DAYS OF ADVENTURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22320, 18 January 1936, Page 12 (Supplement)

DAYS OF ADVENTURE

WRITER'S VARIED CAREER Proof that a weight of years is not an essential part of tho autobiographer's equipment is given m abundance by Mr. Negley Farson, American journalist, novelist, ex-business man, traveller, yachtsman, airmen —and many other things besides —in ' 'The Way of a Transgressor." Why he should have chosen such a title for his story of 639 pages, however, is nSt quito clear, for surely there can bo no transgression in cramming so much energy as Mr. Farson lias displayed into so comparatively short a span of time as his journal covers. Andmany an autobiographer would account it a virtue to be "able to wield such an attractive pen as Mr. Farson commands.

The author opens his story with a scene of his own childhood, his grandfather's house in New Jersey. A fine piece of literary craftsmanship is this. He takes the reader on through school and college days, collecting athletic trophies by tho way and, finally, an engineering diploma. Then comes a visit to England, where ho is sent by an American engineering firm to be attached to a Manchester firm of engineers. It isi his introduction to the English scene, > and on the whole lie finds it good, although the Great War is in progress. Materially, however, tho prospects for advancement do not appeal to him, and, falling in with some fellow Americans, he soon finds himself in Russia, endeavouring to arrange for Russian Army contracts. From here the story of tho man of action may be said to start. For many months Mr. Farson was in Russia, and his experiences there are more worth tho telling than those ol many who have written about that troubled land. Back to England he went and, posing as a Canadian, joined tho Royal Flying Corps, in which Jio served for two years. A crash in Egypt caused him an injury which has troubled him ever since, although he has been remarkably active in spite of it. Peace time saw him as a sales manager in Chicago for a firm of motor manufacturers, and well on the road to material success, but his restlessness took him off to the forests of British Columbia, where ho and his wife lived the simple, though strenuous, lifo for two years. Then came a yachting cruise through tho canals and rivers of Europe, from tho North Ssa to tho Black Sea, followed by several years in various parts of Europe, including Russia again, as an American newspaper correspondent. Tlie author's view of the moving scene of international events during this most interesting phase of his activities could well have had a book to itself, but the physical limits- to tho size of his one voiumo have been well occupied with high lights. Any detailed treatment which ho may be saving for subsequent publication -w ill be sure of a wide welcome. "The Way of a Transgressor," by Negley Farson. (Golltincz.)