A BOXER’S LIFE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

A BOXER’S LIFE

Jimmy Wilde Writes His

Autobiography

“Fighting Was My Business," by Jimmy Wilde (London: Joseph).

Anyone witli. an interest in boxing will find Jituy Wildes autobiography a delightful book, and perhaps if those who disapprove of boxing could be induced to read it they would lose many of their objections to the sport. Jimmy W’ilde has good title to tlie claim of being the greatest boxer of his class ever to have graced the ring. Even the present-day feats of Henry Armstrong, triple title-holder, do not eclipse his record. Wilde, boxing at under seven stone, never bad a match in which he did not have to give away weight, and during his twelve-year career he fought in 860 bouts. He started on the path to fame with few natural advantages. His fiithet was a miner and. on leaving school, Jimmy also went, to the pits. At 17 years of age he was a married man with a wife who strongly disapproved ot boxing. However, when she found that her husband was earning enough money at the booths to tide them over bad times her opinions gradually changed, and site became his most devoted supporter, always cooking his meals herself during training periods and generally inspiring him with confidence. As tight succeeded tight Wilde maintained his unbeaten record, and gradually he made ids way to the top flight. It was a career made notable by bard work and scrupulous honesty as much as by genius for the game. Jimmy Wilde tells his story witli all the modesty and straiglitforwardtiess that made him so likeable during his boxing career. it is tlie story of a conscientious tighter and a devoted husband and parent. To read it either for entertainment or information is a pleasure. YOUNG MAN’S STRUGGLES “Lowtown,” by Edward Hibbitt (London: Duckworth). “Lowtown” is the story ot a young man who appears to be wandering rather aimlessly through life, but who arrives at the end with lofty ideals drawn from the hardships he has encountered. Many characters, particularly women, lilt into the story and out again, leaving apparently as little mark on the story as upon Albert Palmer, the young man. At the beginning of the book Albert is a tearful youngster of nine, and Mr. Hibbitt’s picture of him, if typical, compares very' unfavourably with colonial children of the same age. A child of six in New Zealand is expected io have more initiative than Albert had at nine.

The book is in three parts. The first is the childhood stage. Then follows adventures when he tries to raise himself from Lowtown to Higlrtown, but is brought face to face with failure and unemployment. In the third pati. Albert grows to manhood, passing tlirough phases common to many young men, embracing religion for a time, but swinging to aetheism and Communism as he develops. It is all convincing enough, but Albert is just not a very interesting young man. Air. Hibbitt’s style is singularly simple and objective, but his characters in "Lowtown" tend to remain people of his imagination rather than real people.

IN A MINING TOWN “Dalhy Green,” by Walter Brierley (London : Duckworth). This quids novel by the author of “Menus Test Man” is quite devoid of sensation. Il is in keeping witli the new trend toward novels desetibin-, uneventful family life. These uo\ets demand more than average skill to make them readable, for they depend on the true worth of their workmanship to gain popularity. There is no swift action to tickle the readers palate and keep him guessing. His attention must be held by the relation ot tiie characters to real life —there must be humour and pathos and the appeal of true-to-life happenings. “Dalby Green” is the story of a miner who loses his job at the pit and tries to make ends meet by keeping the village store. While the village is isolated be is successful—his little shop ts so convenient for the villagers but with the growth of the community ana the advent of buses and a co-operatbe store he is faced with ruin, till he is unexpectedly provided with an opportunity to return to the pit. It is a human little tale with the conversation in Midland dialect. _ Mt. Brierley knows the lives of mining f O U t —tiie lives of those who find themselves unemployed when mines • close down. It is, however, rather too lacking in colour to be a very successful novel. SHORT STORIES NOVEL IN THEME “Six of One,” by Peter Traill (London: Arthur Barker). There is no doubt that Mr. Traill lias great ability as a. writer of short stories, anfi this collection is most interesting. It contains 24 thoroughly novel themes. The denouement in some Of them is almost reminiscent of . de Maupassant, though it cannot be faiily suggested tiiat Mr. Traill is jet to be placed in that great man's company. Nor may it. be said that be is as yet a master of perfect English. Some ot the sentences—not many of them—are clumsy. The stories are all very easy to read. Six of the stories concern an editor, a “marquis” so-called on account of his grand air and a writer. Perhaps it is on account of these six stories that such tin odd no me was chosen for the collection. That does not matter at all. The stories are better tales of events than character portraits. Indeed many of tlie characters are rather puppets in their dramas than living persons moving in their varying circumstances. AN EERIE MYSTERY "And Being Dead,” by Margaret Erskine (London: Bles).

Margaret. Erskine is a newcomer to the art of writing detective tiction. but with this work she takes her place at once in the first rank. The setting for her story is an English seaside town. She is a' master at creating an atmosphere of eeriness, and she makes this town, witli its strange limping mini stepping through the streets at night, a place of dreadful possibilities. She | can also construct a good mystery and l introduces Detective-Inspector Finch, a I clever and human young man. to solve lit in a manner that is above reI proacb. The plot cannot, be said to be 4 new, but it is certainly effective.