BOOKS of the WEEK

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 267, 6 August 1932, Page 17

BOOKS of the WEEK

Reviews and Passing Notes

THE CASE OF D. H. LAWRENCE

Mrs. Carswell’s Book; Sheds Some New Light “The Savage Pilgrimage,” a narrative of D. H. Lawrence, by Catherine Carswell (London: Chatto and . Windns). No-one yet Ms proceed in English * full and convincing study of p. H. LqWreiiM; which is precisely whqt Lawrence, as one who is easily misunderstood, might very properly have demanded. Mr. MacCarthy’s excellent phrase, “an aesthete' who constantly mistook himself for a moral teacher,” is sq fa? the shortest and perhaps the best diagnosis. It has the advantage of generality, and is, to a large extent, true, fiut; it is not .quite fair to. Lawrence, either in its turn of expression or in its neglect of Lawrence’s very real appreciation of himself as a moralist, aii appreciation that can be fully explained in honest, human terms. Mrg. Carswell’s hew book, in which she theorises far less than she might, coptains here and there In its wealth of excellent narrative, fragments which are both credible and illuminating to Anyone whd believes that Lawrence cau be understood with greater simplicity and completeness than writers have so far shown. Whether Lawrence is worth understanding. Which many might deny, introduces at once the subject of value, and for this reason, if no other, Law. rfence deserves to be entirely understood by a critic before, being either raised on a pedestal or cast away. One who endeavours in this way |o anticipate the Inevitable effect, of the passage of time will flhff 14 Mrs, Carswell’s absorbing account of Lawrence s life an occasional point of exceptional value. .The greatest of these Is probably that Lawrence once .remarked thaf (he establishment of pure relationships was what made heaven. That is a key—almost the skeleton, key—to thh Whole .of Lawrence. His response to everything on earth was, as far as he coujd make it, pure and electrical. It Is what accounts both for Mr. Forster . calling him “the greatest imaginative novelist,” and for the hugeness of his output during his writing years. From Mrs. Carswell pomes also the Intimate news of Lawrence’s affection for He Quincey. On the previous day, he told her, he had been "laughing over” De Quincey on Goethe. Laughter of this kind is a true mark'Of sympathy, and the sympathy between the two goes deep. For Lawrence, afc for De Qtiincey. the self Was.the centre of all experience. Yet his egoism, to reach its ideal, was egoism a deux. “It needs a man and a woman to create ariything,”.he said. ■ “Thete is nothing that can be created save of two, & two-fold spirit.” And elsewhere,' 1 ! think people ought to fulfil sacredly their desires.’. Here was his argument against Christianity. Mr; Middleton Murry was nbt quite right. And again elsewhere, “the essence of poetry with us in this age of stark and unlovely actualities is a stark directness, Without a. shadow of a lie." ■ . The quotations are gathered' from Mrs. Carswell’s book; , and knowing. Lawtence’s-wlld contempt for- the pastand i restless longing for “the quivering future,” the critic is in 4 position to estimate his value. Because Lawrence wrote his creed. He was a genuine moralist. ■ ' But it can be said that his code, whether It might be for richer dr poorer, seems to have come too late. It 19 an “all of nothing” code that iiiranot take hold to-day of a world of compromise. 'Lawfence’s new kind of “noble savage” is never likely to gain a real footing. Yet LitwrehCe's coda has a vividness that seems better each day. ks the inass of people grow more passive and respond more sluggishly. In this respect, perhaps, the disciple of vivid ‘“pure relationships” has left works which will seem to grow in vitality as time passes. As a moralist he may have failed: but as an artist he has succeeded. The .sad, savage pilgrimage may hot have been entirely in Tain. ‘ ,

“ONE RECEIVETH THE PRIZE” - •The" Professional Christian,” by J. C. Hardwick (London: Cape). The author of “The Professional Christian” has written it for , a definite ' putpose,. and the strength of his ■ feelings is apparent in the tinge of bitterness which colours the etory from beginning to end. His chief character is a dmobollsed attny officer who enters the Church as another man might enter tht service of ft bank qr any trading company, determined to succeed by hard work and an ever-ready attention to the wishes of his superiors. The Rev. T. C. Crewe, or, as he later preferred to call himself, the Rev. Oat-rington-Crewe, is one Of a type to be found in all creeds. He has many likable traits, is hail-fellow-well-met with every* one. yet is pretty nearly the complete snob; he is keen, active and energetic, always anxious to stand in a.gOod light, and constantly takes a prominent place in the practices of all good works. Hia beliefs concerning religious doctrine aild ritual never conflict with those held either by his superiors in office or by the majority of his parishioners:, if they appear likely to do bo, he is quite prepared to modify them. In short, he is a good fellow and a. social success. But he has just brie defect—although so far aS it concerns his advancement it seems really unimportant—a lack of anything :>pprOft'ehing Christian humility. To those who require- from a novel other qualities than those of mere amusement, Mr. Hardwick’s indictment can be recommended. It is well-written, its complacent central figure is splendidly portrayed, aiid it points a moral in strongly ironical terms.

PRIMITIVE PEOPLE ‘ •Bright Skin,” by Julia Peterkin (London : Gollancz). White folk do not find a plaee id •'Bright Skin.” That in itself Would make it an uncommon book, but there are at. least two other factors wherein ,t differs from the conventional story of negro life. It has none of the sensationalism that almost invariably obtrudes at Some point or other in buck novels, and it is qiiite unconcerned with the problem of colour prejudice. It is difficult to think of any other novel dealing with the negro in w’hich this question is not st once the mainstay of its plot and almost the sole ■ justification for its existence. Mrs. Peterkin has shown before in •'Scarlet Sister Mary” how Well She understands negro psychology, and in her latest study of a • primitive people she Is equally sympathetic. Her treatment fe at all times restrained. She achieves ■ sense of reality for her characters and aettings without attempting any misuse of local colour. The negroes do. not, for Instance, in moments of stress gather found and Bing epirituals. She tells their story quietly and uneitravagantly, ■nd obtains an effect Which is satisfying and emotionally stirring, while avoiding any approach to undue sentiment.

A DIFFERENT THRILLER “Doctor Fram,” by Scobie Mackenzie (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode). There are three good reasons why noone should miss “Doctor Fram.” It has, firstly, what mystery etoriea rarely have, an unhackneyed theme and a strikingly unusual atmosphere. The writing, moreover, is of a standard seldom met with in thrillers: and if another reason is needed, It lies in the fact that the author is a New Zealander. Mr. Mackenzie has certainly written one of the pest thrillers of the year. , . But it is far from being p thriller in the ordinary sense of the word. It is, rather, a novel , with a strong superficial resemblance to one, because, principally, most of tfte characters are members of a group of' attractive criminals who conduct motor-car robberies on a wholesale scale. But the cars are ohly the best ears, and they are shipped from England for reconditioning at headqyartersj which happens to pe a ruined monastery on the Qalician coast. . Some violences of -the worst kind which'happeh here and there complete the resemblance to the ordinary thriller; but the writffig and, treatment, which are delightfully entertaining, make it considerably different. ; It is the narrative bf Dr, Fram, who was born in Rtissirfin the early years of the cefitury, came to England in IMS, and .later studied medicine at Cambridge, As the introduction sftj-s, "the truth of this matter;is that Doctor Fram han disappeared.’’ Not until the last page does the reader find but why, And at abdut th# same time he gains the information that enables him to gather together all the threads o( a highly complex, story Ahd see plainly, instead- of through a glass darkly, hotv well organised Mr. Mackenzie's story is. Those who like “South Wind;" with who like thrillers, will find in “Doctor FfUm” common ground for appreciation. ■ BEFORE MARRIAGE “Preparation for Man-lags?’ edited, by Kenneth walker, F.R.C.B. (Loudon: Jonathan Cape). This excellent find comparatively.cheap work is "a handbook prepared- by a special committee on .behalf of the British Social Hygiene Council,”, find has btfch written by, the editor from, material furnished by five dietiiieliishhd' contributors. In his foreword, the Right Rev. the Lord: Bishop of Liverpool says: “It seems now to bfe generally recognised that marriage, like other great undertakings, calls for a preparation which cannot bfi left tb nature alone. Many marriages have been wrecked; and others are less successful than they might haye 'been, for lack or knowledge, both physical and psychological, Which soinfi married folk never possess, and oth-ers learn too Ifite. Such knowledge is best acquired from afriChd. Those who have chances of so imparting it will find In this handbook, carefully and judiciously set' forth, most of the' material they nfied. lt will. be almost < 4s useful, to engaged couples with nb such friends ait hand who will be well advised to seek here facts and some bf the prlricipleson which their'life together ..must: ■be based, if it is happily and securely to grow.” ' ■ ■ ' The five contributors and eleven advisees, with the editor and secretary, al! of Whom are jointly responsible for thebook, make an imposing list of some of the most notable figures in the, medical world to-day, But the book itself is eminently practical, in fact completely. so, and neither miheek milters nor. lapses from the sense of proportion it inaihtains throughout in Its treatment of the many sides of intimate human re-: lationships, 1

AN HISTORICAL SCANDAL "Forget-me-Not," by Joseph . Shearing (London: Heinemann). In 1847 a French duke, infatuated with a beautiful girl inhis household, brutally murdered his wife, aiid theft, taking poison, himself died. in great agohy. The horror inspired by this event aroused feel'-, ings in the Parisian populace; which had hot h little to do with the subsequent revolution when Ixiuls Philippe lost his throne. Around the actual faets of this crime Mr, Sheafing (a .pseudonym probably, for the book shows many signs of having been written by a woman) has con? atruCted a story which discloses in detail' the motives , which might have brought about the tragedy. 1 His mdst remarkable achievement in doing so is hiS re-creation of the,, life of Lucille, the girl in the case. Hih description ,of her entry as governess into the; duke's household, nnd the subsequent spreading of her influence over all it# domestic details, together with the .subtle hold she established Over the Huke himself, constitute a wonderful essay in characterdrawing. No reader could really like Lucille any more than the people among whom ehd moved could like her; she is too unscrupulous, too ready to turnevOhtsto her Owii advantage at the cost of no matter whose feelings. But Mr. Shearing’s art is such that she commands throughout a certain respect which, in the days immediately before the murder and again during and after her trial, deepens into a full measure of Sympathy. Considered as a whole, “Forget-me-not, ’ a brilliant reconstruction of a particularly sordid crime, is something of a tour de force. It contains a Wealth of imaginative detail, and that, with its fine characterisation. mokes it a novel decidedly out of the ordinary. A PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA “Two Living and One. Dead,” by Sigurd Christiansen (London: Gollancz). Sigurd Christensen’s novel won first prize in the Inter-Scandinavian Literary Contest of 1931. He lias successfully presented ah unusual theme and has, at the end, given his story a most unexpected twist. He begins with a post office holdup. Three clerks are in the building j one is killed, the second, taken unawares, grapples With the bandits ‘hrid fa knocked senseless, the third finds himself staring at a revolver with the quirk Choice of either handing oter his cash-box or being shot. He decides for life. When events resume their normal tenor, life becomes almost unbearable for him. His best friend is dead; the second clerk is treated as a hero and obtains quick promotion; he is looked on ns a coward nnd his future is blighted. Mt. Christensen’S subsequent development of this exposition is logical and at the same time full Of dramatic interest. His treatment of the main characters shows considerable psychological insight. One of ths most glorious examples of the mixed metaphor—a prize-winner in a recent competition in England—runs as follows: “Your wild fledgling, at present ploughing a lonely futrow, is apt to turntail when there are breakers ahead and desert his post when weighed In the balance, but I feel sure that once his wings have been tried in the fire and he has reaped some treasure from the boughs of wisdom, this delicate young plant will set his hand to the helm and weather his way out of the thorny path, ultimately returning to roost under thfr parental wing, there to find, his own niche in the family quiver and blossom into chip of the old bleck.”

LIFE VIA SCIENCE Mr. Laver’s New & Amusing Experimental Heroine “Nymph Errant,” by James Laver (London: Heinemann). “. . . . And I would say to you, girls, before you go out into the great world-. Never be afraid to experiment! Life is a scientific problem to be solved by Scientific methods of trial and error. Never be afraid io experiment, and to form yoitr own conclusions without prejudice and tvithout fear for tfie. consequences.” That wop the dangerous advice given by Misfi Prhtt, science mistress in a Swiss pension, to a number of her girls who were leaving her for gooff the next day. Joyce’s comment on Miss Pratt was shattering. “Fat lot of experimenting With life she has done,’ said Joyce. “Whj’, If a man spoke to her in a train she’d go into a faint, having, carefully pulled the communication cord before doing so.” Bertha, another of the girls, agreed. “Miks Pratt,” she said, “was giving expression to a wish-fulfilment, complex.” But of all of thein none took the advice niore completely than Evangeline, the English girl who had been sent to Lausanne three years before by -tin aiint who lived in north Oxford. « ‘The English lady,’ Aunt Ermyntrude bad said, ‘must know something, but not tod much, of foreign. countries, and something, but not too milch, of foreign literature? So Evangeline had lived for three years oh the Shores of Like Leman, ajld had read all the short stories of Francois Coppee.” Now the three years were over and Evangeline Was dub to return to Aunt Ermyntrude’s "tlnkly house.” But the scientific outlook changed all that. Trial and error called a different tiiije. Armed with ’ Miss Pratt’s sample formula, and favoured With an exciting programme of opportunities, EvengeUne spent the next year in Europe, travelling by. way of Deauville, Paris and Vienna to Venice; and even tb Turkey. The brilliantly amusipfe Mr? Laver has turned Evangeline into a nymph not only , errant, as the title Indicates, but errant tb the point of vagrancy. ' , . The first phenomenon upon which she tried her science whs Amite de Croissant, "typical Frenchman” and a theatrical impresario, Whom she found alone in-ft railway carriage when she embarked at Laqaanne fdr home. Andre waft smoking a cigar and meditatlpg. “The meditations Of a Frenchman depend Upon his material prosperity, .If he Is poor he thinks first Of Testomiic and then of his fommosj if he la well-to-do. he-thinks first of les femmes add then of lestomac. Andre de CrplSßaut wak well-to-do.” Evangeline’s lost 'ticket' established their friendship, and she went off With hiih, still experimenting, to Deauville. Heaven opened wide and Evangeline sank fo'sliy into the “sdasotl." But the hotel violinist, Alexei, was a Russian, and science—never far away—c.fime back with a gallop, i Alexei waylatd Amlro’s Evangeline, bustled her into n cafe, ordered fin aperlif, and began to talk earnestly. ' ' “ ‘The Frenchman's soul,’ he was saying. ‘ls like a walnut, hard . and srpfiU. “nd wrinkled. Yoii e“n hear them cracking them to one another after dinner with dry cackles of laughter. And often enough th® nut is musty. But the Russian soul—” fie spread his arms wide to indicate immeasurable immensity, and his wild eyes phone. ‘“The ftuSsihil sdul is like the steppes, wide, open, without limit. Stark and tetrlble; hot like the Corman soul, a can of molasfieS? . . . . ‘“What about the English ebulf’ asked i Evangeline, s ■ “ 'This English have no soul. But the Russian sobl—’ "Evangeline's attention was distracted .. . . by an external?’ Montmartre With Alexei, an Austrian node cult with Heinz, a castle with Count Ferdinand, Greece With CoiiStantlnfe, find. 11 harem in Turkey with a red-haired Lancashire girl till come in turn to Evangeline. Her science makes only one slip—a final and fatal ohe. It slides hway like ft mist When she is rescued from the harem and returns to her aunt In England. Mr. Laver’s immensely amusing story of her adventures .is. the richest thing since “Juaii in Americn.” It Ims some unforgettable ahd amazingly funny scenes.

PUBLIC LIBRARY I i ■ «—ii« This Week’s Selection (By Victor S. Lloyd.) “Thirteen Such Years,” by Alec Waugh (London: Cassell). ■ Mr. Waugh in his new book deals with the period that beghn with demobilisation and ended with England's abandonment of the gold standard. He describes it aS “that period of rapid change, drift, uncertainty and restlessness that was the war's legacy to us. For thirteen years there Was a general surrendering to a stream, a refusal in public and private life, in Europe and the United States, to take stock of resources, obligations, liabilities, potentialities. ... Nations and individuals drifted; substituting speed for direction; in the belief that provided bne moved fast enough it did not mutter particularly where one moved. It was the . speed of the gyroscopic top. Only as long as the speed was maintained would the top stand erefit. The top was now lying on its Side.” And* that is a very good description. . Mr. Waugh hits chosen an unusual method of Stating Kia case. He sees the immediate part os a succession of episodes symptomatic of general tendencies; as a frieze of figures typifying the ideas, ambitions, bewilderments of a period, choosing the individual as a unit; accepting ns the explanation of that decade the people against which that decade was in revolt. It is described as a novel, but, likfe ])lt\ Waugh’s "So Lovers Dream,” it is more, like a magazine with all Its stories, topi-? cal articles, biographies in short, and editorial opinions written by one man. The effect is rather like being beside the fire with a very talkative, very well-informed, very intelligent and not too discreet friend who has had rather more than the average man's adventures. Who has travelled ft little further, and who has observed n little more keenly. I should imagine that very little of it is fiction, it is well sprinkled with autobiographical details, he mentions familiar names in the literary World :■ Milton Hayes, Hugh Kinfisin'll, Gerard Hopkins, Maurice Lesley, William Gerbnrdi; lie tglJe us what he thinks, of America. New York, Tahiti, polities, world affairs,- and Australians —“The great qualities of the Australian peop.e are their dogg«lhbsft. their faith in them" selves, their belief that they enn do everything letter than anybody else. These qualities have determined the nature of their troubles. They have acted as though the rest of the Wotld did not exist: as though they could ignore the experiences of older peoples.” Mr. Waugh has been described aS the finest reporter in the world. And that is a good enough description of him; he reports, he does not create. "Thirteen .Such Years” is a vital book, written in a very incisive and attractive style, and is undoubtedly well worth reading. Other books in popular demand at the Public Library include the following:—

"Spring Hill,” by Mrs. Victor Rickard! “Tile Return of Bulldog Drummond," by “Sapper”; "The Store ” by T. S. Stribling; “Life Without .End,” by. Graham Seton; "Changing Pllote,” by Ruby AL Ayres. FICTION IN BRIEF “Drift,” by James Hanley (London: Joiner and Steele). A cheap edition of 4 .remarkable first hovel. “Changing Pilots," by Ruby M. Ayres (London : Hodder and Stoughton). Something new from a prtst-mastef in the gentle art of love stories. . “The Unregrottable.” by Lucas Carr (London: Stanley Paul). “The story Of a sensitive soul,” interesting and very re “Half-Seas Over," by Guy Gilpatric (London: The Bodley Head). . More hilarious stories of the doughty Glencatinon, whom Mr. Gilpatric introduced tit “Scotch and Water.” .... “The Romance of Vivian Adene, by E. Everett-Green (London: Wright and Brown). A good romance by a popular writer of love rtories. ~ “Torryzany, by Wallace B. Nichols (London: Ward, Lock). The story of Tortiginno, the great sculptor, who .nor signed the magnificent tomb of Henry VI t and his Queen in Westminster Abbey. Mr. Nichols is a distinguished poet and n °“The t 'invincible Adam,” by G. S. Viereck and P. Eldridge (London: Duckworth). Tills new work' completes the saga begun in "My First Two Thousand years”’ and continued in “Salome, the Wandering Jewess.” ~ * PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED "Tennis,” by John Hope Doeg nnd Allison Danzig: "Cricket,” by M. D. Lyon (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode). TWo volumes in the Aidin Series of Illustrated Sporting Books, giving valuable information and instruction in the essentials of the games of tennis and cricket reßpectivcly* “Practical Ticket and Showcard Writing.” by R. Hamilton May (Melbourne: Robertson and Mullens). An easy method, fully described and illustrated. “Mullens’ Guide to 'Old-time’ Dances, prepared by “M.C.” (Melbourne: Robert" eon and Mullens). A small and concise guide to all the principal set and round fiancee.