LITERATURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22776, 11 January 1936, Page 4

LITERATURE

recent fiction "The Royal Way.” By Andre Malraux. 6 Fierce* and Gentle." By H. A. Manhood. (C “ Crucible." By J. P. M'Klnney. (Angus and Robertson.) 6s 6d. , T ~ . “Jack and John." By . Riley. (Jenkins.) "Duncan Ross, Detective Sergeant. By Robert Stuart. (Blackie.) “ The Sullen Sky Mystery.” By H. C. Bailej. tG " Gunmen’s Holiday.” By Maxwell Knight. (Allan.) " The Eye at the Keyhole.” By Stephen Maddock. (Crime Club.) .. „ . . “ The Little Colonel Stories. By Annie Fellows Johnston. (Angus and Robertson.) is. (Each 7s, unless otherwise stated.) 1 “ The Royal Way ” Andre Malraux’s second appearance in English is again an event, and one most sensitively assisted by Stuart Gilbert, the translator of “La Voie Royale. -Ibis novel has as its scene the jungle of Siam —and the jungle, any jungle, is preferred locale for writers - who are striving to give an eerie atmosphere to their work. M. Malraux does it with the best, and if one suspects the influence of his countryman, Ferdinand-Celine, in his atmo-

spheric passages, his. description is nonetheless effective for that. There is a sure sense of fatalism in his passages tracing the journey of Perken and Claude Vannec along the “Royal Way " of ancient times:—

The high, grey ant-hills, on ■whose surface the termites never showed themselves,, towered up in the green dusk like mountain-peaks on gome dead satellite; they seemed bred of the corruption of the air, the stench of fungus, the swarms of tiny leeches glued together like flies’ eggs beneath the leaves. Claude was growing aware of the essential oneness of the forest, _ and had given up trying to distinguish living beings from their setting, life that moves from life that oozes; some unknown power assimilated the trees with the fungoid’ growths upon them, and quickened the restless movements of all the rudimentary creatures darting to and fro upon a soil like marsh-scum amid the steaming vegetation of a

planet in the making. . . . The two adventurers are searching along the ancient route, now reclaimed by the forest, for temples which may yet yield valuable stone carvings. They find what they seek, but Perken, the semi-mystical, whose strong nature splits on the impulses to power and sensuality, insists they move further into the wild country. The scenes in which they are trapped by vicious tribesmen in a native village, free themselves by subterfuge, then in the end fight through even further into forbidden territory, Perken a doomed man, urged even as death approaches by his dream ox conquest, are gripping and vital, with the half-crazy intensity of a nightmare. ‘ The Royal Way ” could be read as an adventure story; or it will be interpreted more closely by readers with a feeling for strong characterisation and _ living prose. But whichever one seeks in this striking work, one need not be disappointed. The Author

Andre Malraux, aged 34, is the Bon ot a French civil servant. He went to IndoChina at 20, made an archajological expedition to Cambodia and Siam, and was an eye-witness during the most sanguinary years of the, Chinese revolution. He became a Commissioner of Propaganda for the revolutionary Government of # the south, and as a member of the Committee of Twelve helped to direct the Canton insurrection. In 1934 he made a night across the Great Arabian Desert and reported the discovery of what he believed to be the legendary city of Sheba—a discovery which has lacked authoritative authentication. His first work, published when he was 20, consisted of - the poetic prose of “Lunes en Papier,” His subsequent works have dealt with the Orient. He is described as “ restless, fair-skinned, well-built, with large, sad, grey eyes that stare past the person he is talking to. He lives in Paris, and is an employee of the publishing house of Gallimard^ Short Stories *

Simplicity of theme and directness of treatment are the characteristics of “ Fierce and Gentle,” the latest collection of short stories by H. A. Manhood. The volume takes its title from the first stoiy, but it is not inappropriate, for, though most of the stories are more fierce than o-entle in tone, there are sufficient of the fatter to-make a welcome contrast, ihe stories are concerned with rural characters or with slum life, and the most effective are characteristically bitter in’ flavour, and even where the story is comic rath* than tragic in its essence there is usually- a mockery of human futility in the development. Occasionally Mr Manhood, state the publishers, tells a story that is “dramatic to the point of violence.” This seems to be an understatement when applied to at least one of the stories, which, although it is remarkable for the effective drawing of the protagonists, is needlessly unpleasant in its details. This, however, is probably a point which the author would be prepared to debate strenuously, and he must be allowed the justification that his subject matter is life itself, and he describes it as he sees it, vulgar, and brutal at times and sentimental and romantic at others. An interesting chapter of notes concludes the volume. In it the writer comments on his work and gives 12 examples of •’ germs ” from ,which his stones grow. Here is one which should serve as a slight introduction to Mr Manhood s characteristic view of humanity: ‘ Family moving. He reluctant, selfishly, to leave young fruit trees in garden for someone, else s benefit. Returning at night to chop them down, finding someone else already digging them up. His fighting indignation. " Crucible

Another war book, a chronicle which gains by its veracity and the author s expressive phraseology, “ Crucible, will have its particular interest in the Commonwealth, since it sees the war from the Australians’ point of view, and its hero is a member of the A.l.h. it is a story of the testing of this John Fairbairn by fire, when he is bundled from civilian life into the hot atmosphere ot war. It may be said that Mr M Kinney has no new thought or significance to give to the history of wartime; but some oi his sketches of the “diggers in action and at rest are memorable, and He nas a fair appreciation of dramatic values. The book under the title of Over the Top ” won a prize of £l5O offered by the Victorian branch of the Returned Soldiers’ League for a war novel: the author served in Egypt and France with the Australian forces.

" Jack and John Mr Riley’s new novel has the kindliness and charm one seeks in the author of “ Windyridge,” and the story of Jack Glover’s return on the twenty shillings invested in him by a discerning magistrate succeeds in holding the attention. Glover is. befriended by the magistrate when he is brought before the court oq a serious charge. He sets out to discover something of his parents, and makes his way to Wennby Moor, there to encounter the types of character M- Riley likes to depict—Eliza Pratt, onfe of the hardest of women; John Marchbank, with

whom he forms a partnership; gaffers, village notabilities, and, of course, a girl. Naturally, he finds out about his parents, and just as naturally, in a world in which the righteous prosper, marries into a charming and exclusive circle.

Authentic “ Duncan Ross —Detective Sergeant ” is a story for which authenticity—as it touches legal procedure, and so on —is vouched by Lord Justice Roche, the author having been for many years the medical officer of Durham Gaol. As a narrative dealing with the tracking of a criminal organisation it makes good reading. The mystery is presented when Duncan befriends an old schoolmate, who carries a valuable ring she has taken from her worthless and brutal husband. This ring leads him into some queer places and exciting situations, in the course of which he is able to unmask a callous murder. The novel is a more than usually satisfying thriller.

Mr Clunk

Mr Bailey’s “ The Sullen Sky Mystery,” is a well-reasoned detective story, with its strongest, most interesting character in a little shyster lawyer from London, Mr Clunk, who consistently out-paces the police, and serves the ends of justice duly obliquely. His interest in the murder of an estate agent near Waldon is that of protecting a somewhat discreditable client from being brought to trial, and the tortuous methods which he employs in protecting the interests of the suspect provide material alike for Mr Bailey’s ingenuity and the entertainment of the reader. Detective fiction is perhaps the least sentimental of fiction written today, but even in mystery novels there can be few more objective characterisations than Mr Clunk. One would give full marks for this book, were it not for a certain tendency on the part of the author towards dissertation.

Gangsters in England Maxwell Knight tells in “Gunmen’s Holiday” (from Whitcombe and Tombs) how Bat M'Gowan, the sporting racketeer, decided to pay a visit to England to see his daughter, who was not even aware of his profession. Snowey Polini, a rival gangster, got the idea that Bat was about to start a new “ racket ” in London and followed him to see if he could make something for himself. There are plenty of exciting encounters, culminating in a fierce fight in the Highlands of Scotland. The daughter’s romance with the scion of a wealthy English family should have rounded off the story, but that is where the writer fails. Secret Service Joyce Gairlie, mistaken in Paris for somebody else, is given a mysterious package. On the channel steamer she confides in a British Secret Service agent, of whose profession she is unaware. The redoubtable Timothy Terrel is called in to take a lead in exposing the schemes of cne Wellzer, who is in possession of a machine of highly destructive potentialities, with which he intended to subdue and dominate Europe. This is quite a good thriller of the fantastic type. “ The Little Colonel ” Marking the filming of " The Little Colonel,” with the vivacious Shirley Temple in the leading role, Messrs Angus and Robertson have issued a reprint of Annie Fellows Johnston’s well-known "'° rk ' V. V. L. THE UNFOLDING UNIVERSE " The Unfolding Universe." By J. Arthur Findlay. London: Blder. 7s 6d.

Mr Arthur Findlay will be known for his’ book “ On the Edge of the Etheric," in which he discussed some of the phenomena of Spiritualism in a very interesting way. “The Unfolding Universe ” (from Whitcombe and Tombs) will, it is to be fancied, not wield as much influence as its author would hope. He misapprehends completely the meaning of “faith” in Christian phraseology. Faith is not the antithesis of knowledge. This fundamental mistake really makes the argument of the book of no account. Nor has Spiritualism discovered anything new in finding “ conclusive evidence ” that death is but the entrance to another life. “ Mors janua Vitae ” is a very old tag, but “ that where I am there ye may be also,” as we have it in the Gospel according to John, is even older; that death is the entrance to another life “ where dwells the King in His beauty” ,is older still. Mr Findlay sets out to criticise Christian teaching without having a sound knowledge of what that teaching really is Further, he appears to be unaware of the failure of certain lines of anti-Chris-tian argument, as otherwise he would have avoided the grotesque ideas contained in his chapter “Jesus or Christ? ’’ G. H. J. A LIFE OF REVOLT DAVID KIRKWOOD’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY "My Life of Revolt.” By Davitl Kirkwood, M P. Forewords by the Right Hon. Winston Churchill, C.H., M.P., and the Right Hon. George Lansbury, M.P. London. Hatrap. 16s. This autobiography by the famous Clydeside M.P. is written with such racy and vigorous humour and pathos that the reader will not find one dull page in the whole book. It is crammed with good stories and exciting incidents. The opening chapters which describe Kirkwood t parents and grandparents are little masterpieces of sympathetic portraiture. Both his grandfather and his father were men of giant physique and great force ox character. He describes his grandfather as “ a man of great dignity. . Although very poor in this world’s gear he was proud in spirit and rich in character.’ His father was a man of such extreme punctuality that when the workshop horn sounded at 5 o’clock in the morning he was always half way down the stairs — on the same step of the stairs for many years, and this meant that he started about 10 seconds before the horn blew, “ to avoid eloppiness or dependence upon an external instrument.” The later chapters describe the many ups and downs of Kirkwood’s life until he reached a position of power and influence as the chief shop steward in the great armament works of Beardmore in Glasgow. When disputes occurred that seemed insoluble Sir William Beardmore was in the habit of sending for Kirkwood as the trusted leader of the engineers, and appears to have always acted on his advice, even against that of the works manager. The author says, “ Sir William often chaffed me about the peculiar position I occupied, and on more than one occasion said, ‘ Look here, Kirkwood, are these your works or mine? ’ ” Kirkwood was opposed to the war, and joined with those who wanted it stopped by negotiation. But he was determined to use his skill as an engineer to help his country in the war. “ I was too proud,” he says, “of the battles of the past to stand aside and see Scotland conquered.” Trouble arose over the Munitions Act, which prevented engineers _ leaving the shop they were working in—in other words, they had no right to sell their labour to the highest bidder. Lloyd George came specially to Glasgow to negotiate with Kirkwood, and there is a dramatic account of the verbal duel between these two men. Up to 1916 Kirkwood appears to have run great risks as a Labour leader by boldly checking strikes, persuading men to go back to work, and generally acting as a peacemaker. Then for some reason that is not made clear Beardmore refused him access to the workshops, and Kirkwood resigned his position as chief shop steward. He is of opinion that Beardmore had been misled by false reports, and foolishly played into the hands of disloyal extremists. Finally Kirkwood was arrested and deported to Edinburgh. The next year was spent in ceaseless efforts by the authorities to persuade Kirkwood to sign a letter agreeing for the future to be of good behaviour as a condition of release. He obstinately refused to sign anything that might imply that he had not behaved in the past Neither imprisonment nor threats nor offers of lucrative jobs outside of Glasgow could move him. Then occurs the most dramatic incident of the ’whole story, which holds the reader breathless. He was refused permission to visit his wife who had just given birth to a child and was very ill. He applied to Colonel Guest, the military commander, who was

kindness itself, but after an appeal to London leave was again refused. But to Kirkwood’s amazement at midnight soldiers took him to Glasgow in a special train with Colonel Guest in full uniform. Soldiers guarded him in Glasgow, and with Colonel Guest drove him to hie home. The colonel kindly let him go up to his wife alone, and when Kirkwood came down he said: “Everything is all right, sir. My wife’s fine, and the child is just splendid.” “Then occurred a scene, writes the author, “ which I shall remember to my dying day. Colonel Guest stepped back, looked at me for a second, then threw his arms about me and gave me a hug as he said, ‘ Kirkwood, you are a man. Many a one would have come down with a cock-and-bull story. You come down and tell me everything is all right. I am going to leave you here at home. I m doing it on my own responsibility, but I’ll leave you until I get in touch with headquarters.’ I was spechless—we clasped hands —he saluted and moved away to his car in the darkness.” Soon after, Kirkwood was granted his freedom. He then went to London and asked Mr Winston Churchill to have him reinstated in Beardmore’s, whether they wanted him or not. After some argument Mr Churchill said he would do what he could. “ I knew,” says the author, “ I had talked with a man of great ability, great courage, and great power; character was written in every' wrinkle of his face. I knew he was a man whose word would not be broken.” In three days Kirkwood was back in Beardmore’s as manager of the shell factory. Within three weeks they held the record for output in Great Britain, and never lost their premier position. , The author pays repeated tributes to the kindness and courtesy of the police and military authorities. “What a country. Imagine'such a series of incidents and such a scene in any other country! It is incredible. Had I been anywhere but in Britain I should have been quietly despatched as a nuisance or a traitor. Nuisance I may have been. Traitor I never was . . . this is in very truth the land of the brave and the free. . . .” When he entered Parliament after the war he was amazed at the simple and unaffected friendliness of men like Bonar Law, Mr Stanley Baldwin, and others, and he declares that the House of Commons is the most tolerant place in the world —except for insincerity. There are too many good things to quote at length, but one will suffice—Kirkwood in attacking Baldwin called him “ Uriah Keep

In the lobby I was astonished to see Mr Baldwin coming over to me. He said, “Mr Kirkwood,, do you really think lam a Uriah Heep? Have I appeared like that to you?" 1 said at once, “ No, you have not." “ Then why did you say it? It will be in Hansard, you know." It was not that he made me feel ashamed, but he seemed such a big man who could take an insult like that. He is a big

man as sincere in his point of view as

I am in mine. He declares that if, when the second Labour Government collapsed, Mr Ramsay MacDonald had met the party and invited them to meet him in creating a National Government most of them would have agreed:—“lnstead, he sent Lord San key. He made a poor show talking to us like a benevolent old gentleman who carried peppermints in his jacket pocket to give to the poor workers. He knew nothing of our demand for rights. He offered us a peppermint. And there was no one there to say a word on behalf of Ramsay MacDonald and Philip Snowden and J. H. Thomas. They had stayed away. Their proxy was no good." The whole book is written with natural charm and sincerity, and is free from any taint of that self-laudation which is the besetting sin of so many people who write the story of their own lives. It Kirkwood talks in public in the same vivid and forceful English with which his book is written it is easy to understand how he became famous as a Labour leader. W. D. S. “BLACK TOM TYRANT” A BIOGRAPHY OF STRAFFORD “Strafford, 1593-1641." By C. V. Wedgwood. London: Capo. SI 2s 6d. One instinctively approaches a historical book by a woman with additional caution. Women have made themselves mistresses of the historical novel, but the history, demanding as it does a delicate sense of the value of evidence and a fairly impartial mind, they seem to have hesitated to attempt. Female historians are as rare as female lawyers, and for similar reasons. The discovery, therefore, that this book is not only excellently written in most enjoyable prose, but contains evidence of a first-class historical judgment and a well-developed ability to weigh probabilities and motives, conies with all the more force. Miss Wedgwood has put no small amount of scholarship into this study of “ Black Tom Tyrant." Her researches have left her convinced, as are most students of that time, that Strafford was a man much misunderstood by his contemporaries, and she shows also how the very nature of the man invited this misunderstanding. In pursuit of an ideal of government he set himself against the most powerful vested interests of the time, and both in the North of England and in Ireland opposed the powerful landed gentry in the interests of the poorer people. Anyone who espouses the cause of the great inarticulate will inevitably suffer from the slanders and libels of his articulate opponents, and Miss Wedgwood traces the source of many of these slanders — slanders that have stuck to the present day, not unassisted by the venomous bias pf Macaulay. Here, too, she does not forget to sho,w how Strafford’s own behaviour, as over his third marriage, unduly assisted the slanderers in their task.

Strafford’s consistency is admirably vindicated in this book, and in spite of much work done by earlier biographers, the old charge of inconsistency and apostasy is still current. His purity of motive : is adequately established, and the greatness of his achievement, especially in Ireland, receives complete justice. In the fields of political theory, however, Miss Wedgwood moves with a less certain step. She does not sufficiently see that Strafford, in fighting as he did for autocratic government by every means from prosecutions to the managing of parliaments, was, like Mrs Partington with the Atlantic, engaged in the attempt to sweep back the whole tide of English politics. She realises, and shows that he realised, that his work suffered from _ the impending of the doom that lies in wait for all dictators, in that it could not survive him. But she does not seem to see that it was a defect in him that he should pursue an ideal of government that could only produce results essentially impermanent. The men of the Parliament, who fought for and finally obtained a system largely independent of persons, were entitled to re gard Strafford as a public danger, and one that should be removed at any cost. They had a larger vision than he. and a more practical ideal. Their triumph gave England the potentiality of greatness. His triumph could only have acted as a brake on development. However unjust the method by which his downfall was achieved, it -was actually fully justified.

But political theory apart, this is an admirable picture of one of the strongest figures in English history. It draws a clear picture of a time when political affairs were unusually involved, and disentangles the skein of motive and intention with insight and skill, while the picture of the impeachment and attainder is splendidly pictorial, and compels the reader’s sympathy for the victim of inevitable fate and of the weakness of a vacillating prince. P. H. W. NA New Zealand Novelist Dual New Zealand interest will attach to a new novel that is published by Messrs Chapman and Hall (says our London correspondent, under date December 14). The author is Miss Rosemary Rees. The title of the book —the eleventh novel and twelfth publication from her pen—is “Miss Tiverton’s Ship' wreck.” Miss Rees has passed the final reading and she will leave for Australia by the Moldavia on December 27. She will go on to New Zealand after a fairly long stay in Sydney. The jacket for the book —modern, artistic, and highly arresting—was designed by Mr Felix Kelly, the young artist w’ho arrived from Auckland recently under engagement to Lever House. Not only were Messrs Chapman and Hal! delighted with his work, but they have asked him to submit a jacket for another new novel which will presently be appearing from this house.

NEW ZEALAND AUTHORSHIP ROBIN HYDE’S VERSE " The Conquerors, and Other Poems." By Robin Hyde. London: Macmillan. Robin Hyde has been honoured by the house of Macmillan with the inclusion of “ The Conquerors and Other Poems ” in the “ Contemporary Poets ” series issued from St. Martin’s street. “The Desolate Star,” published by Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs some years ago, gave promise which is fulfilled in this later

volume. The new collection takes its name from a poem inspired by the death of Mallory and his contemporaries on Mount Everest. Vasco da Gama and Columbus are invoked at the outset of “The Conquerors.” There is a recurrent lilt in the poem, which curiously recalls a line from Kipling, “But who shall restore us our children? ” Robin Hyde repeats this refrain with good effect: “ But when shall they see the island that lay hull over?” and later: “But when shall they see again, or know the heart’s yearning? ” The following quotation will testify to her ability to challenge this epic theme:— They have seen, they have known, from the ways of the upper air. Aye, and the wings of the falcon sporting in jest. Or the immaculate glory of Everest.

“ Defence of Christ ” has some affinity with the famous picture by a foreign hand, “ Despised and Rejected.” Christina Rossetti might have written the following in her less restrained moods: — An old man spent and poor, Warming his twisted hands at the brasier flames, A child in a ragged dress, A harlot thrust away from the tavern door. Where was your cloak to cover her nakedness ?

“ The English Trees ” ife reprinted from “The Desolate Star.” This poem was, perhaps, the most noteworthy in the earlier collection. “La Gioconda ” is something more than a transcription of Walter Pater’s famous passage in “ The Renaissance,” and the author draws on her knowledge of the life story of Leonardo Da Vinci. “ Montaigne ” also gives evidence of reading. Ignorance of the great essayist’s life story precludes full enjoyment of this poem, but one can at least appreciate the mediaeval atmosphere. “ The Outcast ” is a powerful poem, though elusive. The theme is the disgrace of a knight, and the inalienable pity of a woman for him: —

She sought to comfort me, And one white star over the black pines stole. I think her joy is to make sick men whole. “ The Tree ” is concenied with the Holy Rood, and bears no relation to the legend of the aspen tree, which trembles because the curse of the crucifixion is upon it. The idea of the Christ in early life apostrophising the tree that is to make His cross is a daring one. Possibly it is not original, but this reviewer has not encountered it before. This poem may be set side by side with “ Pilot,” “ Resurrection,” and “ Thine Accursed.” Here we have a certain heightening of colour which subtly suggests the revivalistic meeting. This is not said in derogation, for those poems would appear to be songs of experience. “ Gifts ” has something of the sufficiency of an epigram. “ Homing ’’ is an essay in free verse which affords a pleasant relief to the tensity of the poems which surround it. In brief, it mav be said that this collection will enhance Robin Hyde’s reputation. The word “ Tawny ” occurs a little too frequently. There is little of New Zealand “ local colour.” Most of the verses are wrought out of the writer's meditation upon history sacred and profane. Robin Hyde owes no allegiance to the school of writers associated with T. S. Eliot. She prefers melody to onomatopoeia.. G. R. A. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Reviews With its December issue the Round Table, having completed its “century” of quarterly issues, appears in new garb, with admirable type-founts and an attractive cover. The sanctions crisis overshadows all other questions discussed in the issue, most of the articles from the dominions referring to one aspect or another of the Italo-Abyssinian dispute, while in the first article it is insisted that the war must be brought to a close, and the League vindicated. The problems confronting the Naval Conference, German foreign policy, the political situation in India following the passage of the Government of India Act, and pre-election economic and political matters in New Zealand are other subjects of comment and investigation. The December issue of the Empire Review has accounts of Christmas in other parts of the Empire than that dealt with in the current Chambers’s Journal—in the Rockies, Burma, Australia, and British Columbia. Among the articles are descriptions of the Queen Mary at Clydebank, education in India, Chinese painting. Sir Charles Petrie writes on the restoration of the monarchy in Greece. The winter issue of Oxford, the publication of the Oxford Society, contains a number of interesting contributions of interest to Oxonians, including an account by Edward Shackleton of the Ellesmere Land expedition, and an article on “ Research in the Social Sciences,” by Sir Arthur Salter. It is stated that the membership of the Oxford Society is now approximately 8700.

The Periodicals

The excellent Geographical Magazine (Chatto and Windus) contains in the December issue a most interesting description by F. M. C. Stokes of the famous and mysterious ruins of Zimbabwe, in Southern Rhodesia, in which a forgotten people practised a forgotten cult. L. A. G. Strong describes the life of the men on board the herring drifters of the Hebrides and ashoi’e at Mallaig, another article depicts the extraordinary developments that are taking place in the Caucasus under the U.S.S.R., and Rosita Forbes continues her description of a flight over South and Central America.

All the articles are splendidly illustrated. The Home, most nicely-produced of Australian monthly journals, maintains, if it does not improve upon, the variety and quality of its articles and illustrations. The January number contains an added content of “ social ” portraits, to the exclusion, perhaps, of some items of more general interest. There is an encouraging article on modern home decoration, with attractive illustrative material. Hector Bohtho continues his discussions of “ The English Year,” and bridge, fashions, gardening, fiction, receive space. The Cristmas number of Chambers’s Journal is considerably enlarged, with additional fiction contributions as well as the usual content of general articles, scientific notes, and so on. In “ Christmas in New Zealand ” a writer draws the contrast between the 1 Homeland, where the celebration is an indoor family affair, and this country, in which different seasonal conditions lead to holiday-making, and it is “ a time when separation is if anything more pronounced, rather than family reunion.” INTERNATIONAL LAW " Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law." Volume X. Melbourne: The University Press (In association with the Oxford University Press). 10s 6d. This is the first volume of the Proceedings'of the newly-formed Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, and in consequence the editors have included full information about the formation and constitution of the society. It is as yet predominantly Australian, the New Zealand section being still practically unorganised. The society was formed for the very necessary purpose of making more widespread a knowledge of international development and international law, a subject which, being seldom met with by Australian and New Zealand lawyers in the course of their practices, usually receives less attention than it deserves. The existence of an adequate body of informed opinion in these countries about international law may become most desirable as ease of communication increases, and the society is deserving of all support. The papers included in this book are of interest not only to lawyers, but to legislators, both amateur and professional. Such subjects as “ Separate Action by the British Dominions in Foreign Affairs,” “ The British Dominions as Mandatories,” and “ The Soviet Union in International Law ” have more than a purely legal significance. The contributors, mainly judges and professors of law, are men of the highest qualifications. The index is quite adequate.

Speeding Publication Until quite recently the publishing in London of books by authors resident in Australia was a slow and laborious business (say Messrs Jonathan Cape, in Now and Then). Six weeks for the MS. to arrive, three months for an offer to be made and accepted, another three for the sending and correcting of proofs, and so on. The new air mail service has changed all that. For instance, the proofs of Mr Godfrey Blunden’s extremely promising first novel, “No More Reality,” were despatched by us to the author in New South Wales on July 28. We received them back corrected on September 2. And as for rejected MSS., they now return to their unhappy authors with the velocity and deadly accuracy of a boomerang.

Best and Worst The best novel of the year, according to the vote of Saturday Review readers, is Thomas Wolfe’s “Of Time and the River.” The worst novel of the year, by the same plebiscite., is “ Of Time and the River,” by Thomas Wolfe. This is the result of the ballot. “Write Your Own Ticket,” printed in the Saturday Review for November 2.