ARGYROKASTRON

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23203, 14 December 1940, Page 14

ARGYROKASTRON

[By F.A.-A,] Tell me, is this important town, So long unknown to me, Pronounced in the morning or the evening Style of the 8.8.C.?

Morning breaks on the snowy heights, As on our Myra’s plastron, And Greeks triumphantly charge the

streets Into Argyrokastron,

But when the lingering after-glow On laagered rock is shone, Sweet is the wine for heroes poured In Argyrokastron!

Please, can no one resolve my doubt? I dither between the two. Which is the genuine B.rvC,, And which the spurious L .cw?

COTE D’AZUR Mistral Hotel. By Stephen Lister. Peter Davies. 314 pp. (8/6 net.)

In “Savoy Grill at One” Mr Lister 'wrote the history of his disillusion in big business and among the corrupt and selfish wielders of big money: a history that* closed with his retreat to the simpler standards but keener delights of life in a southern French village. Here he continues his story, which was given a surprising turn back to scenes of opulence and parasitism when the dear, good Father Delorme persuaded him to buy the unfinished luxury hotel in Ste. Monique and bring prosperity to his poor flock, Mr Lister and his partners, Joe, Stephanie, and the exper. barman, Mike,-were soon exploiting an astonishing crew of plunderers and pleasure-seekers. His characterisation of these types is one jf the sustained interests of the book. His revelation of the extortionate tricks of the Riviera hotel-keeper is another. But while this cypical trade prospered, the storm clouds were gathering over Europe; and in the contrast between the merry, mercenary life of “Mistral Hotel” and the grim forces moving to extinguish it Mr" Lister reaches something - like high seriousness. Readers fascinated by this book will certainly not need to be advised to look for “Savoy Grill at One.” Better advice is that they should, if possible, read that first.