CURRENT LITERATURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18019, 18 February 1922, Page 1 (Supplement)

CURRENT LITERATURE.

NOTES ON NEW BOOKS. BT CRITIC. Japan—China—the Yellow Peril 1 How often we hear these words without bothering to ascertain what lies behind the voices of those that "cry in the wilderness." There is no longer excuse for any one of us to say that he does not know what tho situation is, for some admirable books have been written in tho last five years or so. which clear up much of the fog which hid tho East from us of the West. Among them, may be noticed a recent contribution from the pen of a naval officer. THE SEA AND JAPAN. " The Influence of the Sea, or The Political History of Japan "-by Vice Admiral Ballard C.B. (Murray, London).— " Many histories of Japan have appeared in English," writes the author, in his preface, "but very different versions of an cient historical occurrences, are to bo found in the various accounts hitherto published." With this in mind, he has sifted the discrepancies and endeavoured to produce a record which, since he is a professional seaman, should be accurate from the naval point of view, and moreover, should be a valuable guide to the modern Japanese attitude. An excellent feature of Mr. Ballard's book is the detailed, comprehensive synopsis of chapters. It enables certain points to be selected for closo study, His 6tyle is lucid and simple, yet truly historical. He raises some interesting points by his comments, and his book is well worth reading in the light of modern happenings. His knowledge of naval tactics and armaments enables him to get a proportion in his discussions of Japanese sea warfare, which is necessarily lacking in the books written of Japan by laymen pure and simple As a history, alone, it provides much food for thought. SOME FICTION. "The Bomantlc Lady"—by Michael Arlen (Collins, London). — " French women say English women haven't got it, and English women Bay French women have got nothing else—that very special and subtlo quality which will prevent a well-dressed woman looking like a courtesan under certain circumstances. . . . There is no romance without reality. . . . For a woman to marry a man who lives by his pen is as dangerous an adventure as to marry a man who lives by the sword."

There, are many quotable passages in Arlen's book of short stories, and there is a certain style which is very attractive. But it is an anomaly in a writer who aspires to be a stylist that he should commit obvious soiecisims such as "like you and I," —" He must have seen you and I," " the likes of you and I," etc. If a writer does palpably aim at being a stylist, should not his English be ordinarily correct?

"The Mating of the Blades "-by Achmed Abdullah (Hutchinson, London). —The old, old story of the young aristocrat who humbly allows a disgrace to be accounted as his in order that the noblo house may not be disgraced through the heir. The cheat at cards goes to the East, taking with him an antique sword. He is welcomed by a native princess who is waiting for him and whose retinue escorts him into Tamerlanistan, where he acts as her regent. But the impossible "Preserved Higgins," who is responsible for the disgrace, arrives with the suspected card cheat, Hector's elder brother. Also there arrives similarly seeking concessions, an American, Ezra Warburton. From the melee emerges tho central idea •that centuries before an Earl of Dealle had loved and married a Princess of Tamerlanistan, and princely swords had been exchanged. The princess holds the English blade, Hector the Oriental one. It is fitting then for the purpose of the novel that Hector marries the American heiress, and Tollemache, Earl of Dealle, should seek the princess: and that the card cheating should bo traced to Mr. Preserved Higgins, millionaire and bounder.

" The Seventh Angel "—by Alexander Black (Harpers, New York; Melville and Mullen, Melbourne).—Mr. Black is a writer who suggests rather than tells. His story may be picked out from a mass of somewhat confusing intricacy of philosophy and moralising, and of some very good sociological study. Two warworkers return from France and continue their friendship. One of them is obsessed by the desire to tell Ann her pre-war life, which is not altogether tellable. Ann is the figure of the book, and the love plot is hers. »Thcn there is an interesting young Russian, who is arrested as an anarchist. The vision of the future is what the author strives to reveal to American readers.

"The Peddler "-by Henrv C. Rowland (Harpers, New York; Melville and Mullen, Melbourne).—The peddW travels with an ironmongery store, on wheels. The clatter of its contents and the blowing of-its motor horn are intolerable; but he laughs at snubs, and often is able to help thoso motorists whose cars attempt to climb trees. In the neighbourhood is a nest of " society" thieves. The son of an aristocratic house falls under a certain suspicion of the theft of a blue diamond which a French countess had lost; the peddler becomes friendly with ■William's sister. A certain Patricia is revealed as the thief, and a description is given of her amazing strength in swimming. In a contest between her and the poddier, he is decidedly worsted—which reveals the real bu'hes s of the peddler. [ He is a secret service man.

"General Bramble"—By Andre Maurois (Lane, London)—iß light comedy, consistins; of armv episodes, centring round the same charcaters. It is full of wit. though some particularly sage observations are interspersed among the folly. " Breakers on the Sand"-By Winifred Ornham (Hutchinson, London).—A curiously detailed novel, its characters including a divorced clergyman, whose errant wife steals back to look at her child, the vicar's sportin? brother, a pompous squire, and a wicked fascinator in the person of a guardsman.

Two books which are sure to have a very large sale are " Who Told you That?" containing 360 after-dinner stories compiled by " Quex " of The Evening News;" and "Sunbeams: A Book of Laughter," containing 400 stories—the cream of the world's best jokes and anecdotes—published in book form by courtesy of The Sunday Express. Stanley Paul and Co., London, are the publishers. HAND BOOKS. Three very attractive gardening books, from the pen of H. H. Thomas, are issued bv Cassefl (London). There is "The Garden Month by Month," "Rose Growing for Amateurs," and " Bulb Growing for Amateurs." The illustrations are capital, and the information succinct, though it is to be remembered that the books are written for English gardeners.

VERSE. " Around the Boree Log"—By John O'Brien (Angus, Robertson, Sydney).—A collection of typical Australian verse, enshrining the Irish of that land. "The Little Irish Mother" is one of the best poems. Another is " St, Patrick's Day' - and "Vale, Father Pat/' is full of local colour. Every Irish colonial will appreciate this latest addition to Australian poetry.