Trois Curés en Montagne, by Jean Sarenne. 234 pages and 15 illustrations. Paris and Grenoble: B. Arthaud, 1950.

Chance encounter with copies of La Montagne arouses a passion that drives its subjects from humble beginnings on a local hillside to acquisition of advanced technique and adventure on the Dru. There is nothing naive about this. With charming simplicity, three young séminaristes have told their story—Tartarins playing Argonauts, for euphony in the title of their book calling themselves curés. With little money and no knowledge of Alpine reality, they secure meager equipment and starvation provisions, and follow, where angels fear to tread, the mountain paths of Dauphiné into the world of marvels above the snow line. They have their private G.H.M., and its badge is in their hearts.

J. M. T.