Books: The Red Whale

BIG MAC (117 pp.)—Erih Kos—Har-courf, Brace & World ($3.50).

Every Yugoslav, save one, feels deep stirrings of patriotism when the Great Whale is caught. And when it is brought to Belgrade for the general astonishment, the whole city, roused by deeper stirrings, turns out to praise its decaying corpse.

Penniless bookkeepers excitedly tally the whale's earning powers; children marvel at its youth and strength; bureaucrats boast of its bulky contribution to the economy. Barren women, seeing the whale, nudge each other and say: "There's a man for you!" Only Despic Rade, a civil service clerk, remains apart, at first wishing only to ignore...