THE DAYS ARE FLED

A somewhat pedestrianly paced book with ""the meek shall inherit the earth"" as theme song, sentimental, plausible, but slow in getting under way and not inspiring thereafter. Stuart Shaw, hard pushed by his father to become a great violinist, learns in Germany that he will never become top ranking, and returns to America completely adrift and incapable of taking care of himself. He tries a hand at several things, including marriage and paternity, until finally a bequest frees him from financial insecurity and he begins to think and act for himself, finds people and things worth fighting for, and makes his place in the community through teaching. Rewarding only for those wanting heartwarming novels of little people turning out to be really great.