BOOK-LOVERS’ NOTES

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 26 August 1933, Page 12

BOOK-LOVERS’ NOTES

AUTHORS AND REVIEWS BRITISH DRAMATIST ON SHAKESPEARE. CIIA RACTERISTIC CRITICISM GIVEN. “The lovers of Shakespeare may be divided into at least two groups: The first consisting of all those awful people who, having through the malevolence ' of fate, become pedagogues —I distinguish between schoolmasters and pedagogues —are for ever attempting, to prove 'this or that about Shakespeare by means of small, fiddling facts culled from textbooks; the second, consisting of people who, starting off with the knowledge that their author was a man of the theatre, regard him primarily as a playwright, and do not seek to clutter up his work with stuff about the number of years Macbeth reigned and the exact significance of some topical allusion,” writes Mr St. John Erwine in one of his characteristic pieces of criticism “There are actually poor fellows who believe that the date of a play’s composition is to he. fixed by the date o'f its first' performance, and they will tell you as offensively as they can that ‘Macbeth’ must have been 'written subsequent to ‘Hamlet’ because it was produced about four years later. Now', I happen to know r something about the inside of a theatre, a knowledge w'hich is not possessed by many, if any, of the persons who make oracular pronouncements on Shakespearan chonology, and I tell these persons that even the fact that there are topical allusions in a play does not establish beyond all doubt that the date on which' the play was written, for authors add lines to their plays in rehearsal when these can be topically useful, and omit them again when the occasion has passed, and the allusion has, therefore, ceased to have any meaning for an audience. It is only dud authors who will not allow' a comma to be removed from their heaveninspired plays.” * * * * *

About 240,000 people visited the British Museum libraries last year. Although the museum is only placed sixth'in the list of the world’s largest libraries in the books of reference, this is due to a certain modesty in reckoning its contents. For instance, an .encyclopaedia of, say, eighteen volumes is only catalogued as one W'ork, and not as eighteen volumes, as would be the case in other great libraries. If the total number of volumes ow'ncd by the museum w'ere counted then the museum would certainly come first on the list. « * * ■* *

At a charity auction sale at Londonderry House, London, to raise funds to complete the purchase of the Pulford Street Estate in Westminster, where 900 Westminster workers, at present living in insanitary conditions, will be comfortably house in new flats, a number of manuscripts by leading authors were offered. Sir James Barrie had given his original manuscript of “.Shall We Join the Ladies?” and Mr Galsworthy, before his death, had presented the manuscript of “The First and the Last” (from “Five Tails”). The Barrie gift was sold for £4OO, and the Galsworthy manuscript for £l7O. *****

The colonial edition of Harriette Ashbrook’s ‘ ‘ The Murder of Stern Mester” brings to readers one of the most cleverly complicated crime stories written by a woman. It is almost impossible for any writer of detective fiction to avoid characters and ideas not already used by other novelists, and the cleverness here consist of using old ideas in a new way, which would seem to most of us equally impossible. Ail through the story .the reader is saying, “That reminds me of —” Yet the reading continues. *****

One half of the world never knows how the other half lives —particularly after nightfall. Night club life means nothing to colonials who have not travelled, but an insight into its glittering pageant of wealth and beauty is given in her reminiscences by Mrs Meyrick, who became a notorious figure in the English press for her constant brushes with the law, which culminated in the famous Goddard ease. Mrs Meyrick was the daughter of an eminent' Dublin physician and was a woman of talents—a keen observer with a natural bent for business. In 1919, with everyone in London still trying to forget the war by exploring ever}' avenue of pleasure, she discovered that men would pay anything to be amused; that the provision of pleasure and amusement was the one trade in the world in which the buyer rarely counted the cost. '.Recounting with faithful detail her experiences over a twelve-year period, which, for her, was punctuated with four terms of imprisonment for her refusal to observe the licensing laws of England. Mrs Meyrick spares none of the notable figures who patronised her several clubs. Princes and prize-fighters, jockeys and jurists, bootleggers and gangsters, financiers and sportsmen, and eccentric people with more money to spend than was good for them all find a place in her book. The varying reactions of the different classes to the charm of pretty hostesses and the reckless spending of some of the world’s most noted personages form an interesting study in psychology. ******

When an old established paper like the “Bulletin” goes in for new type, it. is regarded as quite an event in the newspaper world. This change-over took place in a recent issue of the “Bulletin” and will now be a permanent feature. The new type which is the same as that used in the “London Times,” is a tremendous improvement on the old, making the “Bulletin” much easier reading. Added to this the popular national weekly has been permanently enlarged. The “Bulletin” now has a New Zealand office in Wellington, with Mr Pat Lawlor as manager. *****

The most original story that lias come this way for some time as “Murder Rehearsal,” by Roger East. A writer of detective stories plans three cunning murders for his new story. Parallel with the writing of this occur .three mysterious deaths, and a similarity between the two sets is discovered. The author cannot be the criminal, but who is? The investigation involves tracing the book idea of the three murder stories to its original source, and there is some pretty intricate detective work. Roger East appears to be a new liaison officer of Scotland Yard. Ilis next book will be awaited with more than usual interest.