Books: War and Spirit

A LEAF IN THE STORM—Lin Yutang—John Day ($2.50).

This story of war in China, readable at any time, is of a particular interest now which rates it high on U.S. best-seller lists. Its chief characters: a rich man, a Buddhist, a girl. Its setting: the: cities of Peking, Shanghai, Hankow, and the guerrilla-landscapes between. Its dominant theme: some of the effects of war upon the human spirit.

The two most eloquent passages in the book meditate these effects collectively: upon Chinese soldiers and civilians of all classes, above all the peasants, who have been shaken and sharpened into a transcendent courage; and upon...