WRITERS

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26847, 27 September 1952, Page 3

WRITERS

"“efe. Borjn«>n P™"ewar k ™‘“ f ® e r ™ collected the sstniF'tF ° s o^a^rTe 5 Sj B malaria in 1947 Stephen Borchert wal “a . ln . trod urtion lhat time?" S k- ‘yP.'cal victim of our to Eive nnetie writln g he attempts fennes eXpress . lon to the i “'- efrUjH to P rivate soldier and ♦hl rJLk* • the horrors of war and n? n .^ ol ? binß Cities. No doubt his fSlkk ° Se! i ln translation, but the J,?— 11 - 511 reader cannot avoid the itnP« e^ 10n tba ‘ Borchert is using prose T?an XpreSS em °ti°ns that can only" find anrt'Zhlia ce ? slul expression in a taut Ibove h an h, ? ,C verse - Borchert is also, aoove all, a passive sufferer. There is sketch?? de rt at ,*L Wi l h ” a £P arcnt in hi? A h ® P lay The Man Outside asserts the right of the ordinary to sute'de in the face of the outrounrt a ? d the hopelessness that surhinh. The succ ess that Borr?"ts writing, has had in Germany an „ al ? r S?- ng . lndj cation of the prevail??® of this feeling m post-war Germany. Borchert could find no prop hn P .through his ordeal? SiFX® “Sniflcanfly bears on its first leaf the solitary words: “And who will support us? God?”

Allen Son. By Judah Waten. Angus and Robertson. 186 pp. a Anyone who follows contemporary Australian writing will have had his eye for some time on Judah Waten whose work is a superb proof of the Y^ immigrants to a new country. Mr Waten comes from a RussianJewish family who came to Australia wo the x? ear ? before the First World ? ar \-S sketches of his family and his childhood have appeared in various Australian literary journals, and tneir collection into one volume now permits their assessment as a contribution to Australian literature. There « wonderfully rich material in Mr Watens early life, and he exploits it with insight, sympathy and humour. The tension in which all aliens live, torn between the desire to preserve their own ways and identity and their wish to become assimilated, gives the stories great dramatic interest—as well as a topical importance, in view of the problems of assimilation of Australia’s new wave of post-war immigrants. . The relations between parents and children are given a new Sharpness and pathos, as the old people look backward and the young ones forward. The desire to belong, so strong in children, comes into conflict with their loyalty to their parents. The mner conflict makes the children prematurely conscious of the dilemmas of existence, and deepens their capacity for suffering. Mr Waten is sensitivelv aware of all this, since it was the background of his own existence. His mother bitterly refused to come to terms wi,th the new land: she is an austere and tragic figure, brilliantly described. who provides moments that are sometimes comic, sometimes deeply moving. His father was more easy-going, a more purely comic figure who was always starting business ventures that were bound to fail. Many other colourful immigrant characters came into the family life, and provide Mr Waten with subjects for excellent character-sketches, sharp and clear in outline. The relations of the immigrant children with Australian children are described with a thorough understanding of the ruthlessness. as well as the resilience, of the young everywhere. This book introduces the reader to a community unexpectedly strange in an Australian setting, whose joys and sufferings are set forth by a writer of undoubted talent and complete freedom from bitterness.

Daniel Defoe. By Francis Watson. Longmans. 240 pp.

The new “Men and Books” series of literary biographies already contains some excellent volumes, such as Oliver Warner’s “Joseph Conrad,” Philip Henderson’s “Christopher Marlowe,” and J. M. Cohen’s “Robert Browning.” Francis Watson’s book on Defoe is another notable addition to the series. Like the others, it provides both a life of the author and a critical assessment of his work, and is attractively bound, with illustrations, a select bibliography and an index. The study of Defoe is a formidable task for the biographer, for there is a plethora of his writings to be sifted (about 330 of them) and a dearth of reliable information about the man himself. Only one known verbal description of Defoe exists—and that a criminal dossier, issued when he was wanted for seditious libel in 1703—and there is no original portrait. The callings he pursued and the vicissitudes of fortune he precariously survived were many. His immortality was unexpected both by himself and by his contemporaries who made no considerate provision for the future biographer, But Mr Francis Watson has produced a wonderfully complete picture of the man all the same. Just as the life and work of the author of “Robinson Crusoe” were intriguingly bound together, so the biography never loses sight of either the. one or the other. • The background of eighteenth-century political and domestic life is vivid, the writing lively and often witty, and the book, as a whole, like Defoe himself, never dull.

Aphra Behn. By Emily Hahn. Jonathan Cape. 319 pp.

Until the seventeenth century no English woman made her living with her pen and to Aphra Behn is giyen the title of the first English woman novelist. Before devoting herself to a writing career, however, Aphra Behn led an adventurous, sometimes fly-by-night life because of her association with William Scot, a liberal of his day, who had little inclination to pay his bills. Scot, a married man, showed as little interest in his family after meeting Aphra. From England to South America, to Holland. Aphra travelled with him as his wife, all the time gaining experiences and views so valuable for her future work. Along the way she acquired a husband, whose main part in her life was to give her his name. With a full rich life behind her and unworried about social prejudices, Aphra Behn became a popular success and the confidante of important Englishmen. AU this and much more is set down by Miss Hahn, after painstaking research, in her biography in novel form. , She has captured much of the spirit of the warm, lively early novelist. THE COROMANDEL PENINSULA Coromandel Holiday. By A. H. R?ed. A H. and W. A. Reed. 132 PP‘ Mr A. H. Reed’s earlier books of New Zealand travel, “Farthest East,’’ ’’Farthest North,” “Great Barrier” and “Farther West’' have found a circle of readers who will welcome this account of his latest expedition. He made the trip to the Coromandel Peninsula with his nephew at the invitation of a local resident who had suggested that the combination of natural beauty and historical associations to be found there would be much to his taste. The visit was only a short one but, in spite of Mr Reed’s advanced .age, much of it was spent on foot with swags, weU off the beaten track. For most tastes there is a little too much rather prosaic detail about the travellers activities —how they slept, what they ate for breakfast, and how much it cost to travel on the ferry at Whitianga—but the descriptions of coastal and mil scenery in combination with the excellent photographs are most attracfive: and the extent of Mr Reed s knowledge of New Zealand history is very impressive. He provides stories of Maori battles and heroism, tales of the visits of Captain Cook and other travellers, and accounts of the boom days brought to the Coromandel Peninsula by gold and kauri gum. Every future traveller to this lovely' part of the country will be able to double his enjoyment by reading “Coromandel Holiday.”