OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 9

OBITUARY.

MISS KATHERINE MANSFIELD. DISTINGUISHED N.Z. WRITER Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 9.6 p.m.) LONDON. Jan. '*1»; Mrs. Middleton Murry, daughter of.Sir Harold. Beauchamp, of Wellington) who under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield, attained high distinction as ,» shortstory writer, died at Fontainebleu, in France, on Tuesday. , - :*'.'■

Miss Katherine Mansfield, for so Mrs. Middleton' Murry was known , as an authoress, was the third daughter of Sir Harold Beauchamp, of Wellington. She married in 1913, Mr. John Middleton Murry, editor of the Atnenaeum, and for several year 3 she had lived in England. With only thTee books, "In a German Pension," "Bliss and other' Stories," ana* "The Garden Party and' Other e Stories," Miss Mansfield had already made a mark in English literature, and her work had drawn the attention of foreign literary magazines of such high reputation as Le Mercure de France, La Aouvelle Revue Francaise, the Chicago Dial, and the New York Bookman, as well as :_ leading Dutch, German, and Italian reviews. In the opinion of many .English, French, and American- critics, Miss Mansfield had before her, had ; she been spared, an exceptionally brilliant and successful future as a novelist of the first rank. '■;■: " Miss Mansfield, more than any other modern writer, leaves us wondering, ; 'Am I half-blind ,or half-alive or what?'" wrote a critic in the London Times recently in an appreciation of Miss -Mansfield's work.' "Most writers accuse us of .insufficient attention as to some things. But we can explain that easily enough. We were, attending to something else, and something the writer did not mention. It is rare, indeed, for us to find a writer who includes us, who sees all that we see, and something more. Yet, up to a certain point, we must admit that Miss Mansfield is such a writer. And ! she sees everything much more vividly than we do. Reading her stories is like wandering at dusk through a garden we vaguely know, . accompanied by ; a -; : guide carrying a little searchlight. We know everything the guide points to, but we never saw it so clearly before. ■" It is customary to say that Miss Mansfield has been greatly influenced by the Russians., We see no evidence for it. Indeed, it seems to us that they are chiefly concerned with what Miss Mans-; field largely neglects'. Her art is of a more finite, and even domestic, order. But .in Jane Austen we have a writer who may well serve as Miss Mansfield's ancestress, and, .we may add, there is no ;record of the family between these two. It is a purely 'English as well, as a purely . feminine art. It is a finite art but, . because it is finite, it can be made perfect. There are stories by Miss 'Mansfield which are not only perfect in themselves, but perfect in their genre. - , ! "Perfection is a great thing.;.;'!lt is not the greatest thing, and Miss ; Mansfield cannot ,be ranked ; among the greatest v writers. ''.'•" But .'' it is a quality which .has ■; peculiar claims to immortality, and : we, know of 'none among Miss 'Mansfield's 1 ,, contemporaries whose claims are as good." i