PENGUIN LIBRARY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29222, 4 June 1960, Page 3

PENGUIN LIBRARY

“Voss”, by Patrick White (448 pp.) has attracted .attention as one of the most notable of Australian novels. Less concerned than most Australian writers with catching a local idiom and trying to build a new tradition from the beginning, Patrick White nevertheless comes nearer to making an driginal statement about Australian life than those who have fought clear ,of the European tradition. ' The theme of the book is superficially the exploration of the Australian interior, but the real ttysme is the exploration of the “deserts of the soul.” It is * unusual among modern works in its successful handling of what is really a tragic theme. John Wain’s “Hurry On Down” (252 pp.) initiated the •‘movement” in the English novel in which Kingsley Amis is another prominent figure. His satire or cynicism is perhaps aimed at features of English life which do not correspond closely with our own, but this book as a representative of the kind has had its admirers in New Zealand too.

“Zither Men’s Flowers” is an anthology compiled by the late Field Marshal Earl Wavell, originally for his own relaxation. -It is a personal choice; his son thought it rathdr old-fashioned. It contains only poems Lord Wavell had learned by heart.