BOOKS and AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 166, 10 April 1926, Page 25

BOOKS and AUTHORS.

By

LIBER.

Give a man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he can read: And his home is bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed. ’ — JAMES THOMSON.

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

'‘The Red Inquisition.” It is a sad and sorry story which George Popoil has to toil in his book, “The-Tcheka: The Red Inquisition” (A. M Philpot and Co.) M. Popoff has had all too much reason to remember the Tcheka, the political secret police, which is, as he says, “the embodiment of the Bolshevik system of government.” Acting in Moscow, in 1922, as correspondent for various European and American newspapers, he was suddenly arrested and dragged through the Tcheka prisons, being subjected by the Red Inquisition to a complete system of moral and physical torture. Even after his release attempts were made to entangle him in the net of their tortuous and sinister political schemes, and lie was eventually forced to flee from Russia, which he succeeded in doing after many sensational adventures. M. Popoff declares that the Tcheka is the bearer of that Asiatic spirit, which, joined in a curious union with the Western doctrine of Marxism, makes Soviet Russia what it is. It is true that the Tcheka, this Tartaric, despotic police system, was inherited by the Russian Communists from Tsarism, but to-day its original tyrannies and downright villainies are, he maintains, multiplied tenfold Not even during the Reign of Terror which placed such a horrible record to the discredit of France were the doings of the revolutionary police more tyrannical and positively bloodstained than those of the Red Inquisition, as here detailed so unsparingly and so convincingly by the author. The story makes it clear that the Bolshevist Government, which claims to be treated as an equal by civilised nations, is maintained in power only by the support of an organisation “based, upon espionage, blackmail, outrage, and downright murder.” The “Tcheka” is one of the most sensational contributions to the inner history of Russia of late years that we have yet had. (Price, 135.)

A Private Detective's Memories. A novelist in search of a plot could not do better than to peruse very carefully the long series of curious and sensational experiences which have fallen to the lot of Mr. Herbert Mar-

shall, the doyen of London’s private detectives, and the author of "Memories of a Private Detective” (Hutchinson and Co.; Whitcombe and Tombs). As Mr. Thomas says in his brief preface, “xyhereas many of the ex-convicts, exsolicitors, et hoc genus liomme, who flood our magazines with tales of crimes and cases of the inner history of whicli they possess but a superficial knowledge, Mr. Marshall writes from the actual experiences pf thirty years’ work.” These

have 'now been set in a narrative by Air. Thomas, who has not only had many thrilling tales to tell, but tells them in an eminently readable way. In his day Air. Marshall has been entrusted with the solving of many criminal problems, often working with Scotland Yard, but in other cases acting confidentially for persons of considerable social eminence indirectly interested in cases the full details of which it was not always desirable should meet the public eye. The variety of the private detective’s experiences must rave been astonishingly wide. He has had to thwart and defeat the ends of cosmopolitan- rascals, blackmailers, racing swindlers, to discover the whereabouts of missing millionaires, to chase diamond thieves, to outwit kidnappers, to save titled people from awkward results of foolish escapades, to restore harmony into matrimonial menages where sad discord reigned, to expose gambling-house keepers, to rescue imprudent young men from the clutches of greedy Shylocks—indeed, there is no end to his many activities. This is an exceptionally readable book, giving a curious insight into some very devious wavs of life and social happenings. (165.). The Eternal Feminine.

Austin Harrison, ex-editor of “The English Review,” so brilliant a periodical when under his guidance, and son of, the famous Comtist and sociologist, Frederic Harrison, generally views life, letters and current events, from a singularly fresh and original outlook. Under the tifle “Pandora’s Hope” (Allen and Unwin) Mr. Harrison has written one of the most frankly candid and entertaining studies of the "eternal feminine” we have had for some years from an English writer.

He studies the modern—now much “emancipated”—woman froin "F; angles and in many lights; ph> sk.al, pathological, and psychological, ending she has many . attributes of which man has too often Rented himself the sole possession speedily and warmly trouncing the sel-satisfactiou U the anti-feminism of the German.school. But he is no undiscriminating champion of feminism; he is no propagandist. He can be as severely critical of woman’s fads and foibles and l au “ s as he can pointedly scrutinise the same demerits in .man. He deals with sex differentations from a courageous biological standpoint, and ms analyses and judgments, however, in detail, they may be challenged, must at least be accredited with being based upon striking candour, acute perception and sound judgment. Ihe book has been well described as a brilliaut piece of analysis, a challenging exposition of woman in the equalitanan state, and a creative contribution to the cause of sex and sociology.” (13s. 6d.)

The Airplane and the North Pole. In view of the revival of interest tn the possibility of reaching the North Pole by means of airplanes which attaches to the projected new expedition to be headed by an Australian, Captain Wilkins, the publication of a new book, “By Airplane Towards the North Pole,’ by Walter Mittelholzer and others (Allen and Unwin), is timely. ’lhe author, a Swiss airman, here gives a fascinating account of an expedition to Spitzbergen in the summer of 1923, which was accessory to Amundsen's plucky but ill-destined attempt to reach the North Pole by airplane. Apart from the many valuable technological details of airplauing in the Arctic and of the almost dramatically exciting experiences of the fliers, the work also _ presents a specially interesting description of the far-away and still little-known island of Spitzbergen, and shows how, in some of the most difficult regions of the world, aviation is now being used to enrich the science of cartography. A valuable feature of a work which is very well written and is possessed of an agreeably human touch which makes it so eminently readable, is a long series of reproductions of photographic views of what must be an exceedingly beautiful far-northern land. (Price, 13s. 6d.) In Search of Reality.

Under the title, “In Search of Reality: Organic Evolution” (Duckworth and Co.), Mr. J. S. Williams provides a consideration of the problems, both religious and biological, presented by the theory of organic evolution, and attempts to show that recent discoveries go a long wav to bridge the gulf between science and religion caused by the Darwinian theories of half a century ago. The author holds a study of the physical aspects of heredity “to be an essential prelude to the consideration of the more complex problems of human and animal psychology, wherein lie hidden the answers to the great riddles of life.” It is from this point of view that he has endeavoured to understand and interpret the various scientific views of organic evolution. (Price, 7s. 6d.)

“The Circe of the Deserts.” Under the title “The Circe of the Deserts” (Hurst and Blackett, per Whitcombe and Tofltbs), a .Freicli author, M. Paule Henri Bordeaux, has written an exceptionally interesting biography of an English lady whose romantic and eccentric behaviour in the early years of the last century was a source of much interest. This was Eady Hester Stanhope, a niece of the great Pitt, to whom she acted as secretary. Suddenly renouncing connection with the world of politics and society, Lady Stanhope went on a trip to the travelling in Syria and elsewhere, and finally settling on Mount Lebanon, where she became a sort of uncrowned Queen of the Druses. Although undoubtedly a most eccentric woman, she acquired an immense influence over the peoples of Syria. Her scientific attainments were far beyond the ordinary and, her commanding nud outstanding personality enabled her to acquire for her what was for a time a singularly dominating influence over the tribes. M. Bordeaux lias evidently made a special study of the Louden of Lady Hester’s period, and when his heroine reaches Syria he traces her remarkable career in great

and most interesting detail. A portrait of the lady in Eastern dress serves as a frontispiece. (Price, 165.) “Hullo Australians 1” Mr. Seymour Hicks, the English ac-tor-manager, visited Australia a year or two ago and scored some considerable professional success. In a pleasantly written book, “Hullo, Australians” (Duckworth and Co., Sydney, The Cornstalk Publishing Company), Mr Hicks, in the assumed character of an English tourist, Mr. Green, chats pleasantly, if satirically, and in places with

a gently sub-acid sarcasm, upon Australian cities and towns, upon the people of the great southern continent, their virtues and their faults and foibles, upon, the scenery, social institutions, and general social life of the Australians. Mr Hicks has some six hits at the pervading British ignorance of the character and importance of the great Commonwealth, but does not fail to exercise bis undoubted powers of satire upon the Australians • themselves. It is a very readable book, which, however,’ indicates, 1 fancy, a desire and intention on the part of its author to again visit Australia before very long lie lets the Australian down so noticeably lightly that it is to be feared he is often far more complimentary than sincere. (Price 75.) The Philosophy of Labour.

Mr. Delisle Burns has a certain renutation as an authority on Labour problems, international relations, and sociological subjects generally. Ills little book, “The Philosophy of Labour” (Allen and Unwin) is claimed to be an attempt to state the point of view of workers who regard labour as the most important factor in the life of the communitv. who are therefore proud to be workers, and especially to be manual workers. The book is not a discussion of programmes or politics, but it explains how far the workers’ view undermines traditional admiration for wealth, and establishes a new basis for industrial and political organisation. It is a work of no small importance and value to all students of many of the most prominent political and industrial problems cf the day (55.).

SOME RECENT FICTION "The Best Short Stories of 1925.’* “The Best Short Stories of 1925” (No. 1, English), edited by E. J. O’Brien and John Cournos (Jonathan Cape, per Whitcombe and Tombs), is the fourth volume of a very interesting scries. In previous volumes the editors have given good evidence of their ability to select specially notable examples of this particular genre of fiction, and this year's collection contains many particularly original and impressive storie's. Mrs. Viola Garvin’s pathetic study of an old maid, “Miss Wickers,” exhibits a fine delicacy and subtle charm in its presentation of a fate-disfavoured woman, whose love for an illegitimate child, of which she generously takes charge, is convincingly described. There is a fine Hindu tale by Marmaduke Pickhall, whose “Said the Fisherman” first stamped the author as a specially keen observer of Oriental life, and a striking South African yarn by Francis Brett Young, all three being brilliant examples of this class of fiction. Other authors represented include Liam O’Flaherty, the brilliant young Irish writer, whose “Informer” . last year won such laudatory criticism, D. H. Lawrence, Hugh Walpole, T. F. Powys, A. E. Coppard, and that almost over-clever lady, Princess Bibesco, whose story, the first and longest in the book, is an exceptionally fine effort. As usual, Messrs. O'Brien and Cournos give as appendices a useful index to tlie best British and Irish stories, a list of articles on the short story, and a record of the short stories republished in volume form. The book provides a rich store of fiction of a specially high merit, and is certainly a “book for keeps” by all who highly esteem- the best in literature.

“The Crime at Vanderlynden’s.” “The Crime at Vanderlynden’s,” by R. H. Mottram (Cliatto and Windus) completes the trilogy of war stories which began with that highly original and convincingly realistic novel, “The Spanish Farm” (which won the Hawthornden prize two years ago), and was succeeded by the same author’s “Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four.” Mr. Mqttiam’s last story suffers from a certain thinness of interest. There is indeed no plot, as the term is generally understood, the “crime” which provides the motif of Cajitain Dornier's war experiences being the violation of a rural shrine by a cockney soldier in search

of a shelter for his two mules. The story is almost wholly concerned with the extraordinary display of “red tape” with which Dormer Has to contend in following the order to track down the culprit and accept and support the claim of our old friends the Vauderlyndens for pecumaty compensation. Mr Mottrara repeats himself not a little, but yet again we find that wonderfully self-possessed Flemish woman, Madame Vanderlynden, a singularly convincing figure, and the story should be read by all who know the two preceding novels in which she appears. As a series of subsidiary pictures of both military and civil life in the Flemish war zone, and of the varying influences brought to beat upon British officers during the whole period of the great struggle, the three stories are possessed of a distinctly valuable historical interest. Two Detectives. Our old friend, the ex-New Zealander Fergus Hume, the Dunedinite who made his first hit with his colonially-published

“shocker,” “The Mystery of a Hansom Cab,” is to the front again with “The Caravan Mystery” (Hurst and Blackett, per Ferguson and Osborn). The story begins with the murder of an arrogant, disagreeable woman, Lady Hamber, whose body is placed on a bed of a demobbed young officer of good family, who, as a post-war experience, is reduced to travelling as a pedlar. Various people, the dead woman’s step-son and step-daughter among others, _ are. suspected of the murder, but the identity of who is the actual perpetrator is net disclosed. indeed unsuspected, until the closing chapter. Mr. Hume has still but a hazy idea of real humour, and one at least of his figures is grotesquely unconvincing. But a “rattling yarn” in its own way.

Clever Carolyn Wells, the American author of so many highly intriguing det five yarns, is perhaps scarcely at her best in her latest story, “The Daughter of the House” (Lippincott, per Whitcombe and Tombs), which begins with the sudden disapp arance of a young lady on her wedding day, a / sensation closely followed by the brutally, deliberate murder of her wealthy father at their country house. The twin mystery is seemingly unsolvable, but that clever detective, Fleming Stone, an old figure in Miss Wells’s mystery fiction, is called in—and, well, for the solution our readers must go to the. story itself. Just a little vague and not a little unconvincing in certain of its details, but quite readable. Shorter Notices.

“A Gay Lover,” by Rutherford Crockett (Collins, per Whitcombe and Tombs). Remembering past pleasures derived from many books of that too prolific writer, S. R. Crockett, we took up “A Gay Lover,” by his daughter, with some anticipation. We were not disappointed. The faults of the story are the faults of first novels generally. Had the dialogue been judiciously pruned the story would have been considerably strengthened. There is no trace of her father’s influence, and the plot and situations show the author to be possessed of a fine creative faculty, humour, and a turn for sarcasm. “The Sons of The Sheik,” by.E. M. Hull (Nash and Grayson, London, per Dyniock’s, Sydney). The success of Mrs. Hull’s other volumes, “The Sheik,” “The Shadow of the East,” etc., has placed that writer well up among the “best sellers” in Britain and U.S.A. “The Sons of the Sheik” may fail to enhance, but can. in no way detract from that well-deserved reputation.

“Prisoners,” by Franz Molnar (Duckworth, London, per -Whitcombe and Tombs). The name of Franz Molnar hitherto has been knotvn to us as a clever journalist and dramatist, and, although for a quarter of a century he has held a foremost place among Hungarian novelists, this is the first of his novels to be translated into English. The translator has done his work well. Nowhere does a phrase or idiom strike the reader as odd. The basis of the tale is the old one—one woman ,and two men—but it is so finely conceived and told with such tenderness and restraint as to be all but perfect. "One Dreamer Who Awakes,” by E. Shaw-Cowley (John Lane, London, per Whitcombe and Tombs). Well up to the standard of the author’s two earlier volumes, “The Drawn Line” and “Prisoners of State,” this is the history of a girl reared in the lap of luxury, who, reduced to poverty, becomes the mistress of a rich man. Eventually she finds, to her, a satisfactory way out of the tangle. The tale maintains its interest to the close.