_Cloth, 12mo, $1.50_
Under the title _Croire_, this autobiography of a French infantryman was
published in Paris in 1917. It is a revelation of the French spirit. It is
rather a biography of the spirit, than an account of the amazing
experiences M. Fribourg encountered, from 1911 at Agadir, through the
fighting on the Meuse, and part of the campaign in Flanders. The
descriptions are memorable for their beautiful style, their pathos or
their elevation. There is a definite climax toward the end where M.
Fribourg returns to a hospital in Paris, broken and dulled, his faith
momentarily befogged. Gradually he readapts himself, regains and confirms
his faith in the human spirit that was so vivid when he lived with his
fellow soldiers.
"An autobiographical novel, which was a close competitor for the last
Goncourt Academy Prize and which was seriously considered in connection
with the recently awarded Grand Prix of the French Academy."
"It emphasizes the benumbing monotony of the 'life in a circle' of billet
and trench."
"It portrays realistically, if a shade too methodically at times, the
racking torments of hunger and thirst, the dreary importunity of the rain,
the loathsomeness of the all-invading mud, the sickening horror of the
carrion smells, the pathetically inadequate relaxations of the
cantonments."
"It dissects (a shade too scientifically and cold-bloodedly at times
perhaps) the sentiments and emotions associated with attack and defence;
the impulses that eventuate in heroism; the alternating
super-sensitiveness and callousness of the nerves; fear and the mastery of
fear; the 'hope deferred that maketh the heart sick'; the devious
stratagems of the terrible 'cafard' (blues)."
"It narrates dramatically the outstanding episodes; the perilous corvée of
bringing up fresh supplies of cartridges, the digging of an advance trench
under fire, the pinioning of a comrade suddenly seized with dementia."
"All this, with sanity, simplicity, and sincerity and in a language of
almost classical restraint, as a rule, but engagingly piquant and
picturesque and fantastic even upon occasions."--_Boston Evening
Transcript_.
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