BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 23325, 22 July 1939, Page 21

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

VERSES NIGHT ' Who is she who comes on stealthy feet. With milk-white stars caught in her raven hair; Who is she who hastes the dropping sun, And sets the silver moon in motion there P Who is she who comes with lullabies, With' 1 homing birds half-sleeping on , the wing, And owls tucked in her bosom’s loveliness, Her mantle weighed with dreams that slumbers bring? _ , Who is. she whose coming quiets the earth. v And sots on fire the sun to haste its flight? She comes on stealthy feet, as shadows move: You cannot see her, for her name is Night. —Elizabeth Temple Wells, in the ‘ Cornhill Magazine.’ FLECKER “ Thy dawn, 0 Master of the World.” —Hassau. “ I know dead men are deaf, and canhot hear iThe singing of a thousand nightingales. I know dead men are blind,” he wrote in fear, iFor whom the dawn of Allah nought ; avails. Once wrote his fellow-singer of the \ , dead, That dawn was theirs and colours of ■ the earth. Ah, the grey wonderment of soft wings ' spread Along the eastern summit at dawn’s , birth I No more the febrile hate, the fungoid - lust Besets the bursting brain. That brain is dead. The swift malevolence of choking dust Is turned to slow beneficence instead. F : Who shall await him when the thousand ■■’ years ■■ That ho envisaged once have thawed away ? Ah; surely Allah will have wiped the ; - . tears From, eyes that look no longer for the day. . Ah. surely Allah will have put to sleep The doomed that listen for the moan- ' ing blade. And yet, mayhap, some boy shall glory . deep In. Allah’s dawn-wine to the songs he ■ made. , —C. R. Allen (Dunedin). DOMINION'S NEW NOVELIST MRS BERYL M'CARTHY 'Mrs Beryl M'Carthy, who, by New Zealand standards, woke up to find herself famous, we can hope, with the publication of her impressive novel, ‘ Castles in the Soil,’ reviewed in this ehlumn last week, has been known to few readers hitherto under her own name... The wife of an hotelkeeper at Mohaka, Hawke’s Bay, the MS. of her hook, Signed “ B. M’Carthy,” was sent w'ith .the least formality to its publishers, who were not corrected with any impatience, or, in the end, directly, when they addressed her, in correspon-

dence which followed, as “ Mr ” B. M'Carthy. After publishing short ■torieS, . verse, and articles, generally Anonymously, in America, Australia, and, -New Zealand, she wrote her first novel on a Spanish subject, read it in manuscript, and burned it. Her next novel, ‘ The Shingled Magdalene,’ was accepted, by an English publisher in 1930, but sent back for slight alterations., In the fire which followed the big earthquake of February 3, 1931, the M'Carthys’ hotel was destroyed, nothing but the cash register being saved. So the author’s MS. of this second story also went up in smoke. The publisher’s copy was sent out to her, but failed to arrive, and is presumed to be, probably, collecting dust in some New Zealand dead letter office. 1 Castles in the Soil ’ was written and half typed when the hotel wap destroyed. That typescript shared in the destruction. The author began to rewrite the story in 1931. but grew tired after so many misadventures. She’ had almost completed it, and put

A LITERARY CORNER

NEW BOOKS A FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY When Te Kooti escaped from the Ohathams and, landing near Poverty Bay, proclaimed a “ forward movement” against the Waikato, a detachment of Major Fraser’s No. 1 division, along with volunteers, was sent by sea to Poverty Bay and joined there by other volunteers to round up the rebels. The country was of the roughest description, thickly bushed, and heavily covered with snow. There was lack of supplies, and the local volunteers gave up the pursuit, believing it to be impracticable, but a small party numbering from 80 to 100 men, under Colonel Whitmore’s command, pushed onward. They were caught at a disadvantage in the bed of the (Ruakituri River, exposed to fire from both banks, and the first to fall were Captain Oswald Carr (of the Royal Artillery) and Mr Canning, a settler. Tho force was compelled to retreat, after others had been wounded, though, if the fact had been known, a few moments’ longer endurance would have won the day. Te Kooti was shot through tho ankle and was carried off, this mishap nearly causing a panic among the rebels, who were retreating simultaneously with tho Europeans. In a small book, ‘ The Fight at Ruakituri,’ Mr Russell Duncan describes two journeys made by him in 1901 and 1903 to determine the precise place of the action and the site of Captain Carr’s grave, on which a brass plate had been erected five months after he fell. The plate had become detached, then covered with leaves and silt, and had not been seen since its erection. It was found on his second trip by Mr Duncan. The graves of Captain Carr and Mr Canning are now both fitted with a concrete kerbing and pipe railing, as well as inscription. A report by Sergeantmajor Thomas Withers, describing the fight at Ruakituri, of which he was a survivor, is included in Mr Duncan’s book, which is generously illustrated. A. H. and A. W. Reed, Dunedin and Wellington, publishers, LAND UTILISATION IN AUSTRALIA WEALTH OF DETAIL IN COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM .Issued by the Australian. Institute of International Relations: and .published by the Melbourne University Press in conjunction with the Oxford University Press, ‘ Land Utilisation in Australia,’ by S. M. Wadham, professor of agriculture in the Melbourne University, and G. L. Wood, associate professor of commerce and lecturer in geography in the same institution, contains a veritable mine of information on land and its production in the Australian continent. It is the first and most scientific examination ever made of the various land uses in Australia, and of the possible extension and variation of these uses. The historical approach is by way of an account of land settlement, and this merges into a study of the geographical and biological conditions which characterise the continent. A study of the broad features of land utilisation is then, made in which the main primary industries are discussed in relation to climatic and soil control, types of production, and prevailing conditions. The book concluded with a study ol the effects of World economic trends upon land use, settlement, and population problems. The volume, as the dust cover points out, has a special significance in view of the criticism that the Australian people have failed to make the best use of the land, and have, consequently, not assisted to relieve population pressure in other countries. In a preface the authors state they were asked to undertake the compilations in 1932, and they demurred because of the very immensity of tho task. Truly, it was a Herculean one, and their researches over the years gathering the material has taken them into nearly every institute arid university in tho country, to say nothing of [reference to countless official records. Tho work is a minute investigation of every problem connected with or arising from the land, as instance, for example, chapter VI. dealing with the relation between wool markets and land utilisation, artificial fibres, world markets, changing demands, and prices. Forestry, fruit, irrigation, the dairying and meat industries are also exhaustively dealt with, all accompanied by graphs. To attempt to summarise the scope of the work is impossible; its field is too immense. However, to students of any subject relating to tho land, it js an invaluable reference work. In its country of origin it should be more thoroughly appreciated.

it away in 1933. Her husband unearthed it last year and worried her into finishing it. A sequel has already been begun. Mrs M’Carthy was born in Wanganui, educated in Wellington and Christchurch, and has lived in Hawke’s Bay for 20 years. Before her marriage she was for a time in Williams and Kettle’s office, Napier, where her husband, Mr Allan M'Carthy, was also employed. Mrs M'Carthy at one time held a record for speed as a shorthand writer and typist. In 1925 the M'Carthys took the Empire Hotel, Napier, later leasing tho Mohaka Hotel. ’ In June, 1930, they bought the freehold of the latter, and paid cash—a total loss when they were burnt out after the earthquake, as, this being considered an act of God, no insurance was received. The hotel was rebuilt in 1933 a mile away from the previous site. Mr M'Carthy was a prominent yachtsman, and many visitors from all parts of New Zealand will recall the old bach at Westshore, and the thrills in the Ngaroma and JSayonarn. His wife once won two ladies’ yacht races, but cannot boast of any other sporting honours. She has two children—Harry and Brian—and her hobbies are gardening, china-painting, and writing.

'MR EMANUEL' ANOTHER SUCCESS BY LOUIS GOLDING Among the writings of Louis Golding can bo numbered a dozen or more excellent works of fiction, and perhaps the most outstanding of these is ‘ Mr Emanuel,’ published by Rich and Cowan Ltd., London (our copy from Messrs Whitcorabe and Tombs Ltd.). In a changing world many new themes present themselves to the novelist, and this new book of his might be termed ‘ Germany and the Jews.’ While still a fiction novel, he paints a tragic heartrending picture of the treatment meted nut to the people of Israel by the leaders of Germany. Mr Emanuel is a lovable old man _ resident in Magnolia street in Doomington. He comes home one night to find a swastika chalked on his front door. Was it an omen? Shortly afterwards Mr Emanuel is associated, through friends, with some refugee Jewish boys from Germany. He becomes attached to one frail lad whose mother yet remains in Germany and from whom the lad has not heard for many months. The waiting, the silence, eats into his heart, and the boy attempts to take his life. During .convalescence Mr Emanuel promises Bruno he will go to Germany and try to find his mother. How he fares, himself a Jew, in this land of new hatreds makes a poignant pathetic story. Frail, lonely, hounded, he grimly perseveres. A good _ and simple man in a world of intrigue! Badgered and harassed, he finally falls foul of tho authorities, who take him into custody on a trumped-up charge, and in truly Aryan fashion (if all we road is correct) maltreat the old man. The story is too intense and vital to be labelled ’ propaganda. Ultimately Mr Emanuel comes to the end of Ins search when he is released and given but a short time to depart. It is a sad ending to a sad tale, made doubly so when he returns to England to tell the lad Bruno the results of his investigations. Mr Golding has gone back to the scene of his finest achievement to find Mr Emanuel, to take him to a new world of violence and danger. He has made a striking success in'his portrayal of a wonderful character and in the depicting of a vast and menacing evi . but above all in telling a story which moves from first to last with ever-in-creasing momentum. BEHIND THE SCENES INTRIGUES IN A WOMEN'S CLUB Something of a satire is Frances Mocatta’s latest novel,_ ‘ Clubs Are Trnmps ’ (Herbert Jenkins Ltd., Loudon). The book should find favour amtfng women, not so much because it portrays life in a women’s club, but because of the delightfully modern way in which this equally modern writer sets forth her characters. It contains much of satire, drama, and humour. The Atrium, a women’s club in Mayfair, is dominated by Mr and Mrs Renton-Todd, who largely finance it. Then there is tho lady secretary, whom the writer depicts struggling between her loyalty to Mrs RentonTodd and the club and hor more than platonic friendship with the latter's husband, with whom she vanishes. Another piquant incident in the book relates the daring exploit of an actressmember of the club, who nearly wrecks the institution by bringing her lover on to the premises attired as a woman. The story, which finishes with the return of the remorse-stricken secretary with the club funds which Ren-ton-Todd had purloined, admirably depicts the intimate life of such a women’s organisation. Kaleidoscopic in its pattern, it is a glimpse behind the scenes in a sphere of social life which will be thoroughly enjoyed. SECRET SERVICE AND SPY THRILLS Messrs Hoddcr and Stoughton Ltd. have published a paper cover edition of Jeremy Turtle’s exciting secret service thriller, ‘ Black Mystery.’ The tale, dealing largely with a state of siege imposed on a quiet English estate by the hired spies of a forign Power, is so well written andi planned as to convince even the most sceptical of readers that such adventures could in reality occur in the peaceful English countryside—especially in these days of international sensations, when, it is generally agreed, anything could happen. Sir Henry Lunscomb, a frequent traveller abroad, becomes a kind of human post box for the secret service, a hobby which involves him in the network of espionage drawn round his home. His nephew, telling tho story, relates how a neighbour, General Wilmot, was murdered in cold-blooded fashion just as he was undertaking to carry a message to the Foreign Office. The author, despite the fact that this is his first novel, develops his theme with the smooth-flowing style of a veteran in the art, and holds the reader’s interest to the last. POWERFUL DETECTIVE YARN In ‘ The Big Sleep ’ Raymond Chandler introduces a hard-bitten typo of American private detective called Marlowe, who is called in by old General Sternwood to investigate the blackmailing of one of his daughters. This in itself opens up an intriguing series of experiences, but the case takes another twist when Marlowe discovers something unusual in the disappearance of ope Regan after a month of married life with the general’s other daughter. Between the attention he pays to the murder of the blackmailer and the search for Regan, the detective, telling the story in the first person, leads the reader into some complications which those not familiar with American fiction of the type will find a trifle bewildering. Once the trail of events has been picked up and understood, however, tho novel is revealed in its true light as a worthy fictional effort written in powerful vein. Our copy conies from the publishing house of Hatuish Hamilton.

A MILLIONAIRE'S LIFE - SEEN BY HIS SECRETARY. In amusing vein a most interesting autobiography is given by Roue Mac Coll in ‘ A Flying Start,’ which has been recently published by Jonathan Cape. Combined with a whimsical stylo the writer has the ability of seeing the humorous side, and few will lie able to read the hook without giving vent to an occasional chuckle. More than half of the book is devoted to Mr MacColTs experiences as secretary to the lato Van-Lear Black, of Baltimore, U.S.A., “ tho Hying millionaire,” who 10 years ago became famous when he bought an aeroplane while on a European uoliday. Accompanied by his secretary, a valet, two pilots, and a mechanic, and wearing immaculate lounge suits he then undertook a series of long-distance flights, visiting the Dutch East Indies, South Africa, and Japan, as well as a number of European countries. During his association with this unique figure —on one occasion in London he gave a party, tho bill for which amounted to £1,046 3s 6d, without such incidentals as tips —the writer was able to make a close study of him and the unusual private life he led. Mr Mac Coll himself tired of university life after two years at Oxford, and entered business in Belgium, an undertaking which ended in disaster. He then became associated with If lack and accompanied him on one of his long flights while flying was still an adventure. He went to the United States with him, working there as a journalist for some time. _ Returning to Europe Mr Mac Coll rejoined Black, and made one of the pioneering flights to Capo Town and back. Since the death of his chief, Mr Mac Coll has been a Fleet Street newspaper man, and his varied experiences are amusingly related in this light-hearted work. THE "THYNNE" MURDER On the old adage that ‘‘Truth is stranger than fiction ” rests much or the success of George R. Preedy as a novelist. ‘The* Fair Young Widow is a splendid successor to ‘ My Tattered Loving ’ and ‘ Painted Angel ’ as an historical mystery novel. Based entirely on events of a past age, reconstructed with the greatest care so that it might be presented as a narrative of events as they occurred, and not as the author wished that they might, it remains an absorbing tale, with the added glamour of the bold days of old with which it is invested. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any author might have wished the tale to turn out otherwise. Characters are well painted. The story is dominated by the forceful, ruthless personality of Otto von Koenigsmark, and the equally important figures of his nephew, John Charles, and Captain Vrate, though abnormal, are well delineated. The action is in England for the most part, though _ central characters are historically international. The story is concerned with the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the murder Of Sir Thomas Thymie in 1683. Settings are true and vivid, and there is no fault to be found with the diction. George Preedy’s reputation can only be enhanced by the production of this novel, veracious and historically accurate, yet intensely interesting. The publishers are Messrs Herbert Jenkins Ltd. ADOLESCENCE “Books of the Month” to-day are designated by so many authorities that the label loses some of its meaning. The ‘ Daily Mail ’ book of the mouth for April is one that fully deserves the encomium. ‘ Catherine Wheel ’is light but provocative of thought, a thoroughly entertaining novel. According to the publisher’s “ blurb,” this novel is the psychological story of a girl growing up. “ (Between its first and last pages, a shy, diffident school girl becomes a young woman sure of herself.” Those who, with the reviewer, find such a temptation uninviting may conveniently disregard it. That is the theme certainly, but embroidered on it are a hundred and one fascinating studies and sketches of personalities. The author, Miss Joan Butler-Joyce, is a most capable disciple in the study of her fellow-beings. The book displays none of the faults of the average first novel. The only point at which much criticism can be levelled is the plot. Miss Joyce has provided herself with Only a very slight framework on which to build her story, and this is a weakness usually attributable to authors with a larger experience in production. Plot is not everything, and it is very probable that the imaginativeness which would have enabled Miss Joyce or any other author to turn out something unusual in construction would prevent her from depicting so humanly and so happily the characters whom the reader finds so identifiable. Style and diction leave nothing to he desired. ‘ Catherine Wheel ’ is published by Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, and is obtainable at all booksellers. ‘BLIND MAN'S BUFF' There was a time when books were written without a view to their value, and careful compilation was a work of love, besides being a necessity. However, the facts in a work of fiction might tally with reality, within the book they tallied with each other. Of late years there has been little attention paid to this phase of story-telling, of which the value should be obvious. ‘ Blind Man’s Bluff,’ by Andrew Wood is a case in point. A plain statement on one page is followed by a contradictory one on the next. Each and every turn of the plot is based on coincidence, and revelations like those which appear in consequence become tiresome. Apart from those defects, it has its good points. It differs from its fellowthrillers in that the significant murder is not committed until the final stage of the book are reached; and the reader is spared tho cumbrous flounderiugs of an incapable detective throughout the major portion of the book. To read to-day and forget to-morrow, ‘ Blind Man’s Bluff ’ is a book as good as any, and better than some. Messrs Herbert Jenkins Ltd. are the publishers. • ECHO OF A CURSE ' ‘ Echo of a Curse ’ is a strange story by R. R- Ryan, with a gruesome theme, but is nevertheless well handled by the author. It tells how a young wife, distracted by the strange conduct of her husband and mentally unbalanced by the brutal outrages of a human freak, grotesquely predestines her child. With the secret connivance of husband and nurse, however, a normal child is substituted at birth for the monstrous creature that is born. Fate, however, jealously nurtures the creature, who in later years returns with super-human powers to extract a grim vengeance. The publishers are Messrs Herbert Jenkins Ltd., London. .

1 DANGEROUS WATERS' A thrilling and fast-moving story of adventure is provided by John Bentley in ‘ Dangerous Waters,’ the scene of which is mainly set on t}ie French Riviera. A millionaire’s son has been sent abroad to recover from a broken promise in a youthful love affair. In a casino ho meets a sympathetic young lady, who induces him to take “ dope ” to forget his troubles, and starts him on the road to mental and physical rain. His constitution undermined, he dies within a few months. An embittered and grief-stricken father sends Dick Marlow, the adventure-loving head of a private agency, to France to trace and persecute those responsible for_ the young fellow’s end. In_ a series of exciting adventures, in which his own life is often in danger, Marlow traces the gang trafficking in dope, upsets all their schemes, and in company with the French' xiolice finally sees the leader go to his death in tho sea. The background of tho glamorous south of Franco is skilfully painted, obviously by one who has an intimate knowledge of the locality. Tho publishers are Messrs Hutchinsons, London, and our copy comes from Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, Dunedin. UNUSUAL AUSTRALIAN NOVEL Noteworthy for several reasons, but particularly for its delineation of character, is Leonard Mann’s new novel, ‘ Mountain Flat,’ a work which indicates that Mr Mann is destined for the higher places in literature. There is presented a cross-section of Australian life which is totally unfamiliar, that experienced by small farmers in a poor area formerly gold diggings. Such little income as is derived from the soil is added to by desultory panning for gold in the old claims. ‘ Mountain Flat ’ is less one story than it is several stories, the problems of one family being more or less dovetailed into the problems of another. The community consists of English, German, and Italian nationalities, and intermarriages result in alienated opinions which create dangerous cross-currents of hostility. Consequently many of the_ problems which arise are peculiarly individual, though naturally there are problems arising common to any place where men foregather. Mr Mann succeeds in creating a vivid and) grimly real picture of conditions startlingly primitive in this modern age, which are lived in a startlingly primjtive manner. He has a terse style, using a minimum of words with a maximum of effect, although a little more liberality with his words might have enhanced the appeal of the book without in any way detracting from its quality. The publishers are Jonathan Cape, our copy coming through Angus and Robertson, Sydney. ON ACTING FOR FILMS A rather unusual type of_ instructional manual, ‘ Screen Acting—How to Pass a Screen Test,’ comes to us for review from publishers Angus and Robertson. Unique in theme, this series of booklets, bound separately and contained in a cardboard covering, will have a particular attraction for those Who have any leanings at all towards histrionics. It will be invaluable _to those who have ambitions of breaking into film work, and even for those who desire success in repertory or other branches of the stage. Dealing with the fundamentals of acting, and elaborating the manner in which best results are to be obtained from modest beginnings, the book also incorporates the basic reasons for its assertions, whilst giving, too, a fine insight into the growth of films, and their advantages over the less pretentious stag© performances. Every branch of the art of studio work as far_ as tho artist is concerned is dealt with fittingly, chapters being devoted to walking, standing, sitting, posing, and kneeling, gesture, physical expression, facial expression, tempo and timing, the voice in all its phases, and acting generally and particularly, thence to the screen test itself, and finally some practical suggestions or lessons in training for the supreme effort—the screen test itself. This book is uncommon in subject, and thoroughly treated by on© who has evidently made a close study of his work, and is convincing and instructive to a degree. . “GAY-0" OR “GUY-0"? TROUBLE WITH PRONUNCIATION OF NGAIO MARSH WHAT THE AUTHOR SAYS. The popularity with which the detective stories by Ngaio Marsh, wellknown Christchurch novelist, artist, and dirama enthusiast, have been received In the United States has set the American reading public a difficult problem: How is “Ngaio” pronounced? Various startling attempts have been made to bend unaccustomed! tongues round this pleasant Maori name. The peculiar results, according to an American librairy magazine, have even included “ Naggio,” a version which the magazine writer actually heard used in a bookshop. So serious didi the problem become and so insistent the demand for a ruling on this baffling question, that Ngaio Marsh’s American publishers decided to settle tho matter once and for all. They made an authoritative pronouncement. “ Hor name,” they saidl, “ may be pronounced either ‘ Gay-o ’ or ‘ Guy-o.’ ” It was not important which was used, they said, so long as the “ n ” was silent. Scarcely was the ink dry on this palpitant piece of press-agency before Ngaio Marsh’s English publishers stopped into the field. They declared that the name should be pronounced “ Ny-o,” with the “ g ” silent as in gnu, where, of course, the order of the two troublesome letters is reversed. The problem was referred to the one person fully qualified to give an unchallengeable verdict Ngaio Marsh herself. “ I have had this trouble over and over again,” she said, seeming to take this butchering of. her name quite philosophically. “ When I first went to England, my publisher greeted me as 1 Ngaio Marsh,’ with the accent on the first syllable.” She pointed out that her English publishers had themselves gone astray in endeavouring to put the Americans right. Her name was not pronounced “ Ny-o,” as they claimed. There were actually three syllables, the pronunciation being the same as tho spelling with tho exception that the “ g ” was silent. “ Had I guessed the trouble my name was going to cause a lot of people on the other side of the world I would have changed it to something easier when I began writing books,” she added.