Other New Publications

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23145, 17 September 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

Other New Publications

JEWISH LITERATURE NOTE OF HIQH SERIOUSNESS „ t The story of the Jews, writes Mr. Robert Bell, in the London Observer, is the nearest we can got to the history of the human race. It is continuous and coherent; it goes back to tho beginning of written speech, and it is still going on before our eyes. Other nations have passed liko Banquo's ghosts, but the Jew goes on, standing in turn, as has been 1 said, ''by the gravo of all his enemies." This advantage of time is of great account in an encyclopaedic work liko "The Golden Treasury of Jewish Literature." It makes the task of selection difficult, but the Jew's message to the world has been consistent as well as consecutive. From the beginning it has been concerned with tho greater things we associate with the word "righteousness" (which seems to be dropping out of the language without leaving any exact substitute) a word which has stiffened • into Pliariseejsm or relaxed into magnificent heresies like Spinoza's. Always the main theme has been human destiny and responsibility, and that note of high seriousness pervades Mr. Schwartz's book. "A Golden Treasury of Jewish Literature." Selected and Edited by Leo W. Schwartz. (Barker).

By THE BOOKMEN

CHARMING AUSTRALIAN FRESHNESS AND VITALITY There is a freshness and vitality about "Wind in Spring," by Alison McDougall that murks it as a book of unusual interest and charm. It is tho story of the emotional adventures of an Australian girl, Freda, whose love for a self-centred, egotistical, but (|iiite charming novelist, Jeffrey Arnold, brings her far more pain than joy. Freda is an attractive girl, sensitive, intelligent and sincere, who first met Jeffrey when studying art at the Slado School in London. Their subsequent reactions to one another are unfolded against a changing background that yet preserves the unity and coherence of the book —the warmth and colour of Spain with its undertone of coming storm, the sophistication of London and tho vigorous directness of life in Australia. The gradual change that took place in Jeff rev's attitude to Australia, from his loathing of what he considered its harsh crudeness to a steadily growing awareness of its spaciousness, its wealth of sunshine and colour, is described with sympathetic insight. "Wind in Spring," by Alison McDounall. (Angus and Kobertson).