his supple touch is evident throughout, and brings off with a great deal of success what might otherwise have been a rather flat venture into the realms of whimsy. He seeks to apologize for his "escapism" in an Author's Note, but the fantasy enthusiast also appreciates good writing when he can find it and will be pleased with Twilight Bar. The book is in the form of a play, set on a mythical island republic in the not-too-far-distant future. To this republic, beset by its share of the world's woes, suddenly arrive two strangers from afar. Named Alpha and Omega, they come from a system of completely happy planets. Requiring more lebensraum, and having no empty planets convenient, these happy people are forced to send investigators such as A. and O. to discover which of the planets is the least happy. This body, then, will be instantly eradicated of all life by a painless gas. The earth, it is quite obvious, a is leading candidate for repopulation. The republic, however, being taken for a test sample, is given forty-eight hours in which to become happy. A Tory cabinet which thinks in terms of mass education and "the good old infantry" can do nothing to achieve this end, and a Socialist opposition which offers remedies such as free toilet paper for all factory washrooms and compulsory dental examinations can do no better. The job of achieving happiness eventually falls into the hands of the gossip columnist, Glowworm, who gives every community a "happiness quotient," and sets about raising the same by every possible means. How he succeeds, and if he staves off obliteration, we may safely leave to the reader to discover for himself. In the progress of the play, however, it is easy to trace the author's successive disappointments in the various methods by which man has tried to achieve his ultimate goal, happiness. Disgust with capitalism came early in life, but disillusionment in more radical political theories arrived in their time as well. Now one feels that perhaps Koestler would be willing to give it all up as a bad job, feeling that mankind is inherently incapable of enjoying himself. Yet Koestler is anything but bitter. His smile is sad, but it is a smile nonetheless, never a snarl. If he has grown discouraged over the means of attaining happiness, he has not lost his determination as to the necessity of that attainment: "We lived in blindness and ignorance. We believed that happiness is an indulgence, perhaps even a sin. Today we know that it is Man's one and only duty on this earth; his only way to repay the labour which nature invested into his making." ---James Breckenridge
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