The Arms Are Fair

Two stories run through this novel and fuse together at the end. They concern two groups of people: a Japanese regiment marching into the interior of China, and ahead of them a group of Chinese students and teachers, a university

on the march, carrying precious books and instruments. Fu, the Chinese teacher, had known Tadeo, the Japanese soldier, in the Imperial University in Tokyo. They were friends. It is inevitable that they meet, and they do, with surprising results. The story carries conviction. We say to ourselves: this is how the thoughtful Japanese must feel; this is how he must think. A rewarding, illuminative story.