THE TROJAN HORSE

Chris Morley is so beloved -- and admired -- in the book trade, that it comes hard to acknowledge what a disappointment his long awaited new novel seems to us. We had hoped for the promised sequel to Human Being. Another postponement. And this does not seem worth making the interruption. It is a farcial modernization of the old classic of The Iliad, with the story, such as it is, centering around the love of Troilus and Cressida. But everything is subordinate to an artificial and forced superimposing of the trappings of modernity on a story whose greatness lies in its austerity and simplicity. Nightclubs, cocktail parties, radio, telephones, cheap witticisms that lack wit, plays on words, forced humor -- only rarely the spark of the old Chris coming through. It has been running in The Saturday Review. Narrative, sketchy; dialogue; verse of sorts. A potpourri of inanities. Too bad. Extensive advertising and promotion insure substantial sales.