A selection of titles likely to appeal as Christmas gifts

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 13

A selection of titles likely to appeal as Christmas gifts

FICTION Herman Wonk's “The Winds of War” (Collins, $6.15) has created great interest. Author of "The Caine Mutiny,” Wouk has written a navel of scope and grandeur, portraying a family caught up in the early stages of World War n. Solzhenitsyn’s “August 1914” (Bodley Head, $7.25) has been compared to "War and Peace”—indeed, Tolstoy is introduced as a ’ character in the novel. “August 1914“ is the first of a series of interlinked novels whose theme is the growing-pains of modem Russia. “Strangers and Journeys" is a 600-page novel by Maurice Shadbolt, a work he has been shaping for 10 years. This New Zealand author has a deserved reputation for memorable characters and descriptions. "Strangers and Journeys” is published by Hodder and Stoughton at $8.40. A house full of pardoned prisoners ... a Yuletide party . . . and Inspector Roderick Alleyn: Dame Ngaio Marsh’s new novel •Tied up in Tinsel” (Collins, $3.80) promises to sell very well. “Day of the Jackal” was a very successful novel about the attempted assassination of General de Gaulle. Frederick Forsyth has followed this up with “The Odessa File” (Hutchineon, $5.00), the story of a * plot by the Egyptians and

some former S.S. men to bomb Israel with nuclear waste and bubonic plague. It is fictional. CHILDREN Prudence and Anthony Harvey, and Sally and Peter Snell’s “New Zealand Girls* Book of Crafts, Pets, Sports and Hobbies” (Longman Paul, $3.50) is a companion volume to the book for boys. A practical Christmas gift.

published by the Brockhampton Press at $2.10. NON-FICTION “The Half-Gallon Quarteracre Pavlova Paradise” is a title that would seem to be taking the rise out of the Kiwi. The book more than justifies the title. Austin Mitchell, who seems willing to take responsibility for the text, asked Les Gibbard to draw some cartoons for the book. The result should ensure that Gibbard remains an expatriate. The success of this book (it is in its fourth printing) supports Mitchell’s contention that we eagerly devour books about ourselves. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd, had the gall to publish it and charge $3.95. “Alone in a Mountain World: a High Country Anthology,” collected by David McLeod. This anthology offers accounts of high country life by Samuel Butler, Peter Newton, Joff Thomson and others. Published by A. H. and A. W. Reed at $6.50, it is casebound and has numerous line illustrations. James McNeish, author of the best-selling novel about Mackenzie, has turned from fiction to historical detection in his new book, “The Mackenzie Affair” (Hodder and Stoughton, $5.20).