A MODERN ODYSSEY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21520, 17 June 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

A MODERN ODYSSEY

FINE STORY OF THE SEA A novel of intense interest and Buperb vigour—such is " Mother Sea," apparently the first effort of Felix Riesenberg, formerly a master-mariner in steam and sail. Ho has taken tho period toward the close of the last century when the whito wings of tho sailing ships were slowly being banished from the seas, it is the story of Captain Clyde Nicholson and of his first voyage as master of tho barque Cleopatra; of storms and shipwrecks; of ventures into the new world of steam. Ho loves the sea and serves her ill tho fashion of a strong man. He marries an emptyheaded, ultra-romantic girl who lives in a world of fantasy which ignores the stern reality of tho sea, and in this sweeping modern odyssey we see him lighting for and winning his salvation. The theme of tho book is not so much tho light by sail against steam as the immense influence exerted by the sea on the minds of those who serve her. That it is illustrated by persons more than by abstract arguments only adds to its strength, for Captain Hiesenberg shows admirable gifts of characterisation. His Captain Clyde .Nicholson is a grand iiguro, strong, determined and e\eu ruthless when treading the heaving deck of hia ship and with all a sailor's weaknesses when once he steps ashore, iiie woman, Ruth, is sketched with a cynicism which never defeats its own ends and reveals her completely as tho antithesis of everything that is elemental in the character ox her sailor husuand. An old sea-captain, marine superintendent of a dying line of sailing snips, stumps his way through the jages of the book, alternating periods of professional piety with outbursts of v-ivid nautical obscenity. There is a whole host of other characters, sailors and landlubbers, and all are drawn with great shrewdness and understanding. There is no plot as the word is generally understoou; even a matrimonial entanglement is made subservient to tho magnificent central theme. iJut as Clyde -Nicnolson tramps round the world, first on his beloved Cleopatra, then on an Atlantic liner and iinaily on a dirty utt.ie freight steamer, one travels with him' in spirit and knows the thrili of living dangerously. Captain Riesenberg nas written a magnificent book and it is sincerely to bo hoped, that he will write iui'Ltier tributes to tho sea ho loves so much. " Mother Sea," by Felix Kiesenberg. (Goiianczj