RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21627, 23 April 1932, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

f ' {& SUCCESSFUL GERMAN NOVEL “ Tho Blue Angel.” By Heinrich Mann. Kranslatcd by J. Leslie Mitchell (Jarrolds). “ The Unequal Conflict." By Godfrey Winn (Duckworth, 7s 6d net). " The Forlorn Years.” By John Morrison <>V. Collins Sons). “ Princess Proxy.” By J. Russell Warren (Ward, Lock). " Tho Marrying Kind.” By Helen Brose (Mills and Boon). ” The Trackless Way.” By Ursula Bloom (Hurst and Blackett). . “The Silver Star.” • By Jackson Gregory, (Hodder and Stoughton). " The Bancaster Mystery.” By A. N. Hodges (Eyre and Spottiswoode). ” Knotted Silk.” By Monte Barrett (Stanley Paul). “It Happened at the Cape.” By Kathleen Lindsay (Jenkins). .., ; “The Quest of the Vanishing Star.” By Robert Ladline (Jenkins). (Each Os net, unless otherwise stated). „ One is at once interested in and slightly suspicious of translated novels. Often they compare with the best of our own current fiction, occasionally they quite definitely surpass the bulk of it, but not infrequently they merely Join the undistinguished litter of books which emanate from English heads. “ The Blue Angtfi ” comes within the first category. It fully Justifies its appearance in an English edition, apart from a peculiar interest attaching to it as a screen play; but it would be too much to suggest that it is an outstanding work in, the lasting sense. The theme is original, essentially foreign,'incredible and yet'acceptable. It is an examination of the influence of infatuation upon an elderly pedant. Dr Mut, known as “ Old Mud ” to fifty thousand pupils and past pupils in. the town where he teaches, is an exceptionally interesting study for the competent novelist because he suffers, in the current phraseology, from a persecution mania. His nickname is shouted everywhere, his discipline is erratic and ineffectual, he is continually raging at “ the humiliation of authority .He had been teaching for 26 years, and there were always the same faces —Just as mischievous and unruly. No

■ one else seemed to notice how the same 1 • faces persisted, and soon the new- <■ coiners, too, would be quite indifferent , to their teacher. In the constant fight he had never managed to do anything that woilld lead the elder men, even if the nickname sprang to their lips,. to

keep'it back unspoken: to wish not to wound him. . . . Then, while engaged in a grim attempt to revenge himself on some philandering; pupils, Miit meets Rosa Frohlich, a thirdrate music hall performer at the “Blue Angel.” She is unintelligent, amoral, not especially beautiful, but Mut becomes gradually enslaved. As his infatuation grows, it blends with his other deep, lifelong'passion, the desire to avenge himself on his past charges, who form a large part of the town’s population. Hia emotion for Rosa is absorbing, sincere, so that it seems to him “ as it not only her garments and cosmetics came within his hands but also her soul,” but it is based on an even more devouring desire. Thus Rosa becomes the loved instrument of Mut’s vengeance. He loses his position, but there is no need to worry since Rosa, whom he now marries, has become the magnet of the townspeople. In their house there is freedom, amorous unrestraint, that draws, all men, and Mut obtains his grisly satisfaction in the disasters that come to citizens who gamble and drink their resources away in his. Wife’s extraordinary, sordid salon. But as Rosa brings him this joy, he learns also that through her he must pay dearly for it. All Her conquests are not achieved at the gaming table. Subtly, the author, traces the degeneracy of this strange couple until at last both are taken in ignominy to gaol amid the .jeers of the town. The Author ,

Heinrich Mann has written some 20 / novels and books of essays and several plays. The Prussian Academy acknowledged the quality of his work by electing him to membership. “ The Blue Angel,” which had scored a success on the Continent, in book form, was chosen by Emil Jannings as his first talking picture. It was produced in Germany, with Marlene Dietrich in the role of Rosa, before she went to the United _ States. A silent version has been acclaimed in most countries, but was refused exhibition in New Zealand. J. M. Unequal Conflict ■

Be it noted that novels quite above the usual standard are still'being written in England, and not alone by the authors whose names are library talismen. Mr Winn’s “ The ■ Unequal Conflict ” is 'no more a great book than “ The Blue" Angel,” and it lacks that terse directness of the German writer’s work, but it is undoubtedly a more than ordinarily interesting book. Its fault, it seems to a reviewer, is in the wide scope. Family chronicles are one type of novel—not always a welcome type—and penetrating studies of a particular person in an "especial set of circumstances another.. In “ The Unequal Conflict ” Mr Winn combines these types, with the result that his novel rung to ovef 400 pages and. one thinks, 100 pages too many. Certainly Judith had to be given an adequate background, but Mr Winn should have been quite decided .-whether it was to be indeed the background or a parallel story. As it is, we are much more absorbed in Judith’s history than in that of Elizabeth, whose tale .provides the contrast. Judith is a notable character, a loyal and devoted, almost a meek." wife, -who discovers at last that her wealthy husband is selfish, hard, and shallow, dnd has the , courage to break away from him and from her children, realising that they have no need of her. Mr Winn writes well, and with a clear understanding of the subtle relationships men and women in the ordinary family life. This is his third novel. ** The Forlorn Years ”

Again in “ The Forlorn Years ” one must cbnfess sympathy with the writer s aim, and appreciation of his; sincere manner of telling a story. This is a, first novel, which relates the growth of David Lome from youth to independent manhood. Brought up by a self-righteous aunt, this sensitive fellow goes to London to employment with a mean, blustering director. His revolt against this . employer is followed by a period of dejection,” and he is at the end of his resources when a woman, not altogether respectable, one admits, but nevertheless good-hearted, takes charge of him. He writes a novel that is reasonably successful, and is prospering, engaged to a girl whom he loves, when a second blow falls. The girl, who has never really been sympathetic, throws him over on hearing of his previous association. We leave Lome .still, perhaps, groping through those forlorn -ye.'l s •• when we are tried to ■ the utmost, but we are confident that the victory will be with him. He has, in this troubled period, found new strength and °nergy. Shades'of Ruritania

Coining to novels which are not so much concerned with niceties of characterisation, we may pick up Mr Russell \\ arrcn's new novel, “Princess 1 roxy, and therein find the romance and adventure that are to be expected. The action takes place in another of those pseudonymous Balkan States, Karalia. The kiiT' had had two wives and two daughters one, Sylvia, of his morganatic marriage to an Englishwoman,' the other Princess Sophie. Svlvia arrives in Karalia on the eve of Sophie’s- marriage to Prince Boris of a neighbouring State, and, being in'need of money, consents to act as her proxy at the ceremonies that are in hand. The danger of assassination has not been exaggerated, but the bomb strikes’ the carriage of the real princess, and Sylvia finds herself the centre of complications, which are added to by a revolution, the ' attentions of Boris further embarrass the English'girl, and her fortune is exciting indeed until Devemsh, of the British Legation, contrives her escape, and, needless to say. accompanies her. The Rnntania recipe has again provided agreeable fare in “Princess Proxy.” Modern Matrimony

Helena Grose has already written five lively, topically-minded novels, and her sixth, “The Marrying Kind follows her cheerful tradition. Elizabeth and Jason marry, without any particular thought of the responsibilities involved, and when Jason is injured, in a football match and incapacitated, possibly bedridden for life, they commence to gam experience- A nurse, Valerie, becomes more than professionally interested in her handsome patient, ■while Paul Day!and, a jnan of some mystery, 'endeavours to

console Elizabeth. Eventually, before any real harm has corny to the foundation of their married life, Jason, happily recovered, and Elizabeth are united again by an event forecasted on the Jacket of the novel, which shows a young woman holding a baby aloft in her arms. Transmigration

In “ The. Trackless Way” Miss Ursula Bloom addresses herself boldly to the picturesque doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Although she may not succeed in shedding any very new light on the subject, she certainly manages to present its claims to notice in a very effective manner. Her method is to depict a life of deferred hope and disillusionment in the briefest way possible, and to bring it to a tragic close by means of a drowning accident in a flooded river. Before the finding of the body finally concludes the story the dying man dreams dreams in which he finds himself carried back to four previous existences, of all of which he has frequently suspected that recollections lurked in his inner consciousness. Whether the book proves anything depends entirely upon the personal inclinations and beliefs of the reader, but the descriptions of'the visions should certainly be read' for an excellence of imaginative composition which surpasses anything this young writer has yet offered her public.

Jackson Gregory Jackson. Gregory’s “ The Silver Star ” is as exciting as any of the stories he has given us in the past. Steve Cody, the hero, is outwardly as hard as the nether millstone, and as an expert with the revolver he is decidedly better than any previously presented to us, for he can shoot backwards through his coat. High Town is a mixed mining and ranching centre, where gambling and liquor and evil reign. The election of sheriff is being carried out. Steve Cody the elder is the nominee of the law-abiding section; Vargas, head of the gambling and . drinking , element, is sure of the votes of the lawless. The voting results in the election of Cody, and then it transpires that he has been dead two days, shot from ambush. In his saloon Vargas claims the election, but Steve Cody the younger, who is present, replies in his cool way that he is Stephen Randa|l Cody and, there being no one else with that name in the county, he is sheriff. Cody is invested with the office, and there follows the story of the solving of as mysterious a series of happenings as one can wish to read about. The sherriff allows himself to be misjudged, suspected, denounced, even thwarted, but carries quietly on in his investigation of the crime centre which is ruling the district. The love which springs up between Corinna Lee and Steve makes a pleasant interlude, and Judge William Henry Bull, with his whimsicalities and his mule, is a source of amusement.

Shot in the Dock Noel Hodges has given us a very good mystery story in “ The Bancaster Mystery.” A man is found stabbed on the vowing path of the canal at Bancaster. The body is identified as that of Watson Biggs, and Edward Sheers is arrested, tried, and condemned as the murderer. Just as sentence , is being pronounced a shot rings out and-the accused man falls forward dead as the result of a bullet in the.head. No one can be found to have fired the shot. This is the problem, which is complicated by the presence—or rather absence—of a certain John Porter, whom Sheers had wished to call as a witness on his behalf. It happens that a Major Nuttall returns to England when the whole country is agog with excitement. He is looking • for Biggs. Slowly the story is pieced together. Porter, Sheers, and Biggs come quietly into their own places and a queer tangle is revealed. Not till the end of the book is reached do we get the “rights” of the case, and when We do it is as simple as one could wish.

An Actress Dies “Knotted Silk” is another satisfactorily mystifying story. Lila Yale is found dead in an alley leading to her flaf, the discovery being made by Tom Reynolds, the lover of her sister Page, upon whose addresses to her sister Lila has turned a decidedly unsympathetic eye. She' is a noted and notorious star of the " Follies.” It is evident that she must have been murdered in her flat and her body carried down the fire escape. Suspicion falls on Reynolds and hovers unpleasantly long for a number of reasons. Then there is a possibility that,Robert Wharton, Lila’s divorced husband, may have done the deed. Moreover, Florence Nunnally, of the “Nimble Nunnally’s/Miad threatened Lila just the night before. The crime is investigated by Sergeant Kilday, Carter Benton, a private detective, and f’eter Cardigan, a novelist. It is Peter who slowly eliminates the possible suspects ami places his finger on one Who was enamoured of Lila, blit then realised that Page, her sister, was more, to his liking and determined to put the artist of the “Follies” us well as Tom Reynolds out of possibility of interference. Monte Barrett keeps up the mystification till the very end of this story, the action of which occupies only forty-eight hours. An African " Thriller " With South Africa as its background, “It Happened at the Cape” is an exciting mystery story in which a master criminal, the “ Octopus,” pits his wits against" those of Joubert, a famous Dutch detective. The author, Kathleen Lindsay, evidently knows her Capetown. She contrives a dramatic situation among the mists on top of Table Mountain, and carries her readers with her to various parts of the famous old city. The story opens in Madiera, where Sir John Kessler is called to the aid of a beautiful girl, and steps into a grim tragedy. It is then that the scene changes to South Africa, where Kessler renews acquaintance with the wife he has divorced, and comes in contact with the “Octopus,” whom Jouhert at last destroys. This is an entertaining “ thriller.” The Vanishing Star

Commencing its travels with a murder, the mysterious vanishing star is next the central figure in’ a sensational train robbery. Shortly afterwards it falls into the hands of the British Secret Service Department, which is seeking it, but immediately disappears again. By this time overseas authorities have joined in the quest, and the star figures in several cleverly-planned burglaries, a series of motor tragedies, and a thrilling chase with motor boats in a high sea. The only thing, in fact, that is not introduced into the tale is an aeroplane disaster. The story is told with a wealth of detail and a raciness that will appeal to that very wide circle of who like their fiction to be sensational. V. V. L.

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