U.S.-British Understanding: What To Read

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 229, 27 September 1943, Page 4

U.S.-British Understanding: What To Read

What books should be read to understand the United States, its history, policy, and people? If you were an Englishman, what books about Britain would you advise an American to read? Or if an American soldier asks you what are the most useful New Zealand books to read, what do- you say? By Cyrano These questions are interesting, not only in the sense of the old problem—what book or books would you take with you to a desert island? —they are of very great -practical importance. The need for closer and more sympathetic relations between Britons and Americans is recognised. I don't mean merely after-dinner expressions of goodwill, i I mean clear-sighted knowledge and understanding. Books About America There is a growing desire in Britain for more teaching of American history, and I take it there is a corresponding desire in America. Jast year six American history text books, intended primarily for schools, were published in Britain, and have come into wide use. Two years ago the British Board of Education commissioned an American professor to prepare a short history of the U.S.A. for the schools of Britain, and this has been published by the Oxford University Press under the title of "Americathe Story of a Free People" I haven't seen it, but, writing in the English Listener, Mr. S. K. Rat--cliffe, a recognised English authority on the United States (he visited New Zealand a few years ago and gave us the benefit of his special knowledge), describes it as "the perfect book for its purpose." There must be a good many people who, like myself, have been looking for a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable and readable one volume history of America, but not with much success. The British National Central Library, and the American Library Association, have joined in a scheme to put 300,000 volumes, representing 600 titles in the hands of British readers The choice was made by American librarians and critics and professors. Attitiule Towards Size In his article on books about America for British people, Mr. Ratcliffe is mainly concerned with six, all but one of them apparently produced quite recently. The first, Only an Ocean Between," is particularly interesting because it starts a series of short books specially designed to explain Britain and America. The author, who was born in America but has lived for many years in England, aims at emphasising the contrasts between the two countries. For example, you must have noticed the American tendency to "talk big" and measure values bv size. Did it ever strike you that the American is a citizen of a very big country, where Nature is overwhelming; that "he lives and moves among bigness"? Britain, on the other hand, is not much more than half the size of California, so the Briton scorns size as a measure of merit. Mr. Ratcliffe, however, notes one remarkable error. "The British have been convinced that American humour is never at any time worth laughing at." With Mr. Ratcliffe, I wonder who this critic has been mixing with. "It was England, of course, that launched the European reputation of Mark Twain," says Mr. Ratcliffe, "and from Mark onwards to Damon Runyon our people were on the lookout for American humorists." This is certainly my own impression. I have not been able to see ground for American complaints that American writers are not encouraged in England. It has seemed to me that American writers have got a warm welcome from both critics and public. This shows how differently social conditions may strike different observers, and consequently how difficult it may be to get a true picture of a people's life.

Mr. Ratcliffe also recommends "U.S.A.: An Outline of the Country, Its People and Institutions," by Professor D. W. Brogan; "American Close-up: Portrait of an Ally," by John Langdon-Davies; "Bridging the Atlantic," a collection of papers by British and American writers, edited by Sir Philip Gibbs; and "The American Epic," by James Truslow Adams. This last, published some years ago, is a standard book. American Fiction But, you may ask, what about fiction? Mr.. Ratcliffe mentions several American novelists—those who deal with "the lawless and the raw," like Hemingway and Steinbeck, and the delineators of "good average folk," like Ellen Glasgow and Edna Ferber. The London correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor notes that the 600 books got together for Britain were chosen for their interpretation of America rather than for literary excellence alone. Thus, Sinclair Lewis' "Bab bitt" and "Main Street" go in, but "Martin Arrowsmith' does not, though generally (says the correspondent) it is*regarded as Lewis' best work. The idea is that "Martin Arrowsmith" could be told against another background, but the other books could not. The danger of fiction as a guide is that it is apt to give a distorted view of society. The satire may be savage and undiscriminating; -the choice of scene very limited. Would anyone reading Alduous Huxley's novels of a few years ago get any hint in them of the England of today? Perhaps the literature of disillusionment and defeatism in the armistice years helped to deceive the Germans. Guides to England If I were asked to pick for an American books of my time on Engiand, I should be much more at home among non-fiction than fiction. "The Forsyte Saga"? Penetrating, but as a picture of English life, limited. One of my first choices would be Professor Macneile Dixon's "The Englishman," a book of 220 small pages, and there would be Dorothy Sayers' 30 page pamphlet, "The Mysterious English," and J. B. Priestley's pocket volume "English Humour." Two of the very best books on England are written by foreigners: the Aiistralian CohenPortheim's "England, the Unknown Isle," and "Letters from England," by the famous Czech dramatist Karel Capek. I would throw in—though it would be a severe test—Neville Cardus' "Cricket." Books on New Zealand? I think "The Long White Cloud" still ■ has pride of place for general purposes, but "Tutira" would be high on the list. If you tell me you would offer your American friend the "New Zealand Year Book," I wouldn't think your choice strange. It is a massive and well-designed monument to the 100 years of.our history.