RESTLESS DAYS

Last August there was published, without much fanfare, a book called, Tale Without End, the journal of a German girl, who went to Paris with four youths, and left them to find herself, when she discovered her emotions getting out of hand.... Now comes this book, by the same author, her autobiography -- a German girl, reaching maturity after the war, deeply moving, grimly dramatic. The picture of wartime Germany, of children standing in line for food, stealing butter and vinegar from the pitiful family larder, wearing clothes made out of any available bit of material (there's a tragic account of her agony in going to a party in a dress made of Turkish towelling), -- this has never been told, in quite so direct and evidently authentic a way. Then comes the post-war fever of revolution, civil war, communism quickly crushed, the youth movement (of which she was never able to make herself a vital part), and finally the seeking, seeking, for a political and social set-up which would avoid the very pitfalls of the present situation. Exciting reading, for the most part (the political sections seem a bit tedious, at times) -- and written with singular charm, simplicity, and a sort of poignant detachment. Sell to those who read -- and liked Testament of Youth, for it is essentially that -- a ""testament"" of German youth.