NOTES ON NEW BOOKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18553, 10 November 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

NOTES ON NEW BOOKS.

came.

Great is the fascination of books of the . sea. Why?' Are they read by sea-faring folks only? The answer to the first question is the fact that an insular race like the British depends very largely not only for its foods and luxuries, but even for its romance upon the sea. ! From,, the/ far oceans have come the rare and choice things-the gold, the «ems, the silks, the treasures of bronze and ivory, bright china, gaudy.and.gay raiment as well as the sugar, the spices and all those things that brightened; sombre, life and made plain food delicate. Stories of the,/unknown world came from the sea; rich adventure and glory .of many kinds. Cut to the sea therefore, went the adventureseeking youth of England: across the seas to the newer Dominions does the Britishborn man still travel to find fortune or health,. or whatever it may be—something unknown. Therefore, does he in whom the warm blood. stirs still love a tale of the sea. Conrad, come from & people who even yet are striving to get a, sea port, expresses the craving of that people, but has to express it in English, the language which is richest in ,sea terms because since the days of its Saxon and Danish forbears, England's people have talked of the sea. thought of it, written of it. Seafaring folk are not specially readers they • have contributed, little to the wealth of sea literature. Now and then a lubbock has written his experiences, but mostly it is the landsman, keen to observe the romance, who has delighted his fellows with his written impressions. SEA TRACKS. " Sea Tracks of The Speejacks "—by Dale Collins - (Heinemann, London).—Tho adventure-sense could alone account for a wealthy American choosing to cruise the oceans in a small motor-boat. _ Some pioneer ancestor stirred in his veins the old English spirt. Across the years tho grim Puritan who left his comforts to make a new home in a new world, where everything had to begin from the primitive must , have smiled ' when Albert Gowen determined to coop himself, his bride and eleven men in the small space of a 98 feet yacht of 64 tons, to brave the ocean storms* in a vessel that had literally to ride, not dive through the waves. Success was dependent upon so many cases of benzine being at a certain place at a given time—" 5,000 gallons at an oot-of-way island where it is an unknown commodity "; it was necessary to decide just what route was possible with a cruising radius of. 2000 .miles." It was tin supreme, , unwritten law that yon should be ready to relieve on the bell's stroke. That, and no drinking of liquor until the anchor was down, were about our only commandments. We kept them both." The description of the Specjack's journey is racy writing. Besides some of the well-known ports, the Speejacks visited spo'u like Dunk Island. Of this and the late.owner, Mr. E. J. Bamfield, the author carried away a striking- imfiression. Another outstanding descripion is of the Balinese dancers in >. Java. " The gam elan orchestra consists of xylophones of wood, a, drum, mellow gongs, and silver bells. It rose and fell gently like a baby breathing, it blared into violence with dramatic suddenness, it sobbed and laughed and sang." Above , all it was plaintive, even'"when it laughed. It ebbed and paused; it rose again as the sea does on" a white beach.': You '' felt a sudden lump in your throat, yo<:i suddenly saw wonderful; ghosts o! fancy. You suddenly smiled all because , f of the art of twenty Balinese sqaullin 'on the ground before instruments' from which a European ' orchestra could have made nothing." , .Th«; Dutch in Batavia, certain millionaire Chinese, are the subjects of interesting chapters, and the photographs are the best of their kind : rarely are such ' books so we'll pictured: the new ground covered adds a wide interest to this story of "■ - a 'private ; motor-boat's • long voyage. • /«•- ■»'»■* - ■ ■ s SEA AND LAND. "Stills"— Melbourne Garahan (Leonard Parsons, London) a graphic description of the life of. a sailor under the power of a brutal mate, .with all the pinpricks, insults^ and blows r thrown in, Garahan's tale of-the young boatswain who discovered that he was short-sighted and in need of spectacles, could not be bettered. Again the story of his later " lodging at a Rowton House " where ; a - man can live respectably on less than a pound a week " is art, because it ,is so palpably written from life. The characters who live \ there are of types, most of them out of work or in precarious situations, but all imbued, apparently with a sense of brotherliness which makes them share meals and even the. jobs, when they are found. True it seems more than difficult to retain possession of your own shirt when you are washincr and pressing, it: collars are rare. 4 When an applicant seeks a billet, he pays for the loan of a collar. The men do ."own cooking; there are reading and writing rooms lavatories and bathrooms, lockers at a shilling a month ;;> a washhouse , with mangels, rapid hot-presses, and a bar where sixpence would.,buy enough for a very good meal.". The cubicles harbour all kinds of men, from '*■ a broken-down actor who is ' reduced to busking, or sing- . ing in the streets; professional kite-flyers, and runners, all expecting either jobs or money. Apart from the story, of which, ! to tell the truth, there is not very much— a youngster Vbo .-..his disappointed his . parents and is waiting for their forgiveness; the windfall -of luck to ' Cherry, ' a sailor, much of which is generously shared among' the' other '."(stiffs," the telling of the " stiffs " of his constant search for employment, bis constant dread lest it : be lost, is good art. His' condemnation of immorality is r scathing: he ' gives his readers r what one "feels to be an accurate description of . London's underworld of men fighting for enough to eat, but clean in morals. It is a phase* of life in a large city which has escaped much attention: the author does it full justice." " Wild Bipod "-by-. Gordon . Young (Fisher, Unwin, London).. —A tale of very wild doings. A stolen ship manned by a " wanted " captain \■, and •,„.*! good strong drinkin' men " as .: crew, chartered by a rascal, one,Davenai}tJ,wh6" is accompanied by bis so-called daughter. She very soon kills ' a man, because she thinks him dis- ' loyal to ; the captain. :;, But he having 'changed shirts with another, she has made an error. The captain keep? a false log. , They are making for y a Pacific } island where there are pearls. There is a storm; there is fighting : Williams the captain rs an out-and-out ruffian, but he can go overboard to bring, up ah apparently drowned man,; and for three hours he can work 10 bring life back to a stanger. When that stranger refuses, duty, he thrashes him. Thence the story is a tale of crime painted with a vivid pen. of a very hell of murder and treachery. The. material is perhaps overdone: a simpler story would have jjjg. made greater appeal; but the writer has described the passions with a. talentedv « and where he tones down some of to blood and thunder," he should be a hne writer of, Pacific Ocean novels. GENERAL StTBJEOTRS. 'f young MetbS Po^:^ hat brailch °f « knlwn m•« TT? a °T f New which Quest," intentT-l^?^- 01 the Splendid everybody," : a v" ondmg the love in idea of a short S' ■ !"■ the central ; people. It u Wife*** stoi 7 for young , written: its a ?d **&$ tastefully drawn by G°V 506 are "TheMmdinLL^ I Green (University of X>^ y £ eor H. study of the vanW-met&' P , reS3 )-~A ing interest, ,-i It trwErS? ° ! ".aw*ken,j „ Advertising, of i uSJS? U,81 7 .° development the chad sS 10 ' Son, of ..memory and- ffid ' SET So technical *«■ are iised? 0 I*' deferent education can derive £ from the book tts others^™