RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23807, 13 May 1939, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

" The Wild Palms." By William Faulkner (Chatto and Windus). " Every Creature of God Is Good." By Alan Gould (Hodder and Stoughton). " Survival of the Slickest." By Cresswell Curtis (Cape). " Golden Grove." By Dorothy Lambert (Collins). "Alabam." By Donald Henderson Clarke (Werner Laurie). " Body Unknown." By Bruce Graeme (Hutchinson). "Against the Law." By David Durham (Jenkins). (Each 7s Bd.) Flood and Fury William Faulkner, chronicler-extra-ordinary to the Southern States of the American Union, has never hesitated to experiment, even to interpolating in his narrative the babblings of an idiot. His device in "The Wild Palms" of telling two stories, chapter to chapter, which have a parallel interest, must therefore be regarded as quite conservative Faulkner, and only the effectiveness of the method need be questioned. The two themes may be considered complementary, as they depict in different phrases man's puny fight against the forces of Nature, but they do not overlap, and in asking the reader to consider them together Mr Faulkner asks much. It is not yet Dossibk for one to read and receive

the impact of two chapters of a book simultaneously, and hence this work might just as usefully have been broken into two short stories. But Derhaps that is by the way. Mr Faulkner's public must long since have become accustomed to reading him in SDite of, and not because of. the experiments he makes with the narrative form. His harsh, grim and inexpressibly boisterous tale in "The Wild Palms" of the convict who is swept by flood-waters: up and down the " Old Man " river in a dinghy, with a frightened girl—and eventually her child—as companions, is exactly suited to his rugged talents. It is a story that will remain long in the mind. The other, which concerns a doctor's almost as involuntary flight with another man's wife, and the sordid and tragic end of their poor romance, is more difficult to compass. Here one finds Mr Faulkner involved, as it seems, in a struggle with his thoughts, fighting to marshal them into assimilable patterns and occasionally failing to do so. But his great gifts as a novelist, bold imagination, emotionalism—in a word, his forcefulness—can make any of his books stand out in the shelves even of outstanding fiction. The Author: William Faulkner was born' at Oxford, Missouri, 41 years ago, of an old and picturesque,, but impoverished. Southern family, and after an intermittent schooling joined the Canadian Air Force, but did not get to France. He studied briefly at the University of Missouri, and worked as a house-painter. In New York he obtained work with a bookselling firm; then, through his friendship with Sherwood Anderson, turned seriously to writing. His first book, "Soldiers Pay," attracted some critical notice, but it was not until several more were published, and he had been employed in Oxford shovelling coal at the powerhouse, that he achieved any financial success. He has now published 15 novels, and is established as a dominant literary influence in the Southern United States. He married in 1929, and has a daughter and two step-children. He lives in a big, 90-year-old pillared mansion in his nath'e town.

Story of & Murder This book with a strange title, the fitness of which dawns slowly on the reader, tells the story of a murder, but it is not a murder mystery. Mr Gould does not require to stimulate the interest of the reader with the paraphernalia of clues, questionings, and the tense uncertainty of the chase. When he reaches his man-hunt, in the last pages of "Every Creature of God is Good," there is enough suspense to satisfy the arm-chair adventurer without the identity of the murderer being in doubt. He has chosen, rather, to study the habits, both mental arid physical, of a man predestined to commit a crime because it suits his selfish, masterful purpose. He observes his hero-villain, Godwin, as closely and accurately as that young clerk with ambitions beyond his station, watches birds. His examination is neither sentimental nor apologetic, and it leads to a realisation of just in how little, and yet how much, the man who is prepared to kill to achieve an aim differs from his fellows. Godwin, an employee of the education -uthority in a provincial centre, kills a fellow-worker to obtain £3CO. He does so because he believes that sum sufficient to enable him to get out of the rut, and because he thinks he will not be detected Godwin's daily habits, his relations with his colleagues, with the sociallysuperior rich girl and her comprehending mother, with the rugged Lena and others in the small community, are set down in a way that breeds familiaritv with the central character. Then we are introduced to his careful crime of violence, and see the web tightening about him. It is admirably done, with a real appreciation on Mr Gould's par' of the fact that the best way to produce a rousing climax is by carefully building up to it. Industrial Soullessness Taking a huge motor manufacturing plant in a town which the industry has Itself brought into being, the author of " Survival of the Slickest" has set out to show the deadening effect such a mammoth enterprise can have on its employees. By circumstantial evidence he is successful to a large extent in giving 'colour to his parable, but an Important weakness lies in the fact that few readers will be prepared to accept his puppets as being typical cogs in the industrial machine. At their benches, where their tasks are automatic to the degree that all enterprise is stifled, they may be acceped as mere automatons, but one can scarcely credit the author's pictures of their private lives. Sordidness, one Tealises, flourishes in poverty, but not to the exclusion of all other conditions. The climax of the book is dramatic in the extreme, and though rather horrible to dwell upon, is probably its best feature. Our copy of " Survival of the Slickest" is from the Oxford Bookshop.

By Dorothy Lambert Under the pretensious roof of the ancestral mansion which mortgagees and other creditors would wrest from her on the death of her hapless, improvident father, Avril Gainsford gathers a motley collection of paying guests whom she expects to keep the wolf from the door and eventually to clear off all encumbrances. The subject 'j an interesting one for a novel, and Miss Lambert in "Golden Grove

handles it fairly well in spite of a severely limited appreciation of the innumerable facets of human nature. The characters she creates are many, but somehow, in spite of their origins, their outlooks and their ambitions, they all have too much in common, and thus mars entirely the effect of a crosssection of contemporary society at which the author has obviously aimed. A lot of strange things happen at Golden Grove, and once having assembled the cast of her little drama Miss Lambert mixes things very willingly and infuses genuine spirit into her story, making it as readable as most of its kind and a good deal more interesting than many. "Alabam'"

When Ira Hansen, a pretty young blonde, sets out from Alabama to " hitch-hike" to Hollywood, she has little idea of the vicissitudes through which she will have to pass before realising her ambition to become a successful screen star. For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be explained that " hitch-hiking " is a form of locomotion consisting mainly in free rides begged from the drivers of motor cars and trucks and is not without its dangers for young and attractive girls. These drawbacks, however, are nothing when compared with those which Ida has to overcome when once the film city is reached, and the description, with a wealth of detail, of the trials she has to endure makes a story that reflects little credit on the morals and probity of those in authority in the motion picture business. Running: With the Hare Bruce Graeme is a versatile writer, and has made a name for himself in other spheres besides that of writing detective novels, but it is probably for these, and more especially those that concern Superintendent Stevens, of Scotland Yard, and the r'inkerton operative, By Heck, that most readers will remember him. Stevens and Heck are together again in the author's latest novel, " Body Unknown," which approaches the murder of a young woman from three distinct angles. The first is that represented by Stevens, who is investigating the crime for the police. By Heck has reason to believe that the corpse in question is that of a missing American woman he has been sent to England to trace, and the third angle, and this is the unusual one, is that provided by the murderer, who is made known to the reader in the first chapter and is called in by- the police to help solve his own crime. Of this character the author has made a brilliant study, besides which the others in the story pale into insignificance. The initial confidence with which Dr Julian Crispe believes he can outwit the police, and then the gradually-dawning fear that his " perfect" crime may yet be traced back to him are skilfully suggested, and skilful, too, Is the description of his later desperate attempts to dissociate himself from incriminating evi dence, and his final, wild, disastrous career across country from a fate which, had he but known it, had passed him by.

Impersonation David Durham's "Against the Law," tells the story of the way in which Lyle Carthew, condemned to a long term of imprisonment for manslaughter, is proved by his daughter and son to be innocent. A certain amount of the truth was learned from Natalie Gironde's. niece, or rather her daughter, Hilda Brunt, who dies somewhat unexpectedly. Natalie imagines Joan Carthew to be Hilda and, seeing the chance, Joan allows .er to deceive herself. But for Joan there is a difficult road to travel, full of devious turnings and hidden dangers, along which she has to walk very warily. But in the end she exonerates her father and finds peace and a quiet life. V. V. L. ROMANY WAYS ASPECTS OF RURAL ENGLAND "The Gorse and the Briar." By Patrick McEvoy. Illustrations by Christopher McEvoy. London: Harrap. 12s 6d. Wandering In the rural lanes of England with a pack pony, and later a gipsy wagon, .the brothers Patrick and Christopher McEvoy gleaned the material for a charming yet unassuming book, "The Gorse and the Briar." Patrick is the author, Christopher the artist whose sketches, revealing a rare talent, illustrate this record of a carefree pilgrimage. Their first plan was to buy or lease a corner of the lonely Wiltshire Downs—their native heath—whereon they might build a cottage and work in the countryside quiet that they both craved. But when no suitable spot—purchasable as well as congenial—disclosed Itself they decided to fill in their available time as "travellers" in the gipsy sense. They fell in early with a band of Romanies, made friends around their hospitable fires, traded; with them, first for the pony and later for the caravan, and finally resolved to move with one band or another to the various county occasions that attract those itinerant dealers. The record of the wandering is the stuff whereof the book is made. Much is made of Romany habits and customs, and the Romany character, and a wealth of unusual experience is set down faithfully but with the skill of a practiced chronicler. "The Gorse and the Briar" has a genuine Borrovian flavour that is certain to appeal to those who like the out-of-doors. F. H.

Two brochures, "The City of a Thousand Trades" and "City of Modern Tradition and Gateway to Ancient Romance," which we have received, contain a remarkable display of Birmingham's attractions and activities and are obtainable free upon request from the City of Birmingham Information Bureau. The Council House. Birmingham.

The history of modern industry begins wi'h Birmingham. On Birmingham's anvil the. industrial revolution was hammered into being, soon, to the rhythm of its mighty nachinery. to transform the world's conception of industry. Here. 200 years ago. in an obscure Midland town, distinguished chiefly by its hardware rrade and independent outlook, were firs' evolved principles of production which broughl within the means of everyone those refinements and necessities* without which modern life would be unrecognisable. I?ore discoveries were made and inventions perfected which shaped the destinies of nations.