Fraternity-Testvériség, 1962 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1962-08-01 / 8. szám
FRATERNITY 5 THERE ARE SECRETS By R. L. Hunyady — Vantage Press; 328 pages; $4.50 Jerry Vere, just out of college, has no complicated dreams about his future: get a decent job, settle down, marry the girl he loves, and live a decent and happy life. Soon, however, he realizes that this simple plan wouldn’t work unless he finds the deeper meaning of life. He set out on his search for identity. He goes to New York, lands a job with a financial institution, and makes the pleasant and yet disturbing acquaintance of the president’s daughter. Eva studies human relations and Jerry accompanies her on her visits to lectures at the Socialist, the Communist and the Anarchist Centers. They discover that the meetings hide both a lie and a conspiracy. Because Jerry is shy, good-natured and believing it takes time and quite a bit of heartache to realize that in order to understand himself and find the meaning of life he has to look deep into other people’s lives and understand them. The coming of World War II, in addition, makes it clear to him that mankind’s and society’s universal problems have a strong bearing upon how an individual can solve his own problems. No one can step out of the world and be indifferent to what happens around him and to other people. In the Army, first he only witnesses the power of the spirit: he happens to be on the S. S. Dorchester which sinks with the heroic Four Chaplains. But then his own testing comes: on a reconnaissance flight his plane catches fire, and he makes an emergency landing in Hungary. Burned and blinded he is rescued by the minister of a small village and nursed back to life by a ranger’s wife. In his long talks with the Hungarian pastor, Reverend Miklossy, Jerry becomes conscious of the value of what is called the American way of life. And that it is not enough to fight for it, one must also practice it and witness to it. Jerry is now ready for a purposeful life. A successful surgery and the arrival of Eva mark the beginning of it. The war is over; he can return to his college town. Now he can settle down — he has the woman he loves and the purpose he has found: teaching how to appreciate and how to cling to the precious heritage, the American way of life. This is the story of R. L. Hunyady’s new novel, “There Are Secrets”. The story is told vividly and excitingly. But that is not all. It is told with humor and understanding wisdom. It is told with a deep faith in human goodness. In addition, Mr. Hunyady manages to give a clear opinion on some world issues and set the record straight on some events in connection with World War II, on which the American public is still misinformed or uninformed. It is also a clean book, proving that to be interesting a novel needs not contain a string of “realistic” descriptions of love scenes. I feel that this book has an appeal to both young people and adults. I suggest to get it and read it. Not because its author, R. L. Hunyady, is the Rev. László Hunyady, the pastor of our Linden (N. J.) church, but because “There Are Secrets” is a good book. A. H. I
