BOOK NOTICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17324, 25 May 1918, Page 11

BOOK NOTICES

"lho Gulf." By Hujh F. Spender. don: W. Collins, Sons, and Co. ' (Cloth; 45.) i This is a. war story, giving, among other i details, a very excellent account of iho > Btato of public feeling in Berlin immediately 5 tefore the outbreak of hostilities. It might I justly bo described as an historical nofrei ' of tho present day, since it is not merely, a ■ romance, but a record ol real events and-of ■■■ the experience of living persons. It is a ■ cosmopolitan story; the chief actons being , an Jvugiisli brother arid sister, Humphrey ' and Edith Thorneot; a French professor and his wife; a travelling American, and tho German family of the Count von Ludwig; "s with the necessary supernumeraries. • Xtjo Ludwig family consists of the count and ■} countess, two sgii£, and a daughter. • The oldest son (Karl) is a German of tho' did, noble type who, although & soldier, Kates war, and shrinks from Woodshed under ■ any circumstances, while Wilhelm is a typi- | cal modern Prussian. Karl falls in iovo 77 with Edith, and they remain devotedly } attached in spite of-"the gulf" of national 7 prejudico which lies between them. 'Both j Count Ludwig and the "Ail Highest" ob- ■'* ject to Karl's engagement to an English woman, and do their best to break it off. > \\ hen they find this impossible the young •" mail is transferred to another regiment And ?: commanded, on obedience as a soldier, * to postpone his marriage.. Then wo oomo to the purely historical part, the state- of 1 Berlin immediately before the war; the'de- j light of the populace when war is declared; the mobilisation; tho entranoe into Bel- • ' giunr; the cruel ajid unprovoked assaults on her jioaceful people: the atrocities committed in Brussels, Louvain. and other ' towns and villages. Karl von Ludwig doe* 5 what ho can to save a fow of tlie pre- * destined victims, only to bring- down upon *1 his own head the bitter hatred and, finally. J the revenge of some of his suneriors ,and *i fellow-officers. At last the test."comcs. He is commanded to give tho order for tho ?: shooting of 20 Belgians of whose innocence 3 of all crime ho is well a>ware. He refuses, is himself oourt-maTtialled, and condemned < shot at dawn. Then follows the thrilling narrative of his escape to Holland, and eventually to Now York, where Edith "i quickly joins him. The story is wonder- ; ; fully free from exaggeration and prejudice, i It does full justice to the noble side of the v German character while not endeavouring t» 5 palliate the monstrous crimes of whioh othei i'i members of the nation liavo recently been •• guilty. * ; < "A Desk-book of 25.000 Words Frequency ■ Mispronounced.'" By Frank H. Vizetejly, 5 Lit-t.D., LL.D. New York: Funk and )i \V agnails Company. , '•& The custom of educated society ia the rule of pronunciation. This dictum-' has . ; lost some of its value through the' inttoduction in recent years of many > tions in the speech of educated peoplel j Theso are the people of whom the com- i pijer of this useful book says, in an entertaining introductory chapter: "Unfortunately, in England the university-bred"'J think themselves rather than their universities a law in matters of enunciation, : pro- % nuiiciation, and Respecting the need for, the publication of a pronouhc- !;j •ng dictionary of convenient size, w© may > fittingly quote from Mr Vizeteliy's intto- -» duction: — The speech of our day, in the home,, 5 ' on the street, in the schools, and especi-t 5 ally on the stage, pursues the eyeri tenor' of its. way with all sorts of sounds and Sj intonations, due to the influences of' our '/ cosmopolitan life, while we, following*'t^ie l \ practice of Dry den's day, "torture .'ope 3 s poor word ton thousand ways" to earn ihe ' distinction of being described; "a stiiltter-.\. ing, slovenly-spoken generation," giveh id--P? paying too much attention to too little to distinct enunciation. Thai ? we are not alone in this respect has been shown us by a visitor from- the antipodes*--! —a teacher of English in the public ■. schools of New Zealand. Said he, "We. ' have at intervals to put up with English criticisms voiced in drawing-rooms ,or | newspaper colmns concerning our %vnal I accent, so oflFensive to the sensitiveness of the superior English ear." When he left - England for America he did so with,the warning,.. "You'll get the awful American voice" dinning in his ears. But he left";: it, yet not before he had somewhat rufflted the self-satisfied opinions of his friends S concerning their common inheritance. ') After exploring England in an effort to determine the quality of the Engltthvoice, the New Zealander said : "I left i England, wondering what on earth the; English voioe was and whereabouts in "i England people spoke English. I saw ■ in the North, at bank holiday time, -tens' of thousands of English, men and women v who speak nothing but dialects; I heard cockney in almost every street in London; I heard in the West End well-bred affecta- | tion tones produced, as it were, around a-\'; substantial marble wobbling in the region ' of the tonsils; I heard languid drawls, ?.- simpers, high-pitched silver-bell lisps; I't heard terimnal *aws' and slipped, 'g's' and feeble 'h's'; but rarely did I hear what v I should call just a fine, dear, interesting Jvoice, speaking good, plain English." t The present volume is recommended by the ' j fact that the editor has consulted the lead- % ing lexicographers, and that authorities.,®!® ?* quoted for all the pronunciations which'are j given. '■# "Lot© and Liberty." By Alexandre Dumas. " Translated, with an introduction, by >! R. S. Garnett. Ixmdon: Stanley Paul; and Co. (4s, 2s 6d.) y This is one of the last written of 'Jhe " famous historical romances of the great French novelist, Alexandre Dumas, and.it ij has never before been translated into Eng- i lish, though English readers will find it as S thrillingly exciting as the J " Monte Oristo" or " The Three Mus- Vs keteers." The subject is that of (iie 'i? Sicilian Revolution in 1799, and the i: materials that have been used in ita con- -S struction were unearthed by Dumas himself 't from the archives of Naples and from the '; correspondence of Lord Nelson. Like'-all ! Dumas's work, it is historically corrcct-'in J every detail. The gTeat figure of Nelson -1 bulks largely in the drama, together with 'J that of Lady Hamilton and her complaisailt husband. Sir William Hamilton, tho Eng- -*jj lish Ambassador. King Ferdinand and > Queen Caroline of Naples also appear, l aa well as a number of the most noted Repub- ; « lican and Royalist leaders of tho period. Vs The stage is well filled at all times, and yet so well_ are iho characters individual- h lsed that it never seems overcrowded. ,t Looked at frcon tixe historical point of | view, it is a fine piece of work, and gives 1 the reader a clear idea of the passionate, • * excitable, uncontrolled naturo of -tho r, Sicilian people, and especially of the famous V Lazzarone of Naples, with their violent : prejudices and superftitions, on wliioh the I leaders of both sides play, inciting to rapine : and plunder or to the grossest eupersti- • tion. A paseionato and thrilling , ljfve story, not less historical than the rest,, rnns ; like a golden thread throughout the-details ] of massacre and rapine, plot and counterplot, and lifts the reader into a sererier air, winged with noble thoughts and lofty ■: aspirations., in which tho tragio climax is >' shorn of most of its horrors. * "The Secret of TypewTitme Speed." By : ,i Margaret B. Owen. Chicago: Forbes: and Co. (Cloth ; 45.) " Miss Owen is tho world's champiotl typist, having -won the world's professional tysowriting championship by writing at Uie rate of 143 net words a minute for one • hour. Her present book gives the methods which sho employs, and it is tho first book ; to toll everything about typewriting. .It i touches on and explains every imaginable detail, thus showing tho importance of many apparently minor points, ■which, have hitherto been considered of' , little importance. In her _ short introdue- ■ tion she states her conviction that anyone with the ambition and persever- J ence may do as well as she has done, tftct '' phe is not a " genrus," merely an intelli- -. gent worker, and that all hints given, .are the res*ilt of hor own '"personal experience,'* and not taken from any text book. < '"Hie Soldier's Servioe Dictionary." JJdited ! by FranJc H. Vizetcßy. Nnr York: ; Funk and Wagnalls Company. v TTiis dictionary, of a sizo that may oon- ; venicntly bo onrried in a soldier's tonic, haft been prepared specially for ase in the United States service. It contains about '■ 10,000 military, nav.il, aeronautical, and I conversational terms used at tho front, with ! the pronunciation of the French equivalents carefully indicated. ! r