THE NEWEST BOOKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 64

THE NEWEST BOOKS.

A TREAT FOR BOOK inwtKi “ Some Book-Hunting Adventures: A Diversion.” By R. S. Garnett. (Cloth; 7s 6d.) Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, Ltd. It was at Charing Cross station, where I was seeing off a friend 'bound, once more, for one of the outposts. We had been chatting freely, but a somewhat awkward silence fell between us. I moistened my lips twice to say something to which I had deeply wished to give expression, but the w 7 ords failed to come out. Suddenly I heard myself saying a stupid thing: “Do you ever think of London out there ? ” “Do I

ever think of London? Yes! And this time, when I lay aw'ake listening to the howling monkeys, I shall think of you! ” “ Thanks,” I said. “Do you know what I mean? ” my friend proceeded, “ and can you guess at my tortures when I think of you, you lucky devil, wandering among your bookshops and bookstalls, gathering in your treasures? I say, be a good chap ; write down, at least, some of your adventures, ‘ hunting experiences,’ and send them to me ‘ out there.’ There’s the whistle! So long! ” From this chatty opening to the last paragraph the reader is regaled with a wealth of book lore and intimate glimpses of writers of books. It is a treat for everyone who loves books and to read about them. It has all appeared in Blackw'ood’s Magazine, and doubtless those who have read them will welcome the collection in their present form. They are of the quality width can be read and re-read with still greater relish. They are the product of a literary pen of rare grace, of a mind full of knowledge, and of a bibliophile of wide experience. Mr Garnett illuminates everything he touches on, and his gifts of descriptive prose and good humour add additional charm to an ever-popular subject.

Apart frpm the high ability of the author the wealth of information given is striking. Each chapter is an adventure amid the world of books——sometimes as a buyer, a valuer, a reader—but always containing something of rare interest. Mr Garnett knows books as a lover of books can only know 7 them. Here are stories of rare “ finds ” and sore disappointment, always related in an entrancing manner. Mr Garnett also knows men, and some strange characters make their bow in these pages. He has met many interesting people, and his description of these and the records of his browsings in bookland provide material for an original book. Doubtless the friend in the far-away outpost found these adventures a quite sufficient antidote to the “ howling monkeys,” but whether- that was so or not it is certain that “ Some Book-Hunting Adventures ” will be read with relish in more congenial surroundings, and will long be treasured by all who love a book about books and bookmen.

LOVE AND DISAPPOINTMENT. “ Grey Hills for Dreams.” By Deirdre O’Brien. (Cloth; 65.) London: Mills and Boon, Ltd. It would be like wearing a laddered stocking that had been mended. It might last almost indefinitely, yet you’d never feel at ease, since it might equally well go again at any moment. Patched-up love is rather like that. Its first spontaneity and enthusiasm are gone along with the initial feeling of surety. Ruth Manning is Irish, imbued with the generous traits of Irish character—a . love for Ireland, for children, and with a fine capacity for sincere friendships. We meet her leaving her native land for a teaching appointment in an English convent. She is leaving her first lover and Ireland, and the experience for this highly impressionable girl of twenty. The boat steamed away . . . she was leaving Ireland . . . leaving the “four green fields ” that held her every dream. She was leaving the hills and the Lev lover of w 7 hom her parents knew nothing. Soon many miles would stretch between them . . . and loneliness would share her every hour.

And she was very lonely. She made friends, men and women liked her, the former were prone to make love to her. Back in Ireland was David, her boy lover, and to him she was true. In these days this may appear somewhat absurd, but Ruth had character and was by 7 nature loyal. The loneliness, hard work, and poor food somewhat undermine her health. Then the great blow falls—David has fallen in love with another girl, and she breaks down. The Reverend Mother gently informs her that the work is too hard for her, and she must give it up. For Ruth, broken and disappointed, the world looks very black. A friend in Dr Maurice Cardillon arranges another teaching appointment in France, and Ruth meets Madame Cardillon, mother of Maurice and a sterling woman. She loves Ruth and helps her as no other woman has ever done. Ruth loves David and cannot forget him. But life is opening new aspects, though she is sure there is no other love for her. Maurice has become very dear to her, but David is her hero. She also meets Dr Brian M'Carthy, who also proves a loyal friend. Incidentally the friend-

ships in this book are very sincere and charming. While Ruth is on vacation motoring with Maurice a Parisian taxi driver, reputedly the most dangerous among the race of motorists of this day, smashes into their car and Maurice is killed. And Maurice-' was a fine type—a son of his very worthy mother. “He has little need of prayers,” said the old priest, a striking tribute to -his character. Ruth is prostrated, but she goes on loving the memory of David. And then David comes back. There is a painful interview. Time and life have wrought changes. The new David is different. He pleads to be taken back. “ You loved me once.” She shook her head. “I loved the boy David. You are a different person. You have lived your life, and your fave tells the sort of life it has been. It’s no use, David.” And so the ghost of love which had so long haunted Ruth was laid. What follows is better for the lovable Irish girl. Apart from the chief characters, there are some striking personalities and many sides of life in this book, which is clean and generally wholesome.

. THREE PEOPLE. “ The Phoenix-Kind.” By Peter Quennell. (Cloth; 65.) London: Chatto and Windus, Ltd. But Love is of the Phoenix-kind And burns itself in self-made fire, To breed still new birds in the mind, From ashes of the old desire. It may be assumed that this quotation from Lord Brooke is explanatory of and supplementary to the title. Even with the assumption, however, it is not easy to fit the title to the story. Mi- Quennell is a poet, and in his prose title he may be allowed the poet’s privilege of license. It is not easy reading unless one has the literary aptitude to appreciate the author’s craftsmanship. And as every reader is not literary, there may be disappointments. However well founded such fear may prove to be correct, it is certain that “ The Phoenix-Kind ” is above the ruck. It is a first novel from a pen which has presented a critical study of “ Baudelaire and the Symbolists ” and some outstanding poetry. “ The Phoenix-Kind ” concerns primarily three people, the brothers Paul and Julian, and the girl Virginia. The brothers ar e literary, Paul being the more able. Julian starts with a reputation and peters out as success recedes. The tale is told by Paul, who is never very definite in its telling, the author’s purpose being to use the narrator to present life through smoky glasses and to enable him to add some pointed comment on life as Mr Quennell himself sees it. Paul is a reticent and retiring person, probably because of his state of health. He is the provident brother. Julian is robust, and samples life in many forms. Virginia becomes his mistress, and in time he quarrels with her’ and leaves for Paris. It is left to Paul to comfort Virginia, and, all things considered, he succeeds very well. Virginia opens a new- page of life for him, and then Julian returns. He is • still attracted to Virginia, and asks Paul’s

opinion about their marriage. “ I have been thinking it over,” says Paul, “ and it seems to me it would be an admirable solution.” If the tale is thin there are compensations. The author has views on modern life, and these heighten the interest. RELIGION AND LIFE. “ God and Mammon: The Relations of Religion and Economics.” By J. A. Hobson. (Cloth.) London: Watts and Co. Primitive man cannot be properly described as either an economic or a religious being. Professor Hobson presents a book which opens the way to wide controversy. “This brief attempt,” he says, “at an intelligible analysis and survey of the relations between economics and religion has some difficulties to encounter. Even had I possessed the necessary knowledge, special limits would have precluded an extension of my inquiry into all or most of the great religions of the world. Even the most condensed statement of facts in so many fields would have left no scope for the necessary interpretation.” Mr Hobson has, however, special qualifications for his task and his contribution to this Forum Series will, as he hopes, stimulate thought and evoke study in many readers. In his first chapter, “-Economics in Primitive Religions,” Mr Hobson states that “ The story of God and Mammon is largely, but not wholly, an economic interpretation of history. For throughout human history it has always been difficult to distinguish the economic from the other vital activities of man. Strictly speaking, the economic life does not arise until trading has begun, with some division of labour yielding to each man a surplus of certain goods beyond his own needs, which he can exchange for the surpluses of other goods belonging to other men.” In other chapters “ Catholicism and Economic Life,” “ Protestantism and Business,” and “ The Churches and Modern Economic Movements,” this many-sided controversy is subject for dissection. “New grave issues regarding sex and population, art and literature, politics and industry, arise, and nobody expects the Christian Churches to give out clear and useful utterances, or to influence public and private conduct.”’ The bicycle and the motor car

have almost destroyed Sabbatarianism* and Continental Socialism has definitelydissociated itself from Christianity, having accepted the asservation of Karl Marx that “ the idea of God must be destroyed: it is the keystone of a perverted civilisation. Change is the potent, spirit of the age. “-Economic principles, are only capable of modification to the extent that ‘ the average standard of motive is changed,’ and Christianity, in. the West at any rate, has made ne serious attempt to alter average stand' ards of motive.” This provocative book is a plea for a Rationalist religion which will not accept “ Humanism ” as an adequate religion. Still less will it accept the science and art of social economics as the chief goal of human striving. Now the world is offered in Bolsheyism an inverted form of this experiment, where an economic Bible is substituted for the Christian book, and Marx and Lenin are objects of a genuine worship, the saints of a new social order, which utilises all the devices of the old religions, including the apocalyptic vision of a millennium of prosperity following a few years of trial and fasting. A distinctively religious attitude of adoration of the State, its will and its perfectibility, is promoted by a propaganda presenting all the features of a religious revivalism. Thia God-State is as arbitrary in its will, aa repressive of private liberty in thought and action, as, cruel in its persecuting zeal, as any of the spiritual deities that have preceded it. Whether regarded as a political or an economic religion, it is as abhorrent to Rationalism as any of the preposterous theologies it seeks to displace.

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS. Master and friend. Though you have now achieved a stage Where ordinary people tend By sagging jowl and creaky joint to show Signs of excessive age. Somehow you’ve not mislaid your prime’s Fresh air of morning. At ninety years we find you still. So far from growing senile, The evergreenest thing in all this green isle. O. S. The issue of Punch of July 15 is a special ninetieth birthday double number, with a charming cover design by Frank Reynolds showing the presentation of a birthday gift to Mr Punch—■ surely the most youthful of all nonagenarians—by his grandchildren. The principal cartoon is by Sir Bernard Partridge, and is entitled “ Memories.” It depicts Mr Punch showing his gratitude to some of those celebrated contributors who have helped him in the past. The special commemorative section is the work of “ E. V. L.,” who says in a foreword:— Mr Punch, becoming this week ninety years young, has thought that a survey of the two decades since he celebrated in 1911 his seventieth birthday, might be of interest. Most men, as they grow older, are a little shy of these anniversaries; but Mr Punch is different: he has not been called a sage for nothing, and every year brings him in. creasing cheerfulness and vigour. The period covered by the survey is practically that of the reign of his the King. The history of this most eventful period is told, though necessarily somewhat sketchily, in a most entertaining manner, and is copiously illustrated. The coronation of the King is one of the earliest items, followed by a glimpse at the “ Votes for Women ” campaign—in a picture of a window-smashing incident, with one street arab saying to another:— “ They’ve mined their cause, nah, Albert. They’ve lorst my sympafy. I've done wi’ wimmin! ” —-the loss of the Titanic, and the .tragedy of the Scott Expedition. Then comes the stupendous event of the Great War. The writer says:— The breaking out of war caused Mr Punch to wonder for a moment if there was any place for him in a world become tragic. But only for a moment was he in any doubt; the next moment he realised' that never were his gifts as an entertainer, stimulator, comforter, and, on occasion, castigator, more likely to be needed, and—but with a steadily diminishing staff, as his young men left for sterner duties —he carried on. War, with all its grimness, has its humours, too, and Mr Punch’s pages became the natural repository for the best of them. F. H. Townsend’s well-known cartoon, “ Bravo, Belgium! ” is reproduced, showing the gallant resistance to the invader, with Frank Reynolds’ “ Study of a Prussian household having its morning hate,” and a picture by Fred Pegraiu with the legend:— Visitor (at private hospital): Can I see Lieutenant Barker, please? Matron: We do not allow ordinary visiting. May I ask if you are a relative? .Visitor (boldly): Oh, yes! I'm his sister. Matron: Dear me! I’m very glad to meet you, I’m his mother.

References are made to enlistment, food coupons, and regulations, battles, domestic privations good-humouredly borne, and many other details which will remind readers of those tragic years. Then we have the Armistice, followed by the blessings of peace, with a surfeit of strikes, culminating in the General Strike of 1926. The progress of the conquest of the air is noted in the achievements of Sir Alan Cobham, Lindbergh, and Hinkler. The accession of Labour to office, and, in the international field, the Kellogg Pact, are mentioned. “E. V. L.” quotes largely from “ Charivaria,” and adds this as a final paragraph:—

And so we bring this review of twenty eventful years to a close with the assurance that Mr Punch is now concentrating his gaze on July 17, 1941, when he will be 100 and. etill not out. At whatever age he dies—an improbable event which he refuses to consider seriously—he promises to die young. The issue is priced at Is, and every lover of Punch should make sure of securing a copy. It is interesting to recall the fact that Punch was a vigorous youngster just approaching his tenth birthday when the Otago Witness was first published.