BOOKS of the WEEK

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 58, 1 December 1934, Page 19

BOOKS of the WEEK

HIGH SPIRITED TRAVEL TALE

A Journey Through China Vividly Described

“One’s Company,” by Peter Fleming (London. Cape, 12/6).

The reader who has already discovered in “Brazilian Adventure” how attractive Mr. Peter Fleming can make the process of “debunking” a travel narrative will approach his second effort, a Chinese adventure this time, with expectation of keen enjoyment. He will not be disappointed, for all the high spirits, the disarming candour and breezy writing of the first book are reproduced in “One’s Company” together with a lot of sound comment on things seen and heard in many queer and out-of-the-way places. Not that Mr. Fleming poses as an authority on the Chinese scene or oa any other topic; on the contrary he takes pains to present hits limitations as an observer with the utmost thoroughness. He begins typically with a prefatory note: “The recorded history of Chinese civilisation covers a period Of four thousand years. The population of China is estimated at 450 millions. China is larger than Europe. The author of this book is twenty-six years old. He has spent, altogether, about seven months in China. He does not speak Chinese.” Having placed that warning to the reader prominently on a front page, Mr. Fleming pauses to call his book “a superficial account of an unsensationar journey,” mentions something about his “half-baked conclusions,” then gets on with his job with the fixed Intention that, if he cannot carry conviction, at least he shall not bore. He succeeds in being always a very entertaining fellow and usually convincing also. For one who seeks distraction from the every-day round as constantly as Mr. Fleming does, it must be rather more than annoying to have to have to exclaim, as he does in effect continu ally, “Nothing ever happens to me!' He tvent, for instance, from Mukden with a flying column of. Japanese troops on a bandit-hunting expedition. But though they found gruesome traces of banditry everywhere, never did they come face to face with their quarry. Mr. Fleming is convinced that he was the Jonah. It was. bandits yesterday and bandits to-morrow, but never bandits to-day. However, at least one stirring incident befel the column. This was its reception at Sinpin. Just before reaching the town the vanguard came upon the entire student body of Sinpin, symmetrically arranged in order of height. Their silent immobility the author took to be a tacit sympathy with the expedition’s failure in the field. Actually the prelude of silence proved to be a carefully rehearsed stage effect. There suddenly came a deafening ovation and a display of flag-waving which had a devastating effect on the animals of the column. The result was so completely disconcerting that Mr. Fleming remained behind to watch the fun when the transport detachment arrived:

The trick worked better than ever. Mute and motionless, the carefully tapered rank of boys andjgirls gave the drivers no indication of what was in store for them. Not until the leading teams (were well abreast did they release their pent-up gratitude. Then, with shattering effect, they once more blasted the column sideways Jwith a salvo of cheers, frantically flapping their banners to complete the mules’ alarm. The animals jibbed and shied; someibolted. The drivers leapt from their seats on the shafts to the heads of their teams, with piercing cries of,irritation and dismay. A great cloud of dust rolled up above the stamping and confusion. The Student body went on cheering.

For all his flippancy, Mr. Fleming really did study the Chinese situation as he saw it, and to follow vicariously in his footsteps on the journey from Manchouli in the north, through Harbin, Mukden, Tientsin and Peking to Nanking and Shanghai, then skirting the frontiers of the Soviet area to Hong Kong in the south, is to learn all that an alert and very intelligent young observer, with no particularly fixed opinions of his own, can tell. He went into some peculiar places and interviewed some peculiar people, Chang Kai-shek among them. At Haingking he spoke to Pu Yi, but to all embar-

A READING LIST “One’s Company” by Peter Flem- ' ing (Cape). “The Myth of the Mystic East” by Lieut.-Colonel Robert Henry Elliot (Blackwood). “Problems of Personal Life” by Count Herman Keyserling (Caae). FICTION. “Somebody Must” by Alice Grant Rosman (Hodder and Stoughton). “Laikan” by Joseph Wentner (Rich and Cowan). “Mystery on Southampton Water” by Freeman Wills Croft (Hodder and Stoughton).

rassing questions received the answer “Wangtao,” which means the Principle of Benevolent Rule. “It was founded as a formula,” he writes, “and has remained as a gag. The more specific, the more awkward the questions you asked', the more certain you were to get Wangtao for an answer.” On two questions at least Mr. Fleming’s testimony is of considerable importance— Japanese rule in Manchukuo and Communist activities in the south. So far as he knows he was the only foreigner who had then been to the anti-Com-munist front.

No better way will easily be found of combining pleasure and profit than by reading a travel book by this brilliant author. One does not require to be interested in China to enjoy “One’s Company”; it would enthrall.with its cleverness and witty writing even a reader whose thoughts on the subject went no further than the nearest laundry.

Reviews and Passing Notes

SCIENCE OF LIFE

An Encyclopaedia of Biology

GANGSTER ACTIVITIES

Biology 1 for Everyman, by Sir J. Arthur Thomson; 2 vols. (London: Dent.)

The whole .scheme of creation is reviewed by the late Sir J. Arthur Thomson in this remarkable work, which must be regarded as the hnagnum opus of this distinguished scientist and writer. In over half a million words, he has compiled what !is really an encyclopaedia of biology, and has achieved the task so successfully that these two'volumes tell the world’s-most absorbing story in a manner which makes it clearly understandable to the lay mind. ; The author provides a bird’s-eye view of nature from the earliest form of plant and animal life to (the present day. The systematic division of subjects facilitates the study of any phase of life development (while a comprehensive index (which occupies over 100 pages), makes the work an invaluable reference guide. The work is divided into (three main sections which deal with the animal world, the plant world and mail. Each section traces, the gradual evolution of living organisms from the beginning -of time. The researches of Mendel and Darwin are presented in concise and clear form, and 50Q illustrations and charts supplement .the text. Its readability and thoroughness will commend it to all who desire .to gain a deeper understanding of life in all its forms. <

.“They Took Me for a Ride” by Gordon Fellowes (London : Allen and Unwin. 9/-).

Mr. Fellowes, a British-born criminal investigator in the United States, has an amazing story of gangster activities to tell, and he does so in a straightforward manner which enhances the immensely dramatic value of his material. After the war he took a course in criminology at the University of California, and was then appointed “undercover’’ investigator to the Californian State Insurance Fund. Later he acted for Associated Industries, a widespread business organisation engaged in the fight against racketeering. His cases led him into all sorts of queer places and precarious situations. Truth once again proves stranger than fiction,.for Mr. Fellowes’s book is a much piore exciting affair than the average detective thrilrler. He investgated the disappearance of Aimee McPherson in 1926, and was hot on her trail when she reappeared in Texas. In order to get inside information, he temporarily joined up with the Moran gang in Chicago not long before the notorious murder of seven of its members. He was “taken for a ride” in St. Louis and performed the almost unique feat of coming back alive. He became mixed up with rum-running. He was the confidant of an under-world queen, who was found strangled after she had agreed to give evidence before the New York Vice Commission. Eventually he found himself too well known to the gangsters, and could only save his life by getting out of the country. The book is illustrated with a number of rather gruesome photographs of murder victims.

EXPLORING THE PACIFIC

The recently-published book, ‘‘The Exploration of the Pacific,” by J. 0. Baglehole, M.A.. Pii.D., or Wellington, is favourably ■ reviewed in the "Manchester Guardian” of October 13 last. The reviewer, R.N.R.8., writes: — “The exploration of the Pacific, inspired by Balboa’s vision of that ocean from the isthmus of Panama in 1513, began with Magellan in 1521. and with varying motives continued at least until the voyages of Cook in the late eighteenth century. If the early Spanish voyagers were animated largely by a zeal for religion and gold, the seventeenth-century Dutch for more solid trading, and the later English and French venturers partly for the advancement of knowledge, there ran through the centuries a deeper motive, strong at any rate until the days of Cook., and that was the discovery of a southern continent. This conception of the ancient Greek cartographers, died hard and . was an inspiration of practically ail to southern seas for over three centuries. One landfall after another was hailed as the lost land, and gradually the possibility of its existence was pushed farther and farther southward. Cook, after a determined search, failed to find it, and even to-day the Pacific coast of the Antarctic continent has eluded discovery. ‘‘The author of this volume of the Pioneer Histories series has woven a readable narrative from the long record of Pacific exploration from Magellan to Cook, with some references to later voyagers, tracing motives, discussing problems, dwelling at length on some of. the more famous figures, and avoiding minor detail. Continental shores are treated only incidentally, and speculative matters, such as the date of. the discovery of Australia and the origin of the Strait of Anian, are excluded. The book gives an admirable survey of Pacific discovery and j_s illustrated by four excellent maps.”

In Arthur Ransome's opinion, many more hooku on sailing are published than are worth writing or reading. Most of them are of an exhibitionist character, written by some little Jack Horner who wants the ■world to know what a good brave, resourceful boy he ie. Mr. Shane Leslie, who hat> been visiting the United States, says that it is dif ficult to. approach Washington without being mistaken for a professor called in to advfee the President

OCCULT INQUIRY

An Investigation Into Eastern Magic

“The Myth of the Mystic East,” by Lieut.-Colonel Robert Henry Elliot (Edinburgh: Blackwood). Those who wish to continue to cherish an unshaken belief in the mysterious nature of the life of the East, particularly of India, are advised to let Colonel Elliot’s rather convincing book severely alone. The fascinating chapters on Indian conjuring and magic appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine last year, “The Hooded Death.” Somewhat earlier, parts of the book have been expanded, and much is published for the first time. The author’s research work in connection with snake-poison, makes him an exceptional authority on these interesting, but generally unpopular, reptiles which appear in various connections throughout the book. ’

Colonel Elliot has, for fifteen years, held the chairmanship of the Occult Committee of the Magic Circle, a body which, he asseerts, “may safely claim to be the greatest association of conjurors within the British Empire.’ Long experience and patient investigation have convinced him that the Indian conjurer has on his side two great factors characteristic of the East — time and patience—resulting in an almost incredible manual dexterity. Added to this, is the almost ready-created atmosphere of the East, which helps considerably towards establishing the belief of his audience.

Conjuring in India is a hereditary business. In this lies its strength—and its weakness. The father begins to teach the bld tricks to his son in early childhood, and the son continues to do these same tricks all his life. In India there is not the continual cry of London audiences for “something new’.” Colonel Elliot exposes many famous Indian tricks, including the well-known “mango trick.” As for the, perhaps, most famous of all, "the rope trick,” the Magic Circle has sifted and investigated all forthcoming evidence both for and against its performance, and though still open to receive further reliable and well-substantiated evidence, has come to the conclusion that it has never been performed. The psychological aspect of the fascinating section dealing with this trick opens up innumerable avenues of thought and conjecture. There follows a chapter on witchcraft, concerning which the author says:—

No one can realise the difliculty of,clearly understanding all that witchcraft means today until he begins to investigate it ;by the prosecution of inquiries in widely-scat-tered countries .... There ,are, unfortunately, a large number of people who prefer a‘mystic explanation of a Idifficulty to one which is rational and obvious.

The repulsive practices connected with witchcraft and the consequent state of terror in which its votaries live serve to keep alive this old “black magic.” When the evidence for supernormality is sifted and boiled down, a surprisingly small result is obtained, though here again the essence of human nature itself must still baffle the most level-headed scientist.

The author’s long experience with snakes enables him to show these, to him, somewhat misunderstood creatures in a more friendly light. There are tales of fights between cobras and mongooses—a word detested by the author —and detailed descriptions of the appearance and habits of various snakes both in India and England. , No one who is intelligently interested in Colonel Elliot’s subjects can afford to miss reading “The Myth of the Mystic East.” He may not agree with the author—-he may not want to—but he can hardly avoid being roused to a more highly critical attitude towards the “facts” which he may hear almost daily regarding the mysterious and supernatural.

INTIMATE PHILOSOPHY

“Problems of Personal Life,” by Count Hermann Keyserling, translated from the French in collaboration with the author by Mercedes Gallagher Parks (London: Cape. 11/6).

In “South American Meditations,” described by the author as “the book which will probably remain the crowning work of my life,” Count Keyserling set himself the problem of breaking man up into his permanent and irreducible elements. Man’s original composition and ideal possibilities were defined; the defect of principle which causes present-day misery and a method of salvation were pointed out. There was, however, no attempt to apply these general ideas to the particular and intimate problems of-every man. That is now done in this volume, written originally in French under the title “La Vie Intime.” The book takes the form of seven comprehensive essays which are as stimulating as any of his previous works and considerably less abstract. They deal respectively with health, property, family life, marriage, progress, creativeness and reason and religion, and together they make up an excellent introduction to ■ the thought of this greatest of all pre-sent-day German philosophers. That practically identical idea of matter and spirit and the psychological conception of life which can be found with increasing clearness of thought in the succession of his bigger works are the essential basis of this more Intimately personal volume also. In at least one instance, the chapter on marriage, there can be traced a definite advancement of the thought expressed in the earlier work, the “Book on Marriage." ROUSSEAU AND THE STATE “Rousseau and the Modern State,” by Alfred Cobban. (London: Allen and Unwin. 15/-). The author has set out to clear up several inconsistent theories that are held by people in regard to the political teachings of Rousseau. On the one hand there are those who regard him as belonging to the idealist school of philosophers in that he stresses the igtate and the State’s position over the individual, while on the other hand there are those who regard him as the great champion of Individualism. The author, in an excellently arranged, lucidly written, and unbiased manner, gives a basis for the reconciliation of the authoritarian and individualist theories of Rousseau.

There are many striking features in this work, notably the way in which Dr. Cobban bridges an apparent gulf between Rousseau and Burke, and shows us that after all their positions were not far apart. His thesis, too, that Rousseau exercised but little influence on the French Revolution, leaves us still a little unconvinced. One feels that the desire to examine Rousseau and his doctrines in terms of modern thought rather than in the historical perspective of the times in which he lived is one that is fraught with some danger. It Is certainly a work that all students of Rousseau and of political ideas will heartily welcome.