BOOK REVIEW
By ANNA J. MERRITT

Were they the good old days?

Tales from Two Rivers I, edited by Jerrilee Cain, John E. Hallwas and Victor Ilk-ken. Two Rivers Arts Council, Western Illinois University, Macomb, 1981. 187 pp. $9.95 plus $1.00 postage and handling.

THE FASCINATION with bygone days, the search for our national roots and basic societal values has continued unabated for several years now. Occasionally an event, a film or a book comes along that confronts us — be it ever so briefly — with a whole range of questions and issues that so many other nostalgia trips gloss over. So it is with Tales from Two Rivers, a collection of 120 brief memoirs by residents of western Illinois.

The volume is the result of a contest held in 1980 by the Two Rivers Arts Council and, as the editors point out, "each author has contributed to the preservation of Illinois social history." All the essays submitted (and there were many more than could be included in the book) are available at the Western Illinois University library archives; and all those who entered the contest are listed at the end of the book. The contributions selected for the book are divided into seven sections: Community Life; Earning a Living; Family Life; School Days, School Days; Tin Lizzies, Etc.; Hard Times; and Farm Life.

A number of themes run through these stories. One concerns the immense importance of family and the immediate community, which, as the editors suggest, "produced a great sense of closeness, not only between siblings but between one generation and another." For some present-day readers this closeness doubtless conjures up images of security and a sense of belonging, while to others it probably represents the absence of individuality and loss of freedom. A similar duality is raised by another theme: the simplicity of life in the early part of this century. Some will agree with the writer who asks: "Who has time anymore to sit on a front porch for a visit with neighbors? Haven't we lost something in this fast development of news and transportation?" But who can really disagree with another who asserts: "Yes, those were the 'good old days.' Well, you can have them, I much prefer the present roads and convenient cars. . . ."

Who should read this book? This reviewer's first thought was: every elementary school in the state ought to have a copy. History, English, social studies, even science — it's all here. Adult readers, too, will find much food for thought. As we worry about the possibility of nuclear war, rising oil prices and changing patterns in family life and marvel at 747s, the transistor and expanding educational opportunities, it is good to be reminded of the great fears from the not-so-distant past and the breath-taking discoveries that were made in the early lifetimes of our own parents and grandparents. Tales from Two Rivers I may not be a great book; it is certainly a small treasure. □

April 1982/ Illinois Issues/9