Ves In Vienna -- Dual BOM with ""Last Days of

by Bruce Marshall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 1947

As Book-of-the-Month (reserve) this will be given a head start that -- on its own- I question its achieving. I loved The World, The Flesh and Father Smith; I loved Father Malachy's Miracle -- in neither did the dogma seem difficult to take in its place. But here, where it is perhaps less frankly dogma and more specifically moralizing, there seemed long stretches where interest bogged down, where the subtleties of characterization, the inimitable Marshall humor were not enough.....The setting is Vienna, where the forces of occupation are using a nunnery as one of the headquarters. There a group of officers and men live in close proximity to the sisters, whose life proceeds in its usual channels, until even the most hardened of the men finds a leaven of gentleness and piety making its mark. One of the men falls in love with a Russian girl, who is being concealed by the nuns from the Russians who are demanding her repatriation. The Mother Superior wangles her way- by air- with another of the officers to Rome. Aside from these two bits of byplay, the story is one of the impinging of character upon character, and depends for its charm on the originality of Bruce Marshall's approach to whatever he touches, whether religion, politics, or the idiosyncrasies of the Allied Military Government in operation. An odd book, which should be carefully sold, as it isn't everyone's meat.

Pub Date: Aug. 3, 1947

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1947

Categories: FICTION