Literary Views and Reviews

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28784, 3 January 1959, Page 3

Literary Views and Reviews

NEW ZEALAND WRITING IN 1958

(Specially written for “The Press" by w J w I ]

The year 1958 brought to. port a richer and bigger cargo of new books by New Zealand writers than any other year in history. Yet 1958 was notable in New Zealand letters not so much for the refreshingly wide variety of topics covered by over 80 new books published, as for the pleasing standards achieved by the better writers in each field. If the 1940’s are remembered for the great advance made in the art of printing and the craft of book production, the 1950’s will -be equally remembered in time to come not so much as years of prolific activity but as the years of rapidly developing maturity of New Zealand writers. The gradual replacement of didacticism by a desire to appreciate and to share appreciation, for instance, is clearly discernible as a major motive of writers in 1958. Of course, the development of full literary maturity must inevitably be a slow process and is not yet complete. Nevertheless, this year’s achievements in many fields will undoubtedly inspire and stimulate further growth. The year took sad toll of no fewer than seven writers of distinction. The Rev. J. R. Hervey will always be remembered for his painstaking and scrupulously careful use of words. Evidence of his care and feeling is in every one of the shorter poems in which he specialised. His capacity to take pains is characteristic of the work of others also—as for instance in that of Ruth Allan, an historian and broadcaster, whose •‘History of the Port of Nelson” has been acclaimed by Dr. J. C. Beaglehole as “a model of careful investigation and careful statement.” No-one could describe the output of either of these writers as prolific, yet their passing is a definite loss to New Zealand letters. Gone, too, is A. R. D. Fairburn, vigorous, pungent, playful, and full of the joy of living. The stilling of his versatile and witty pen, whilst he was yet in the prime of life, leaves many a dull page. Miss Noeline Baker is commemorated in the Mount Cook region by Noeline glacier and Baker saddle, named after her by her father, whose diary she reproduced in book form as “A Surveyor in New Zealand.” Miss B. E. Baughan wrote much on controversial subjects, such as prison reform and capital punishment, and whilst this is of transitory interest only, she earned an enduring memory by her verse and short poems. Sir James Hight, a beloved figure in Canterbury for almost 70 years, profoundly influenced New Zealand letters, not so much by what he wrote personally, as by the advice, help and encouragement he gave to others. Like Sir Howard Kippenberger, editor of the War Histories, Sir James Hight inspired, planned and selflessly edited the work of many authors.

Undoubtedly the most important book -published in 1958 is Dr. A. H. McLintock’s “Crown Colony Government in New Zealand.” Here we have a definite account of the constitutional history of the 1840-54 period, an authoritative work based on sound and thorough scholarship, which because of the author’s influence and ease of diction and the interest inherent in the personalities of the time made an instant appeal to a wide range of general readers both in New Zealand and overseas. Dr. J. C. Miller’s “Early Victorian New Zealand” deals refreshingly and stimulatingly with the same period and is worth reading with McLintock. Like Professor F. L. W. Wood, whose new edition of “This New Zealand,” and Keith Sinclair whose “History of New Zealand” has appeared in the Penguin series, these two scholars have developed the art of writing history accurately and yet

attractively. By contrast, Marjorie Appleton’s “They Came to New Zealand” and Andrew Sharp’s “Crisis at Keri Keri” (highlighting mainly the seamy side of the lives of two of the first missionaries, Thomas Kendall and John Butler) whilst providing enjoyable reading are not completely reliable on the impressions they give. The other horn of the -historian’s dilemma is illustrated by D. N. Hawkins’ monumental “Beyond the Waimakariri” and C W. S. Moore’s “Northern Approaches” (the last of the Otago Centennial Historical Committee’s district histories), -both of which, though well planned and accurate, make somewhat dull and prosaic reading. “Newspapers; In New Zealand” by Guy H. Scholefield, “The History of the Jews in New Zea-< land' by Lazarus M. Goldman, “A History of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Limited” by G. R. Macdonald, “New Zealand Scouting: The First 50 Years, 1908-1958” by F. G. Culliford, each deal capably and interestingly with special topics. Of especial importance is “Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand,” the full text of the diary of Cook’s naturalist (including the observations that Sir Joseph Banks wrote later) edited by Professor W. P. Morrell The demand for local and special histories continued unabated throughout 1958, ana was met with enterprising zeal. A. H. Reed’s “The Story of ‘‘Hawke’s Bay” retells the history of the district up to the end of the Provincial period. W. J. Elvy’s “Kei Puta te Wairau,” narrating the early Maori history of Marlborough, “Mowhango Valley and School” (also containing much Maori history), •‘Land of Promise” by Wil-

J 1 ™ 1 Vance (the story of the Waikakahi district, situated between the Waitaki and Waihao rivers), R. G. Pullar’s “By Blueskin Bay” (a little book of 92 pages dealing with the pioneer men and women of the Waitati district in Otago) all these are on the whole brightly written and of considerable value. In response to the demand, a reprint appeared of H. A. Glasson’s “The Golden Cobweb” (the story of the Otago goldfields, 1861-1864) despite the fact that this is not fully developed history, but rather a series of historical snippets. “Tuwharetoa” the story of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe, written by John Grace is of wide appeal, just as K. C. McDonald’s “History of Waitaki Boys’ High School, 1883-1958” tells a story of interest to many beside Old Waitakians. A third edition of the late Robert Gilkison’s much sought after “Early Days in Central Otago” is now appearing in the bookshops.

In the field of autobiography two very different books, Alan Mulgan’s “The Making of a New Zealander” and Sir Fred Bowerbank’s “A Doctor’s Story” are alike in that each revealingly forgets about himself as he tells of the places and events that have shaped him and New Zealand. By contrast Lillian Keys in “The Life and Times of Bishop Pompallier” approaches her subject with a genuine feeling of veneration for his sanctity, courage and priestly zeal, and does little to reveal him as a man. At this point one should mention an attractively produced pamphlet written by John Reece Cole and published by the Department of Internal Affairs which has the oversight of the historic Pompallier House at Russell, “Pompallier: the House and the Mission of Bishop Pompallier in Early N.Z.” This brochure will be particularly valued by all admirers of the pioneer Roman Catholic bishop. A. D. Griffen’s lively “No Wee Angel” tells of the author’s boyhood in Scotland and of his success later as a dairy farmer and strawberry grower in New Zealand. Valuable as primary source material are two beautiful productions of the Pegasus Press. “The Torlesse Papers” edited by Peter Maling, and “My Dear Bannie—Gerhard Mueller’s Letters from the West Coast, .18651866” edited by Miss M. V. Mueller. Both Torlesse and Mueller were pioneer surveyors, and though their papers include more trivial detail of the daily round than is necessary, the human interest of these books fully justifies their publication. Charles Torlesse was an old schoolfellow of Edward Ward, who lost his life by drowning whilst crossing to his farmlet on Quail Island, and it is fitting that a reprint of “The Journal of Edward Ward” was made when “The Torlesse Papers” was published. For some obscure reason books relating to ecclesiastical matters have never appealed strongly to New Zealand readers. Yet three very readable books have appeared this year: '“Lord of thef Southern Isles,” by Dr. C. TO. Fox (a history of the Melanesian mission written round the lives of the bishops—George Augustus Selwyn, Patteson, John Richardson Selwyn, Cecil Wilson and Walter Hubert Baddeley), “The Church and the Maori, 1808-1958,” by Archdeacon G. M. McKenzie, and “The Nelson Narrative” (a centennial history of Nelson diocese) by Archdeacon H. F. Ault.

Four more volumes of official war histories appeared. First came a history of administration: “Problems of 2N.Z.E.F.” by Major-General W. G. Stevens; then came Professor F. L. W. Wood’s masterly “The New Zealand People at War,” an account of policies, politics, life and thinking during a critical period as far as these influenced the shape of New Zealand’s war effort. Next was published R. Kay’s “27 (Machine Gun) Battalion,” the story of a unit which shared with the Divisional Cavalry the record of serving overseas longer than any other of the 2 N.Z.E.F. Finally was produced “22nd Battalion” by Jim Henderson, the author of “Gunner Inglorious” and some other good unit histories. Readers are still impatiently awaiting the appearance of the history of the South Island Battalion ; the 23rd.

Soon after the publication of Allen Curnow’s “Poems, 19491957,” a haphazard collection of occasional pieces in which the author appears to be tenaciously if not too-successfully"seeking for a synthesis of thought, feeling and form, a gathering of New Zealand poets was held in Christchurch. We hear that the conference indulged in some serious discussion, enlivened ’with peals of boisterous laughter, but the fruits of the conference are apparently still in the seedling stage, for nothing was published as a result. “Poetry Harbinger” by A. R. D. Fairburn and Denis Glover was planned before Fairbum’s death, whilst a typographically attractive slim volume of 45 pages “The Disadvantages of Being pead,” a wholly frivolous collection of specimens of the late A. R. D. Fs robust 'wit was planned before the conference was held. “The Night Shift-Poems on Aspects of Love" by James K. Baxter, Charles Doyle, Louis Johnson and Kendrick Smithyman apart from the opening lyrics in Smithyman’s section completely lacks inspiration and was not worth publishing at all. To offset this, however, the best of Baxter’s work "In Fires of No Return,” was deservedly published by the Oxford University Press. “The New Zealand Poetry Year Book, Volume VH, 1957-58," edited by Louis Johnson, is as good as any of its predecessors, and is remarkable chiefly for the .new writers that it brings forward. A second edi; tion of Denis Glover’s popular “Sings Harry and Other Poems,” also helped to brighten a somewhat lean year for poetry. Of the novels published in 1958 easily the best were “Spinster,” by Sylvia Ashton-Warner, “The God Boy,” by lan Cross, and “I’ll Soldier No More,” by M. K. Joseph. All three are notable first novels and all received wide acclaim from critics at home and overseas. One English paper noted “a shocking gaffe” at the end of “Spinster,” but admirers were pleased to learn recently that the Government has awarded the

1959 Literary Scholarship to Miss

Ashton-Warner to help her with another novel. The alleged gaffe is a matter of opinion only. The compelling vitality and strength of lan Cross’s story arouses high expectations for his second novel. M. K. Joseph’s book has already been reprinted four times. It is the best of the war novels written by New Zealanders. “The Race,” by Ruth France, is an exciting story of a yacht race from Wellington to Lyttelton, and skilfully combines two themas, a deeply satisfying study of men’s minds strained by exhaustion and danger, and those of the three wives and one girl ashore awaiting the outcome of the race. Mary Scott’s latest novel, “One of the Family” is a tale of the assimilation of an English immigrant, told in a direct and simple way, with the quiet assurance that comes from a sure knowledge of the average New Zealand farmer’s way of life. The last work of Will Lawson, who died in October, 1957, •‘Mary Smith’s Hotel,” traces the fortunes of the now defunct West Coast town of Charleston from its heyday in 1872 down to its disappearance 50 years ago. The book is part novel and part reportage. Ruth Park’s “One-a-Pecker, Two-a-Pecker” recreates a reasonably authentic picture of life in the gold-rush days in the Wakatipu district. Another historical novel is Frank Bruno’s “The Hell Buster,” a “tough” story set in the Bay of Islands, when the “Roaring Meg” dropped anchor there at Christmas, 1843. Two novels with a Hawke’s Bay setting are George Joseph’s “Lie Fallow My Acre” and Margaret Jeffrey’s “Tree Without Shade.” Grace Phipps’s latest novel “The Life for Louise” is a back-to-the-land story, centred somewhere near Christchurch, whilst “Murder Stalks the Bay” by Elizabeth Messenger is a mystery story centred in Queen Charlotte Sound. Much of a muchness are “Bachelors Galore” by Essie Summers and “The Loveliest Night of the Year” by Dulce Carmen. The nature of the latter romance is truthfully depicted by a brightly coloured dust-wrapper covered with kowhai blossoms, a glimpse of wide open spaces with (in the foreground) a young man and a girl in a clinch! Tne popular Mavis Winder also contributes to the year’s output.

New Zealand scholars , at home and abroad have been very busy this year. Professor A. N. Prior’s second book on logic, “Time and Modality” has not received the attention from the general reader that it deserves. “Bureaucracy in New Zealand” edited by Dr. R. S. Milne examines the broad question of administrative discretion and describes the checks and balances which control both the Government and the public service, and Mr R. P. Polaschek’s “Government Administration in New Zealand,” reveals the need for reform within that service. When Dr. Ronald Syme, pn Oxford don, published his study, 6t “Tacitus” earlier this year, professor E. ,M. Blaiklock, of Auckland, commented that “the Antipodes may be excused a distant suboceanic cheer”—for Syme was born and reared in Taranaki! Dr. Ernest Beaglehole’s “Social Change in the South Pacific” (analysing the grafting of middleclass, non-conformist English values brought by the early missionaries to the people of primitive island society) was not well reviewed by many English critics, but remains of considerable interest to New Zealanders. On the other hand, Margaret Dalzell’s thorough-going. “Popular Fiction 100 Years Ago” describing the first flowering of cheap fiction has been worthily acclaimed both here and overseas.

The weariness of the Government Printer on publishing the fourth edition of “The Trees of New Zealand,” that excellent book by L. Cockayne and E. Phillips Turner, is indicated by his description of it: “182 pages, heavily illustrated.” He had just completed the production of several other fine books on carpentry, the mechanics of the motor-vehicle, farm engineering, etc., and evidently “The Trees of New Zealand” was the straw to break the camel’s back. His “Forest Trees ahd Timbers of New Zealand,” by H. V. Hinds and J. S. Reid, two members of the forest service, presents a wealth of information in a concise and lucid manner. Professor J. B. Condliffe’s prolonged visit to New Zealand is marked by a study, “The Welfare State in New Zealand,” but this book is already nearly as hard to come by as his classic “New Zealand in the Making.” The biggest portion of “T’he Crossing of Antarctica” is written by Sir Vivian Fuchs, but a number of chapters are by Sir Edmund Hillary who established Scott Base and marked but the last part of the route. This account of an epic journey, though hurriedly compiled, is well written, and told with typically British restraint. The illustrations are magnificent and would truly, delight the heart of Herbert Ponting. A. S. Helin’s little known “Provisional Gazetteer of the Ross , Dependency” is also of topical interest, and can be thoroughly , recommended to those who are ■ fascinated by the associations of . place names. The year 1958 was the General ’ Assembly Library’s centennial ' year. The occasion was marked . by a masterly little history, of this library, from 1858 to 1958, written by Mr J. O. Wilson, the chief librarian, as an appendix to the ; Annual Report tabled in Parlia- ’ ment. Uniform with it is a dis- ; appointing report of the special .committee appointed to report on the ways and means of estab- • lishing a National Library for New Zealand. Cricketers, those interested in football and in the out-of-doors have been uniformly pleased with R. T. Brittenden’s “Great Days in New Zealand Cricket,” S. C. Caple’s “The All Blacks at Cricket 1860-1958,” A. C. Swan’s second volume “History of N.Z. Rugby Football, 1946-1957,” Winston McCarthy’s inimitable “A Gallery of Rugby Greats,” John Pascoe’s “Great Days in New Zealand Mountaineering,” and “The Mouni tains of New Zealand,” by Rodney Hewitt and Mavis Davidson. One of the Dominion’s best known i anglers, R. E. Cuthbertson of

Wanganui, published “The Lure of Trout,” and many besides seaanglers are appreciative of Arthur W. Parrott’s second popular book, “Big Game Fishes and Sharks of New Zealand.” Two small volumes of short stories, both quite convincingly written, were published during the year: Helen Shaw’s ‘‘The Orange Tree and Other Stories,” and Marie Insley’s ‘‘lt Was Someone.” As New Zealanders are such avid readers of pamphlets and brochures it is surprising that more collections of short stories have not appeared. The appetite was nevertheless partly satisfied by David Goldblatt’s “Democracy at Ease,” an entertaining if skimpy and petulantly inadequate picture of New Zealand seen through the eyes of an iconoclast who is obviously irritated by those governmental controls which prevented him from making a large fortune in a very short time; by Dr. Ralph Winterbourn’s “Caring for Intellectually Handicapped Children” of practical help to parents and remarkably comprehensive despite its brevity (46 pages); and by A. E. Manning’s widely read and cleverly illustrated ‘‘The Bodgie,” an essay which throws no light at all on the solution of the problems of street corner society. Allen Curnow had \ another tilt at Auckland’s civic lights in his polemical broadsheet “Mr Huckster of 1958.”

Notable among reprints and new editions are ‘‘We, The Tikopia” by Dr. Raymond Firth,, first published in 1936, a study of “kinship in primitive Polynesia”—concise, lucid and graceful, and a classic in the literature of anthropolgy; Andrew Sharp’s “Ancient Voyagers in the Pacifid” now published in the Penguin series— Sharp wants to delete the word “deliberate” from any account of the long voyages of the early Polynesians, but this expression of his convictions has done little to shake faith in the work of scholars like Sir Peter Buck, whose “Vikings of the Sunrise” and “The Coming of the Maori” were both reprinted in New Zealand this year. New editions of Nelle M. Scanlan’s “Pencarrow” novels are beautifully reproduced, even to the original dust-wrappers (one of. which was the work of Nugent Welch). Though first published .in 1937, A. M. Hamilton’s “Road Through Kurdistan,” describing four years’ engineering work in the Kurdistan mountains, is as fresh as ever, and the publication of the 1958 edition will surely Justify the publisher’s courage.