“THE HARP IN THE SOUTH”

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25086, 18 January 1947, Page 3

“THE HARP IN THE SOUTH”

readers in conflict . b<S, en ,„ the "Sydney Morning Herald" i? prlnt Mlss Kuth Park's novel. aiSrrt»S r 8 thc South ." which had been lion F 5 * p J? ze (£2000) In’its competivinlontHr Austr ? ll ? n auth °rs, some readers to assailed it: others were roused time 3 i« e fu nC o Miss Park lived for some HillS SlUm ar€a Which IrntrFiotV ed in her story. These extracts hnJ? ♦ l iT tte J s *X rinted in 1116 “Herald” show now the battle raged. Sordid, Cheap dau Shter of an Irishman, I “ESSf 1 ? Ruth Park’s novel, nh South,” with its sordid, fani a t P iJ > ?u tl - ay l al i Of P e °P le whose only ls then* lack of material goods. „.c? ere re st^ll People in Surry Hills ■who speak correctly and are not habitually in a semi-drunken state. True to Life ♦ feel that Miss Park’s story is so T^ U u4.x,“fe and ’her atmosphere is so hann it do good and not Most of the women in the slums are decent, but are fighting a losing battik against insurmountable odds. May Miss stor Y shake both clergy and politicians out of their smug complacency so that they can no longer shut their eyes to the conditions which exist. The Open Sewer It may be a true picture of life in [he slums. It may be cleverly written, out it is no better than an open sewer, spreading disease and death all around. Call the Censor If “The Harp in the South” is a sample of literary merit then one can only view with disgust and alarm the retrograde step Australian authorship has taken. . . Must our literary talent dig into cesspits to produce mental food for the people? Where are our censors that such writings are *allowed to become part of our literary possessions? Squeamish Critics Because one novelist produces a high-standard literary work based on life in Sydney slums a. few startled citizens from the salubrious suburbs become quite squeamish. Miss Park wrote about an environment that covers 2000 acres of the inner suburbs of the metropolis. She had as her setting a section of the 30,000 sub-standard dwellings which nave been officially marked “unfit for human habitation.” When she writes of the moral and social degradation she merely depicts the decay that is the lot of a not inconsiderable section of our fellowcitizens. ... • Miss Park has told the story of a people with character that flowers in the murky atmosphere of squalid lanes and damp, disease-infested hovels. If those citizens who squirm at such writing want to ease their consciences let them stir themselves so that others less fortunate might enjoy life more abundantly. Bilge Bilge water, though served in the finest cut-glass, is still bilge water. Filth To think that in a young clean country (clean as compared with tne older countries) such unadulterated filth should be given first prize, and put out to the world as representing Australian life, makes my blood boil. Smack in the Eye This novel is a refreshing smack in the eye for thpse who abhor the “other side of the fence.” Those critics who are revolted by this seamy, yet factual, delineation of real life, should cast aside their scented handkerchiefs, travel into the “not so Well off” areas, browse around a bit and vigorously inhale the odours a health inspector would not pass. Around her story' the author .has created a remarkable array of contrasting characters who, granted advantages of education and correct social environment, can be seen in any “better” sphere of Sydney’s life. Poor Sydney! “The Harp in the South” is a gross exaggeration of the housing conditions in Sydney’s slum areas and of the illiteracy, ignorance, and drunken and dirty habits of the Irish dwellers therein.

It must inevitably bring Sydney and many of its citizens into ridicule and contempt. It is difficult to understand where and how a young woman writer could have received an education low enough Jo enable her to express in such terms of indecency her ill-con-cealed hatred of certain of her fellowcreatures. . Not for Nieces Why, oh why, bring dirt and squalor before us all when there are beautiful places in the world, and also love? I have five nieces and I am sure I should not like to give them this story to read, even ii, from a literary point of is admirable. Maligned Irish Apparently, “The Harp in the South” was written for the purpose of belittling the Irish people and their institutions. The Irish have never been slum dwellers. They were the main pioneers of Australia. A glance at a street directory will prove that the streets of Surry Hills, with very few exceptions >(and they will be found anywhere), do not bear Irish names, and a perusal of the electoral roll for that district will show that the majority of the residents are not Irish, if names prove anything. After All ... .

“The Harp in the South” is brutal with real life. It is filled with the tears of the under-layers of Sydney’s industrial proletariat. Because it is so realistic, Miss Park’s novel will do much tp rouse the public conscience, in addition to making a valuable contribution to Australian literature. After all, the public conscience does need rousing. ... An official survey was made of 241 homes in an inner Sydney area. These houses were examined as a block. Not one house came up to the minimum standard asked. Only seven cduld, with reasonable expenditure, be built up to that standard.

In these houses (a minute fraction of Sydney’s slum area) more than 1000 adults and 'children live.

Politicians of all parties are complacent. Recently a member of the Australian Journalists’ Association wrote an article condemning the slums of Darlington. A meeting of “protest” against that article was supported by Mrs Lilian Fowler, M.L.A.