RECENT BOOKS

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 132, 1 December 1945, Page 9

RECENT BOOKS

LOCAL LITERATURE

AND AUSTRALIAN

(By Q.)

There are plenty of histories of New Zealand, large and small, and one might have thought there was little room today, especially after the excellent Centennial series of 1940 on, for any new version of an oft-told tale. But it does seem to be a fact that young people particularly, in this country, are not as familiar as they should be, or even as interested as they might be, with and in a past that has far more to it than most people imagine. The assumption must be then that previous historians have done less than justice to the record and that the way was open for somebody to do better. That is always a fair claim to make for a new book on an old subject. THE STORY OF NEW ZEALAND. By A. H. Reed. (A. H. and A. W. Reed: Wellington.) To open a book about New Zealand by a New Zealander is usually, one must confess, attended by a feeling of some misgiving, probably quite a common feeling, if people would admit it. Literature is not, as yet, the New Zealander's long suit, whatever the cause. So much goes to the making of a book besides the mere putting of pen to paper; there is the design to suit a particular purpose, the architecture, as it were, and the craftsmanship in the construction. History, for instance, may be designed for the student and examinee, or it may be intended rather for wide and popular reading, to spread a knowledge of men, movements and events, and give the citizen of today and tomorrow the background of the yesterdays of his forbears. Mr. Reed's work.is essentially of this latter description, a popular history, the first of its kind, to the best of one's recollection, attempted in this country, and a great success. In his foreword the author says: The present work is designed to interest the general reader and the youth of our land, and those to whom New Zealand history has not perhaps made a very strong appeal. Its purpose is to foster increasing esteem of our goodly heritage, a recognition of the debt we owe to our forerunners, and the obligation that lies upon us by serving our own generation, to pave the way for those who shall follow us. POPULAR HISTORY. This is the popular history of New Zealand for which we have been waiting, perhaps unconsciously, for a long time. It is a fine, fat, comfortable volume of over 500 pages, well arranged, well printed and profusely illustrated with pictures old and new, thumb-nali sketches, graphic maps of both islands—a history in themselves —an adequate bibliography, and, what is entirely novel, to this reviewer at any rate", crossword puzzles at the end of chapters, introducing names mentioned in the text, and, finally, a New Zealand "quiz." The story begins at the very beginning with an interpretation from geological sources of New Zealand's emergence from the depths of the sea and its formation through aeons of time prior to the advent of mankind. All this, together with the accounts of Maori voyages across the Pacific preserved in tradition —and with Tasman, Cook, and the French navigators, is admirably done, so that even the most jaded reader will sit up and take notice. The style is simple, graphic,, yet full of colour and easy to follow,! a perfect style for the task the author has set himself. The period up to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, covering approximately a third of the book, has, in the opinion of this reviewer, never been better done. The store of information gathered by the late Robert McNab is embodied in a clear, picturesque narrative, so that it runs together and makes for a continuity missing in the originals. Nothing essential seems to have been omitted. 1840 TO 1940. So the story proceeds through the middle of the last century to the days of the Maori Wars, the discovery of gold, the Vogel public works schemes of the seventies', the "hungry eighties," the advent of Ballance and Seddon, with their liberal legislation, which put New Zealand on the map, and the later stages in this century, the Massey era and World War I, and so to Savage and Fraser of the present day. Over (50 pages are devoted to the record of New Zealanders in World War I, and this is another valuable part of the book In general, proportion is maintained throughout, and the history is in good balance, as well as being full of life and vigour. Mistakes and misprints are rare as far as one could see in a rapid first perusal to savour the quality of the book. On page 384 there is a reference to the invitation to New Zealand to join the Australian Commonwealth, then in the throes of birth, and this sentence: . ■ "One of Seddon's Ministers, Sir John Hall, said there were twelve hundred reasons why New Zealand should not join the Commonwealth." Sir John Hall, who was Premier in 1881 when the "country quota" was > introduced, certainly never sat with Seddon. For "Sir John Hall" read therefore "Mr. Hall-Jones," member for Timaru, and Acting Premier when Seddon was away. There is also a curious feature of the book in the appearance of the same illustrations more than once over different captions. This may, or may not, be intentional. In any event, it does not detract much from the virtues of a very fine piece of work and a real public service, in terms of the author's own preface, already quoted. The price—2os—is substantial, but parents and uncles and aunts might well consider the book as a suitable Christmas present for the boy or girl who likes a tale well told. Some day, in a cheaper edition, it should have a wide field. SHORT STORIES TODAY. COAST TO COAST. Australian stories, 1944. Selected by Vance Palmer. (Angus and Robertson, Ltd., Sydney and London.) Of the twenty-six short stories in this volume not one would qualify as a "short story" in tl\e old sense of the term, in the convention under which the "old masters." Kipling, De Maupassant, and O. Henry, wrote, and Mr. Palmer, the selector, in his foreword, admits as much. He says: The scope of the short story has been enlarged. We no longer demand that it shall have a formal beginning, a middle, and an end; that it shall contain a plot. . . . Nowadays a short story may be a dream, a dialogue, a study of character; anything that has a certain unity and movement of life. . . . Mr. Palmer has a good deal more to say on the subject. The whole point is whether the ' term "short story" should be extended to include "anything, etc.," so that, while it may be "short," it ceases to be a "story"; or whether a new term should not be invented to cover the type of literature in this "Coast to Coast" collection. English criticism is poor in suitable terminology and nomenclature to distinguish these several classes of literature. The French with their "roman," 'nouvelle," and "contre" are certainly better off. Nonetheless, there is a good deal to be said i'or the new development embodied in this book and in the latest O. Henry Memorial selection, recently published in America and reviewed by John X Hutchens in the "New York Times." If they, almost without exception, lack narrative power and make no concession to the dramatic or the art of suspense, they reveal feeling, understanding, and the sense of character. They create atmosphere without recourse to excessive action. They are a sort of "fade into" and "fade out" of a scene in life, and in "Coast to Coast" most of the "stories" are like an extension of highly-skilled newspaper reporting to things that a newspaper rejects as not being news. In the "Coast to Coast" series different readers will have their own favourites. The best, in my opinion, is the last in the book. "The Road to Yesterday," by Frank Daley Davison, a beautiful piece of work that deserves permanence as real literature. Next one would put "The Funeral," by P. Goldhar, translated from the Yiddish by Naomi Kelley, an episode in the life of Jewish refugees in an Australian city. The others are all readable, but one or two lack point. This is a special class of literature that ought to have a name of its own and not be content to masquerade under the title of short story, which means something very different.