BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2486, 12 June 1915, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

"A SURCEON IN BELCIUM." 'As the war proceeds narratives of the part played by medioal men in the colossal struggle whioh is drenching Europe Tilth blood are bound to become ' more and more numerous. One of the most interesting of such records is that entitled "A Surgeon in Belgium" (Edward Arnold), the author, Dr. H. S. Souttar, F.R.0.5., an assistant surgeon at the Wost London Hospital, having been one of the surgeons in charge of the British Field Hospital for Belgium, which began its work ' in Antwerp last September with 150 beds and a staff > of eight doctors and twenty nurses. On October 9, in view of the German occupation, the hospital was compelled to leave Antwerp, the retirement being effected in good. order, over a hundred patients ■Doing removed on seven motor-buses. The hospital was next set up at Fumes, .where, when the author's narrative closed (in January last), it was 6iill at work, acting as_ the official field hospital for the Belgian Army. As my readers are aware, Furnes is still close up to the trenches in the filing line, and the work of the hospital I"£6 differed therefore considerably in character'from that of the ba-e Jiospilt'ls, in some cases important operaiuns beacter carried out within an hour of the patient being wounded. Many novel problems of supply and maintenance have necessarily been brought under the author's notice, and are dealt .with in a maimer which makes them very interesting, both from a military and medical point of view. The book is not, however, wholly devoted to descriptions of hospital work, for during his stay in Belgium, Dr. Souttar had many opportunities of visiting places already famous in the histcry of the war, such as Termonde, Malines, Louvain and Ypres. The autaor never descends to tie. cheaply sensational, and it is evident that he writes with a, keen sense of responsibility, bom oi a natural desire to to fair and accurate. Tributes to Belgian coinage, to (Belgian heroism, are fraquent in this unpretentious, but deeply interesting narrative. The author _ was specially impressed by the simplicity and the transparent honesty of the people, both 'soldiers and non-combatants. _ "Everywhere we met the same gratitude for iwhat England was doing for Belgium; no one ever referred to the sacrifices .which Belgium had made for England." 'After describing how a company of Belgian soldiers guarded a bridge when it iwas "positively raining shells," and held it "until there was no longer a bridge to hold," Dr. 'Souttar writes : — It was as fiue a piece of quiet heroism as I shall ever see, and it was typical of the Belgian soldier wherever we saw iim. They never made any fuss about it. they were always quiet and selfcontained, and always cheerful. But if they were given a position to hold, they held it. And that is the secret tof tie wonderful losing battle they have fought across Belgium. Some day they ,will advance and not retreat, and then, I think that the Belgian Army will astonish their opponents and their friends too." After describing the peculiarly terrible scene which he had witnessed at the Hospital of St. Elizabeth at the little Belgian town of Lierre, which was deliberately shelled by the Huns, the author remarks: —"Apparently it is not enough to wound women and children ; it is even necessary to destroy the harbour of refuge into which they have crept. The nuns were doing for them everything that was possible under conditions of indescribable difficulty. ■ They may not be trained nurses, but in the records of the war the names of_ the nuns of Belgium ought to be written in gold. Utterly careless of their own lives.' absolutely without fear, they have cared for the sick, the wounded, and the dying, and they have faced any hardship and any danger rather than abandon those who turned to them for . help." A sample horror from Dr. Souttar's account of what occurred at Lierre may be quoted: "As we ( walked along they pointed out to us marks we had not noticed before —red finger marks and splashes of blood on the pale blue 'distemper of the wall." "Four patients had been standing in the doorway of the upper ward. Two were killed; the others,, bleeding and blinded by the explosion, had groped their way along that wall and down the stair." When one reads descriptions such as the above, certain lines by the New Zealand poet. Arthur Adams, in reply to Ernst Lissauer's "Hymn of Hate" seem singularly appropriate. The poet warns Germanv that the day may yet como when Britons one and all will determine Never a compact with you to mako Never a German hand to shake, Never a German word to take— The plighted word that Germans break!— Nover forget, through good and ill ■' 'A German is a German still. Mv friend, when peace . comes, soon, or late, Bemember, Germany is hate! 'Dr. Souttar gives long and interesting descriptions of both Ypres and Furnes and the Yser country generally. The illustrations are numerous and well produced. (New Zealand price, 10s.). A RUSSIAN DICKENS. Mr. T. Fisher Unwin deserves well bf the reading public for having reprinted the English translation of Gogol's famous novel "Dead Souls," first published in 1893, and now reissued with a most illumining and interesting preface by Mr. Stephen Graham. who has within the past two or three years gained widespread literary fame by his excellent books descriptive of latter-day Russia and the Russian people. To those who only know Russian fiction through the novels of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Turgeniev, Gogol's famous story must come as a .complete and welcome change. For albiet a realist of the realists, Nikolai Gogol was a humourist as well. No one would, I think, ever accuse Tolstoy, or Turgeniev, or Dostoevsky, of being humourists. Their work is, as a rule, excessively sombre, alike in style as in motif. But Gogol, notwithstanding lie could hit out as hard as any Russian realist at the evils he saw around him, never failed to perceive tho humorous side of life, and what is more, was quite as ready as was Dickens himself to present that humorous side to his readers. Mr. Graham assures us that "Dead Souls" is the greatest humorous novel in the Russian language. It is, he says, "still the most popular book . in Russia," notwithstanding it was first published as far back as 1842, that is, five years later than the first appearance of 'Dicken's comic epic, the immortal Pickwick. But its appeal is not only to the Russian, it is, Mr. Graham claims, "world wide; even those who have but the remotest idea of Russia and Russian life arc frankly amused when they read it." "Dead Souls," says Mr. Graham, "is Russia itself. Its characters have becomo national types, and are more alluded to iby Russians than arc Mr. Pickwick, ■jSquiro Western, Falstaff, Micawber by us English." Tho title, ,r Dead Souls," certainly does not suggest cither a. (humorous subject or humorous treatment. When, however, its full mean-

ing is explained, it is robbed of all terror. Everything depends on the fact that in the days of Russian serfdom the serfs are alluded to as souls. "You reckoned," says Mr. Graham, "the importance of a man's estate by tho number of souls on it. Thus you said of a man, 'He has a big estate, of Beveral thousand souls,' or of another, 'Oh, he is in a poor way, he has only a few souls; they are terribly ill-fed, and mortgaged, even then. 1 " Dead souls are dead serfs. Tchichikoff, _the hero of the novel, hit upon an ingenious plan for making money. He went about from landowner to landowner, inquiring how many "souls" had died sinco the last census, and persuading the Russian squires to make them over to him on paper. Serfs who were dead were no use to the squire, even though in a technical sense they did still exist, and could be legally transferred. Tchichikoff drew up bills of sale, and purchased several thousand dead souls, hoping to be able to raise money on the security of those souls. His dream was to have an estate of his own, with a fine complement of life serfs. By telling the stories of his adventures, Gogol unveils a picture of Russia. Being the stor.v of a man wandering from town to town, the story has been likened to Don Quixote, Gil Bias, and Tom Jones, but it is specially rich, not only in scenes of wayside adventure, but in satirical character sketches. "Dead Souls" should be read by all who wish to have some knowledge of Russian life and character. Many of the life scenes depicted in Gogol's humorous masterpiece—not all his stories are in humorous rein—carry with them what must be for the English a certain exotic atmosphere, so utterly different are tliey from scenes in English life, even of a period contemporary with that of Gogol s production. But, after all, the small Russian. landowner and the Russian peasant is to-day very much the same as in 1840, despite the freeing of the serfs, or souls, and in any case, although it may have certain longueurs, the story makes most entertaining reading. In its new edition the old Russian favourite should find a host of readers. (Price 65.) SOME PATRIOTIC VERSE. From Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs comes a booklet, entitled "The Song of the All-Red Realm," the author being Mr. S. Clarke Johnson, of Wellington. The main portion of Mr. Johnson's ode was written, he tells us : n his preface, nearly a year before the outbreak of hostilities. "A battle touch .has since been given here and there, but the essential aim remains, viz., that of an Empire Song, suitable in general character for any occasion." The laudable ambition of the author to write a poem which should create in the hearts of Britpns, of the Motherland and the outlying portion of tie Empire alike, a spirit of increased patriotism and a determination to work for unity and consequently increased strength, and for Imperial purposes, disarms criticism. Mr. Johnson's poetic efforts are somewhat uneven, and at times his powers o f literary execution may have fallen short of the importance of his subject and the intensity of his own. fine spirit of patriotism; , But the ode contains many striking and eloquent passages. The "National Invocation," for instance, may suggest memories of Kipling's "Recessional," but Mr. Johnson can claim credit for having his own gifts of thought and expression, as may be seen by the following quotation:— God of tho Nations All 1 Father of Old! Whose arm alone can save our wave and wold, Bend down Thine ear, and, listening, hear us pray That Faith and Wisdom keep us in the Way. Smite, not in wrath, nor close Thy pitying eye, But touch the blemishes and purify, That, cleansed and sharpened, we arising see The Shining Path which leadeth up to Thee. 0 God, whilst Armageddon's furies play, And myrmidons rush forth to strike and slay, Amidst the clash of swords and glittering spears, ' With sound of shattering thunder in our ears, Give heart that fiincheth not at trumpet blast, — Stretch forth Thine Hand and hold us firm and fast; Give mightiest grace through mortal strife, that we All else forgetting, yet Remember Thee. God of the Battle-ranks 1 Our march inspire; Grant Thou the mantling cloud and Shaft of Fire; Great Ruler of all Realms! be Thou our Guide, Whatever of good may come, or ill betide, Lord God Omnipotent! 0 keep us free From doom of dynasties disowned by Thee; Through falling years and happenings ' of Time, ' Give Trust and Hope, strong, simple, and sublime. Two shorter poems, entitled respectively "The Weal of the Wide, Wide World" and "War and' Pcace," are included in this little book. In each of these supplementary poems the patriotic spirit is strongly dominant. Mr. Johnson's poems should find many readers at the present time. Published at a shilling, the proceeds of the sale of the book will go to swell the Patriotic and Belgian Funds.