NEW FICTION

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

NEW FICTION

Don Chato. By Anne Sinclair Mehdevi. Goilancz. 275 pp.

I The publishers describe the hero iof this novel as “a magnificent I comic character, and no doubt there is a certain amplitude in the way, Don Chato deals with his anxieties, and outfaces the troubles that dog his footsteps. However, it is not exactly comic to have such exalted ideas without the slightest hope of seeing any of them realised in one’s daily life. Don Chato is a gentleman in the old Spanish style, a sort of Don Quixote up to date. ; He has to be careless about the (means of getting a living, so long as the effect can be made to seem impressive. It follows that he has to be disinterested with regard .to money, and as he is very poor to begin with, the results are always painful. By profession he is the physician of the 'wretched little village of Neg,resco; but this post is particularly (unrewarding. Don Chato is little 'more than a quack, and he never expects people to pay him, even if he could bring himself to present a bill. A win in a lottery gives him a short spell of opulence, during which time he meets Miss Eva, an American lady on holiday, who takes an interest in him. She decides he should go off to Mexico, resume his studies and qualify as a real doctor. The idea is admirable, and Don Chato (makes his preparations. But for him nothing can really prosper; for he- finds that Miss Eva, with her brisk American commonj sense, is really destroying the illusions of grandeur by which he lives. His sudden reaction is [dramatic, but also fatal. Don Chato's last adventure was indeed a desperate one.

Lasso Round the Moon. By Agnar Mykle. Barpe and Rockliff. 459 pp.

This large volume is the first part of a trilogy that has been widely read in Scandinavia. It is the story of a man’s life told in great detail and with an air of authority that is sometimes startling. Agnar Mykle is nothing if not a realist. His hero, Ash, however, leaves the reader somewhat puzzled, for although sensitive to other people’s feelings, he is often careless and rash in his actions. This is particularly noticeable in his relations with women. Ash blunders from one situation to another and a lifestory so disorganised and reckless is unlikely to have much appeal, except to unusually patient readers.

The Sword and the Promise. By Benjamin Siegel. Gollancz. 311 pp.

Mr Siegel has overloaded his novel, set in the time of Hadrian, with historical references, and weakened it further by the gratuitous use of words such as “threnody,” “rhapsode.” “thaumaturgist.” and of mock archaic speechrhythms. The adventures and conflicts of his hero, a Greek physician who is captured by the Romans and escapes to take refuge in the Jewish quarter of Alexandria, lose a great deal of their dramatic power because of the over-abundance of detail. This is a pity, since Mr Siegel is obviously capable of writing a moving and challenging novel.

Rebel Against the Light. By Alexander Ramali. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 215 pp.

The central figure in this novel is a Polish Jew who rejoins his family in Palestine, at the time of the fighting of 1946-47. His experiences, his hopes and fears, his idealism and his partial disillusionment reflect those of his people and his country—the new Israel, where friends and neighbours may also be foreigners, and where loyalty to a country is a new, intoxicating, and sometimes bewildering expansion of habitual loyalty to a people and culture. Mr Ramali has a clear understanding of the people and problems on which the novel is based, and his treatment is percipient, sympathetic, and honest

Goodbye, Old Dry. by Dan Cushman. Hodder and Stoughton. 255 pp.

“Goodbye, Old Dry” is something of a surprise. It is set in 1921, when Montana was parched with drought, and farmers were walking off their farms and going anywhere to get away from the State. The humour is of the slow, rustic American type that no-one seems to be exploiting any longer. Altogether "Goodbye, Old Dry” is a period piece, but none the worse for that. Like the rest of the State the town of Concabula is facing ruin, when it is electrified by the arrival of Dr. Charles Downey, PhD., Sc.D., F.R.A.S. Dr. Downey, who is not long cut of prison, is a financial wizard and an enthusiastic promoter of civic well-being. He is, in fact, an O. Henry character, and this book relates his rise to power in Concabula and then his sudden eclipse. “Goodbye, Old Dry” is pleasant reading for those who appreciate the atmosphere of an era that has now closed for ever.

The Big Company Look. By J. Harvey Howells. Joseph. 320 pp.

Mr Howells apparently knows the world of American big business inside out. He has written a very readable novel about a young salesman’s struggle to reach high executive rank and to dominate the organisation that employs him. Jackson Pollett, to begin with, is a likeable person, happily married, and without a touch of envy in his disposition. He soon finds, however,' that he is ambitious and begins to pit his brains against those of his associates. He plans his career as if it were a campaign. Everything is sacrified at the altar of business success. One of the most exciting moments in the book comes two thirds of the way through, when Jackson switches from one firm to another, acquiring a large block of shares in the process. But the pace is too furious to be healthy and the climax can almost be foreseen. “The Big Company Look” is, nevertheless, an impressive first novel.

Trout’s Testament. By Ronald Fraser. Jonathan Cape. 191 PP-

The third in a series of novels begun with “A Visit From Venus.” and “Jupiter in the Chair,” this continues the story of the cosmic researches of a group of decidedly upper-class Englishmen, now visiting the remote kingdom of Jellallabad. They are in turn visited by such unusual guests as Pluto, Mars and Jove. A saving touch of whimsy is added to the bizarre concoction by the butler, Troutbeck, by whom the story is told. No doubt Sir Ronald Fraser’s novels will reconcile many to the loss of Charles Williams.