BOOK NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 18, 17 December 1938, Page 2

BOOK NOTES.

“OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS.” New Zealand shall continue to be “discovered” for generations to come. Always, it is probable, there will be fresh charms to enjoy, hitherto unl'oiind beauty, to entrance. Certain as is that premise, it is no less true that to-day there, are scores of deservedly popular beauty spots that have won the approbation of visitors from overseas, but have failed to attract the big proportion of the Dominion’s own sightseers. With the construction of the new tourist highway in the Milford Sound country there will doubtless be thousands more to whom these attractions will 1)0 accessible .and to them “Out of the Mountains,” from the pen of I. E. Dickens, will be a source of interest .and information. The record of a visit taken early this year to the Lakes District, it is a simply written narrative rich in geographical references and plentifully sprinkled with illustrations. The 'writer lias not striven for literary effect, but rather holds his reader in the ideal manner — hv the sheer merit of his subject. Those who have visited the Sounds country and have regretted their inability to set down their experiences will, find them vividly portrayed in this small book, which is another worthwhile contribution to ibe New Zealand series from the publishing house of A. IT. and A. W. Reed, from whom our copy was received.

“GREEN WOOD—WHITE WOOD.” Of modern poetry there is no dearth of critics. Yet not all criticism carries its own justification. True, the admirer of the facile rhymings of much of the “old school” of poesy may be disappointed, visualising in the newer —or merely different —form of versification an apparently tantalising abstruseness of imagery, but the poetry of the present day repays attention as richly as did any poetry. By and large it conforms in type to the problem play—all of its charm is not blatant, but rather it challenges to a thoughtful searching out. In “Green Wood—White Wood” Arnold Cork has made a notable contribution to the growing anthology of New Zealand verse of this category. Thirty poems, bound into a slim volume, eonstitute.a source of immense pleasure for readers who admire the realism aud delicate imagery of modern verse; breathing the spirit of New Zealand, they find much of their charm in the realm of Nature, yet there is a definite tracery of philosophy that is most appealing. There is nothing musty about these poems; they are all vital, as charming as they are purposeful. “Green Wood —White Wood” thoroughly deserves to ho popular among discerning readers. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs A. IT. and A. W. Reed. EARLY NEW ZEALAND. The Dominion of New Zealand celebrates its centenary next year and one of the first books celebrating the event is a literary find of world-wide interest. New Zealand attracted some interesting settlers in the early days. Keats’s great friend and collaborator, Charles Armitage Brown, went there; Charlotte Bronte’s friend, Mary Taylor (the Rose York in Shirley), oponed a shop in Wellington ; Alfred Domett, the “Waring” of Browning’s poem, also settled in the new country. Among other visitors were Samuel Butler, the French etcher, Charles Meryon, Froude, and Darwin. The story of these celebrated visitors and settlers has been gathered into a book by Hector Bolitho and John Mulgam Tlie literary “finds” in the hook include Charles Meryon’s diary and the journal which Charles Armitage Brown kept on his journey to New Zealand. The hook is to be called “New Zealand : Early Associations” and will be published by Messrs Selwyn and Blount early in January, 1939.