Prize-Winning Novels

Press, Volume C, Issue 29674, 18 November 1961, Page 3

Prize-Winning Novels

[These novels won the fit st and second •prizes in the literary competition held by the “Otago Daily Times” to mark its centennia< ]

An Affair of Men. By Errol Brathwaite. Collins and Otago Daily Times. 255 PP. Mr Brathwaite is already well known in this country as the author of “Fear in the Night,” a story of the war in the Pacific, which held the attention by it? adroit use of fear and suspense. From one point of view the latest novel, “An Affair of Men,” may be thought", of as growing out of "Fear In The Night.” This time, however, it is the Japanese patrol and, in particular, 'the officer commanding it, Captain Tomoyuki Itoh. that engages the writer's interest. The patrol is out in the jungle of Bougainville intent on catching up with an Australian aircrew, whose plane has been destroyed. This enemy is never seen by the patfol, only dimly heard of and soon to vanish altogether in the rough mountain country. Nor is it long before the. Japanese themselves are at a standstill. The terrain is impossible; the qompass does not' give a true bearing (a hint of symbolism here, no doubt); and the natives behave unpredictably. When Captain Itoh first appears, leading his men along the jungle trail, he is very much the self-possessed professional soldier, ruthless in doing what he conceives to be his duty. Deliberately misled by the headman at Onovi, he arrives at last at Sikuri, a remote fastness controlled by Sedu, a Christian,; who lives according to a literal reading of the Sermon on the Mount. The people pt Sipurl are enemies to no mto. It is nothing to them whether his skin is black, yellow or white. Captain Itoh is not impressed. To begin with, he beats Sedu and shoots one of his men. He is the representative of the conquering race. It is at this point that the, true theme of the novel appears—the strange, almost spiritual, conflict between two leaders of men. Captain Itoh ana Sedu.

One after another misfortunes come upon the patrol. Headhunters in the villages around Sipuri are restless.

A sergeant with a small detachment is ambushed. No runner-can succeed in getting back again to the coast. It finally dawns upon Captain Itoh that he is in fact a prisoner. He becomes convinced that the kindly attitude of the villagers of Sipuri is part of a subtle scheme that has destroyed his force and that will ultimately kill him. Few readers will fail to see what the issue must be. Itoh cannot escape, and he cannot bear to admit what becomes obvious even to a stiff-necked soldier like himself —the fact that. Sedu, a black man, is his superior in moral force and intellectual formation. In itself, “An Affair of Men” is an absorbing story. It is also remarkable as dealing exclusively with nonEuropeans. To judge Mr Brathwaite’s achievement in creating the character of Captain Itoh would ♦(demand

Long Night Among The Stars. By Pat Booth. Collins and Otago Daily Times. 191 PPMr Booth’s vividly impressionistic novel will be read with great interest, particularly by those who admire what is up to date, even sensationally so. No other novel quite like this one has come out of New Zealand before. Not that there is anything ponderous about "Long Night Among The Stars.” In fact, Mr Booth is the most informal of writers, although it would be a mistake to dismiss him as careless or his work as slipshod. The book shows the style of a practised hand; the nervous pace of the idiom suggests that it is an ideal medium for a

story of experiences that are unique and come helter skelter. With his journalist’s instinct the author has taken as his theme the biggest story of the last decade—man’s flight into space. By a pleasing fiction, this is a British rocket—the “Emperor”—and the astronaut is English. Here, New Zealand readers, at least, will make “that willing suspension of disbelief which constitutes poetic faith.” The story opens a few days before the countdown; and the scene changes from Australia to New Zealand and then back to Australia again. During that short time the hero, Darlon Johnson, lives with unnatural intensity. The intimate aspects of life take on a heightened meaning, and everything seems to call up sequences of echoes from the past. Personal relationships are hectic; but as there is so little time for Johnson “to look his last on all things lovely,” these things reveal themselves faithfully and with precision. He sees afresh his married life with Martha and the children; for once he speaks with perfect sincerity to a chance-met sympathetic stranger from Picton or thereabouts. Ironically detached, he deals with the important persons who will win fame and fortune, if his exploit is successful. The countdown comes in the last chapter; and the author expresses the climax in terms of another skill, when he calls it “the moment of truth.” All this is told with a wealth of detail concerning men and machines that must be admired, although it is never obstrusive. “Long Night Among The Stars” was awarded second prize in the “Otago Daily Times” Centennial Competition. With such a theme and with a title like that, what more could a reader desire?