No Decision Yet By Dept. On 'The Group

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30471, 19 June 1964, Page 1

No Decision Yet By Dept. On 'The Group

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, June 18.

The Customs Department has not yet decided whether it should take any action on Mary McCarthy’s novel, “The Group.” It has not yet obtained a copy of the book, though an officer of the department said today lie expected to examine the novel in the next week. “I would like to take a brief look at it,” he said.

The book came to the attention of the department as a result of action in two States in Australia, and the officer said that it was therefore obliged to peruse the book. No complaint has been made.

He said the department was aware copies had been on sale for some months, and that libraries received copies last year. Instructions were sent to branch offices in April to supply the department with the next copy of the book to arrive in the country.

If the department had doubts about the decency of the book its reputation as a book of literary merit would mean it would be referred to the Indecent Publications Tribunal for a ruling. Novel Defended

“The Group” is a book of great literary merit, in the judgment of Professor J. C. Garrett, professor of English at the University of Canterbury. “I don’t think it should be detained,” he said. “It’s a serious novel by a novelist of great ability. As a study of a representative group of educated American women in the 1930’s it is very illuminating.” Since the Australian state

of Victoria banned “The Group” in March there has been a long waiting list for it at the Canterbury Public Library. But the librarian (Mr R. N. O'Reilly) would not say yesterday how many were now waiting to read it. "It’s not something we talk about," he said. Mr W. G. Lowrie. the district collector of Customs in Christchurch, has not read the book, and has not taken any steps to "detain" it. Bookseller’s View

“I should be perfectly happy to sell to the Customs Department a copy of The Group,’ now or as long as I have it in stock," said Mr G. Tait, a Christchurch bookseller, yesterday. “And what is more I sincerely hope they will enjoy it as have thousands of New Zealanders who have already read this delightfully adult book.

“ The Group’ has been selling freely for several months. Surely it would be much simpler for the department to buy copies of books they think might be indecent rather than invoke cumbersome machinery of their department, make goats of themselves, and annoy the booklovers of this country,” said Mr Tait.