LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 32, 7 February 1925, Page 18

LITERARY.

i i i i That accomplished nnd versatilu ■ writer, Mr. Brett Young, has between i his, last two novels jumped from Kast Africa to England. "Cold Harbour" . (Collins, through Whitcombe and i Tombs) is described as a tnle of terror ■ superbly told. The adverb may be <|ii;ili!icd, yet high praise given. It is i a story based on a theme that Henry • lames used in hie classic, "The Turn of iho Screw," the eA'eet of an occult evil inlhienoe on a family, "(.'old Harbour" is an English country house, built not only on the site of a Roman camp, but whprc a Koman ofHcer had sot up an altar to the goddess Astarte. The head !of the household is a cruel egotist, and I hi* wife a shrinking woman of inorediiblo loyalty. The story of this house. Willi its atmosphere and manifestations of evil, which battle priests nnd laymen, terrorising the family, breaking a chalice in a priest's hands and sending n communicant shuddering from the itltar rails, is told in Italy by a number of outsiders who have come into Ih« circle. There is nothing cheaply sensational about these manifestations. The whole book is on a spiritual plane. As one expects from Mr. Young, the , writing is distinguished. The descriptions of English country scenery are very well done, and the antiquarian. element in the story is handled impressively. The atmosphere of this lonely, j sinister house, its connection with the . terrible rites of a pagan goddess, the steady piling up of the suggestion of ' horror, the spiritual conflict between good and evil, the contrast between the characters—all this is finely conveyed. It is a fair comment that so monstrous a villain as the head of the "Cold I llnrbour' , household is incredible, and that there arc limits to the patience, and blindness of the most submissive of wives: nevertheless this is a I notable book. That the Japanese have a widely diffused artistic sense may be judged by the following paragraph from the Tokyo cm-respondent of the "Christian Science Monitor":—"The outline of the mountain crest against the sky at dawn is the subject selected by the Emperor for the annual New Year's poetry contest this year. Literally millioiiH of poems will he submitted, from which the Imperial household's department of poetry will select 10 or 12 for honourable mention and to he read to the Imperial Court in January. The contest is held each New Year period, the Emperor naming a subject a month or so in advance. Japanese poetry is not like the poetry of the West. It is short, without rhythm, and contains one suggestive phrase or idea, rather than a fully developed and rounded theme. Its form is severely classical and rulebound. The poems submitted in the Imperial contest are what are popularly known as tanka, seven lines with a total of 31 syllables. The writing, or the 'brushing.' rather, of poetry is no effeminate art in Japan, but one which every gentleman must be capable of to remain a gentleman." Against this we have this statement ninde the other day by Mr. J. C. Squire in the London "Observer," in a review of a collection of Limericks: "The Limerick has been for generations the most popular form of metrical composition in this country. It is the nearest thing we have to folk poetry, and its name and nature are familiar to millions who would be quite unable to describe or recognise a sonnet, much less a villanelle. Between the cradle and the grave we all hear thousands, most of them written by nobody knows whom, and kept alive, as the medieval ballads were, by oral tradition. Small children, I in that strange and secret underworld of

theirs, repeat to each other Limericks of monstrous banality; amongst the adolescent there flourishes a species vulnerable on another ground; and wherever the adult male congregates the question: 'Have you heard this one?' is as often as not the prelude to a Limerick. The Limerick has expressed the crude humour of the common roysterer and the scholarly wit of the donnish recluse; incorrigible prose writers have found through it their own escape into verse; schoolboys have approached an appreciation of rhythm through it; bishops Jiuve used it for the relief of their private feelings; music-hall comedians and Egyptologists have met upon the Limerick's narrow plot of ground. It has become an important element in our social history, and at one moment—and of what other verse-form can this be said?—contributed eubstantially to the revenues of the State." Among the Limericks in this collection that are new to him Mr. Squire especially likes: — There was a faith-healer of Deal Who saiil. "Although pain Isn't n-nl. If I sit on a pin And it punctures my skin, I dislike what I fancy .1 feel." To which we may add Gilbert's blankverse effort: — There was an old man of St. Bees, Who waa stung In the arm by a wasp When asked, "Does It hurt?" He replied, "No, it doesn't, I'm so jlad that It wasn't a hornol." " A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION." Mr. D. 11. Lawrence has many books to his credit and is a talented author. He has, however, one habit to which we are impelled to refer. This is his annoying manner of attempting to give added force .to his adjectives by repetition. "Cold, cold, cold," or "it was vile, vilp, vile," and so on; sometimes more than once within the limits of a page or two. Jf Mr. Lawrence i~ very, very, very anxious to be emphatic we are sure the printer would be pleased if algebra was made to assist, and Mr. Lawrence wrote ••c01d , ." "very-,"' or "vile*," it would "be a novelty and certainly emphatic. His hundred page introduction to "Memoirs of the Foreign Logion,'' is I lie work from which we quote. This is a clever piece of writing in flowing conversational style, and in our opinion, far more interesting than the bare facts, set out in cold array of life in an Algerian town and the horrors and tilth of the 'barracks. That the "Foreign Legion" supplied many deserters to the German army during the war was to be expected. Eighty per cent of the "Legion" was German in 1916, according to Mr. Lawrence (whose hand peeps out from M 's diary here and there), and the wonder is that French regulations permitted this. The book is lose horrifying than others we have read upon the same subject, yet verifies all the previously related horror 3. Mr. Lawrence's word painting of Continental scenery is, to us, the chief attraction. The publishers are, Seeker and Company, and our copy is from Robertson, Mullens, Ltd., (Melbourne. ■

A Chicago publisher has just hrrmght \ out. "The Sins of the Fathers and Other Tales," by (Jeorge Kissing. These slories by the immortal author of "Henry Hyccroft" originally appeared in "The Chicago Tribune," in ISTT.and lay buried for decades among the "The Tribune files. They were written by Giesing "in : the twentieth year of his melancholy existence," so Vincent Starrett writes in his introduction to the book, while Hissing was a penniless pilgrim in America. ! ''He once or twice said that going down RalclilT Highway he was juirrpud out. at from a doorway by a gentleman who presented him with a pocket copy of tlie English Bible. This was printed | on rice paper. He used the leaves for I rolling cigarettes, but before smoking j always read the page. So. he said, he j learned Knglish."- Knim ".loseph Conrad: a Personal Remembrance, ,, by Ford Madox Ford. I Mr. Chesterton's liijjhU unorthodox, lively and provocative "Short History of Kngland," which has gone through several editions since it was published in 1017, has been added to the handy St. Martin's Library by Chatto and Windus. Mr. Chesterton contributes a characteristic preface in which he boldly reaffirms what he says in the book. To Mr. Chesterton medievalism is golden, the Reformation was a tragedy, and the crisis in Kughind's history occurred, not in the Stuart times, but with the fall of Kichard 11.. "following on his failure, to use medieval despotism in the interests of medieval democracy." However much you may disagree with it. this in a book worth reading for its unusual point, of view, its wit. and its eloquence. The first of two volume- of Sir Sidney Lee's biography of King Kdward VIL, which Iras been undertaken at the request of King C.eorge, will be published by Messrs. Macmillan early in March. The forthcoming volume ' brings the narrative from King Kdward*n birth, on November f>. 1811, to hi.s ncession to the throne on January 22, 1901. The work, while it takes every account of information already published in Creat Britain and on the continent, is based on documents in the Windsor archives or at Marlborough House, and on numerous collections of letters addressed by the late King to personal friends and to men of prominence in otllcial lit-. Sir Sidney Lee is solely responsible for '.he plan and execution of the work to which he has devoted four years of thought ami labour. In his selection of material and in his conclusions lie has sought unaided to give practical application to those accepted principles of independent ami at tlie some time sympathetic biography which he is well" known to have long championed. BOOKS OF DISCONTENT. Morley's remark that all great ideas should come from the heart, but they ought to go round by the head, is recalled by two of the latest of. the many 'books on social «,,<! economic discontent that come from English publishers. "These Things Considered." by Margaret A. Pollock, is a very earnest book on the problem of poverty, dedicated to "that small minority at whose door want has never knocked." It would be a great gain if all that minority could read what Mrs. Pollock has to Bay about the condition of England, and especially the contrast between poverty and luxury. Unfortunately, as generally happens, this kind of statement of fact gets, for the most part, into I the hands of those who are already aware of it. It is when Mr?. Pollock comes to remedies that one must criticise. This is the 'book of a socialist, and socialism vaguely indicated is put forward as the cure for the nation's ills. There is little or no recognition of the difficulties in the way of such an economic revolution. Like so many other

omic revolution. ijm , »v '"»«j " ll " j men and women who despair of the present system. Mrs. Pollock leads us to a precipice and says, "Now fly." We can only say that we doubt our ability. Mr. Arthur Bertram, author of "The. Economic Illusion" (both books are published by Leonard Parsons I. gives similar advice. In a book more vehement and cocksure than Mrs. Pollock's, he indicts the present system from top to bottom, and bids us take refuge in Slate Socialism. He seems to be unaware that there has been a reaction against that form of socialism, and thai the Englishman, whether lie is worker or middle-class, does not like bureaucracy. Both he and Mrs. Pollock have a pathetic in the ability of the State to regulate things. They are indignant Ribout the waste of labour and money on trivialities and luxuries, and -Mr. Bertram stresses the idea of production for use and not for profit. But who is to say what is to be produced and what is not? Who is to distinguish between luxuries and necessaries'; We know a socialist who talks like this but has an expensive and beautiful ca T pet in his room. Under which category does this come? How much real freedom would there 'be where industry, with all its complexities, was so controlled by a State department? These are interesting books, but they should be road With a critical mind. EAST AND WEST. Humorists have often jesicd at thn expense of authors of books of tra\el who make a too frequent, use ot foreign words and give translations as a condescension to ignorant and less travelled readers. Apart, from this fault Mr. Bussenius has given us a combination of Japanese guide book, book of travel, and love story, which calls for free commendation. The story of the supposed picture (which is really the framed face of a living girl) sold to an unsuspecting and extremely innocent young American, is made the excuse for introducing the reader to modern Japanese social" life, in which there is a curious and unfortunate Wending of Kast and West Of all the Western intrusions to which Japan has been subject, that of America has been the least welcome or beneficial. Kven worse than Kiiglish commercialism is American "hustle" stud peering, prying American curiosity, and belief in the power of the Almighty Dollar, when brought into contact with ancient manners and customs of the most picturesque people now living. As a field for fiction American authors have found Japan mote fruitful than English writers, for Americans do not hesitate to import Eastern ideas and emotions which may fit into their literary scheme, whilst English authors strive "rather to absorb, and then reproduce, the feeling and motives of the people of the country. Mr. Bussenius has steered a middle course, explaining how members of each country regard those of the other, and exhibiting the faults and the advantages of both. Whilf no reader should jud?e Japan or her people from a work of fiction, anyone injiv find both interest and amuseincut in "The Honourable Miss Cherry Blossom ■' The book i= published by K. L. Brown (New York), and our copy is from Robertson and Mullens, Melbourne.