PIONEER SAGA

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 141, 9 March 1940, Page 15

PIONEER SAGA

Historical Novel By Sir James Elliott “The Hundred Years,” by Sir James Elliott (London: Hale). Sir James Elliott’s new book, “The Hundred Years,” deals with New Zealand’s centennial from a somewhat similar angle to -that of G. B. Lancaster’s “Promenade,” that is to say it is the saga of a pioneer settler and his descendants. Only, instead of making the pageant of the Dominion’s history a background to an enthralling story, the author has- used a somewhat weak plot as a peg on which to hang a good deal of well-known history. The book traces -the experiences of an early settler through the whaling days, and the settlement of Wellington the Hutt wars, and pioneering period down -to the present day. It presents a fairly complete narrative of the foundation and development of Wellington, and into it are worked glimpses of many -aspects of New Zealand’s national life.

The value, however, of a historical novel lies in its power to recreate the atmosphere of a past period in a vivid and imaginative manner, which the ordinary history book cannot achieve. For this purpose, it needs no more of the dry facts than are esesntial to mould the -plot and present the background ; the colour is derived from th'i author's intimacy with the manners and modes, and peculiarities of speech and thought and action, which distinguished that period. In dealing with a lengthy era, and particularly with an era so crammed with change as the past hundred years, the author’s task is doubly difficult, as he must mould bis characters to change with the times —or not, according to the requirements of his tale. If he subordinates the plot to historical facts by dragging in unnecessary mutter, he will weaken its interest and probably not increase its value as a historical study. That is the main criticism to be levelled at “The Hundred Years.” As a historical work, it is superficial; as a novel, its slight story is drowned in factual matters of history. Indeed, a.t the end the author appears less interested in the activities of the family who are the subjects of his story than in the admittedly fascinating story of the country in which they are supposed to have lived.

Mr. Evelyn Waugh, author of “Decline and Fall,” “Vile Bodies” an'd later books, has received a commission in the Royal Marines.