A Literary Log

Southland Times, Issue 22140, 7 October 1933, Page 11

A Literary Log

RoHed foy lota.

BOOKS ON THE TABLE “The Soft Spot”(A. S. M. Hutchinson) “Bushland Broadcast” (Enid Prior) “One Way Traffic” (R. C. Ashby) “Jesus In The Lives Of Men” „. (Professor S. Angus) “Christianity and Dogma” (Professor S. Angus) “Faith and Doctrine” (Rev. John Edwards) “Bitter Grass” - (Russell A. Bankson) “Men for Counters” (Gerard Fairlie).

A MAN’S DOWNFALL Hutchinson’s New Novel A. S. M. Hutchinson cannot write slowly, or if he can he cannot give the impression of leisure. Even “If Wintei Comes,” the chronicle of Mark Sabre had a hint of feverishness about it, as if the author’ was feeling every blow sustained by the principal character, and sympathizing with him was anxious to move through the narration to find the end. This agitation comes into “The Soft Spot,” Hutchinson’s latest problem novel, an interesting work, which carries one back to the best of his studies. This book is presented as the life of Stephen Wain, taken from documentary records, “diaries, letters written and received, journals, Press cuttings and long intimate conversation”: but the sources do not affect the form of the novel: they justify the author’s attitude to the story, his combining of the role of narrator and critic. Stephen Wain was a man with a soft spot, a weakness which became apparent when he was under pressure.

The soft spot in young Wain was, so to speak, literally a spot in his composition which would not take pressure; a flaw in his moral backbone which, if subjected to strain, to stress, to temptation, yielded, gave way. , . . Maxwell (the parents leaving little or nothing) paid for his education, later on placed him for the term of his articles with a firm of architects in Manchester, and made him all the time a small private allowance. This was natural enough. Dependence' of that sort was unavoidable. But it is very clear that Maxwell, instead of doing the thing as economically as it might have been done, did it handsomely; and it is equally clear that the younger brother accepted all that the elder’s generosity offered him. Maxwell Wain, the elder brother, an explorer, was a strong personality and to him Stephen learned to turn for support, moral or material. Frankly Stephen was dishonest—was capable of petty corruptions and of plain theft, even of the meanest form of murder, but where his own interests were concerned he was energetic and shrewd. As an architect—Maxwell supplied the financial support necessary while he was completing his articles—Stephen sets up in Brinksea, a small watering place, but after ten years Stephen finds that his unfavourable reputation, thoroughly deserved, is holding him out of participation in the building boom which has at last come to the place. He decides to leave. Maxwell receives him at Shipmates, his home, and goes off exploring, leaving Stephen in charge. News comes of Maxwell’s death and after going out to Peru to confirm the report in order to make sure of his inheritance, Stephen begins to expand; but even in this period his “soft spot” is influential and we find him as a thorough-going criminal. Undoubtedly lucky, he is able to cheat the law, but finally his conscience becomes his active foe and Stephen meets with Sim Paris, an evangelist, whose belief is that salvation must come through the subconscious mind, the store-house of moral power. Paris urges Stephen to “try suggestion, which is to say try prayer, through your spirit to the Universal Spirit; try drawing on the Universal Spirit to enlargen your own spirit. Do that and, talk about 'new power streaming through you to help you in all your contracts’—you’ll feel it fairly surging through you. Brother, make contact; time in; establish touch.” Atonement comes and Stephen finds a happiness “beyond all possible comparison.” Stephen is not an attractive character, but Hutchinson has made him very real, and though one feels that he deserves for more punishment than he receives, the later part of the story where his conscience awakes becomes powerful. Stephen’s downfall is certainly due in the first place to his soft spot, but afterwards he cannot be called weak. He is, in fact, an energetic sinner, shrewd and lucky. This is an excellent novel, interesting and capably written. “The Soft Spot” by A. S. M. Hutchinson (Messrs Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., London).

FOR THE YOUNG FOLK In “Bushland Broadcast” Enid Prior has used the Australian bush for stories and verse. These are just the kind of fancies the younger children enjoy—fairies, quaint animals and birds, beautiful butterflies, and the mysteries of the underwater world. These are all items and performers in a “broadcast” two sessions are given—and the adoption of this idea gives to fairy book suitable for Christmas time, a novelty which will not be lost on the young people. The wealth of illustrations in line and colour by Florence Camm add to the joy of this delightful book. “Bushland Broadcast” by Enid Prior (Messrs Robertson and Mullens Ltd., Melbourne).

THERE MUST BE A STAR Forty years of age, and fourteen of them spent in Burma, Laurie Eviot arrived back in London to find the post-war generation hopelessly adrift: no ideals, predatory, dissatisfied, bored and gripped by a philosophy which seemed to have two good qualities—- “ Never let down a pal, and don’t whimper when you’re kicked.” Eviot found himself regarded as hopelessly out-of-date, his veneration of ideals the subject of hard jokes, his consideration for others looked on as a pretty-pretty weakness. And so R. C. Ashby begins his “One-Way Traffic,” which, in my estimation, towers loftily above his earlier work “He Arrived at Dusk” and is a definite arraignment of modem youth. In a critical sense, “One-Way Traffic” strikes at the kernel of pres-ent-day troubles. This is a hard, brassy age; it is a predatory age dominated by a selfishness far more callous than anything that can be charged against the Victorians. Liberty is license, ideals are uncomfortable restrictions, principles are bad' investments. In the household of his sister, Eviot comes up against this modernism, and finds the young people far less happy than he is. Ruth, who runs a hat shop, is unhappy because she has- no foundation for the future, no anchor that will hold, no friend and no desire for friendship. Peter, the brother, conducts a club for the down-and-outs, but does it without faith, without hope. Ronald, another brother, is a well-dressed waster, and Marie, their mother, who is Evict’s widowed sister, is anxious and ineffectual. They belong to a generation which cannot turn back, cannot look back. Eviot, sympathetic and unselfish, stands by them in sharp contrast. Anne Norris, the ward of his sister is different. Young, beautiful and innocent, she attracts Eviot, but a few days before their marriage Anne tells him she has discovered she loves someone else,

someone her own age. Evict’s answer to this is that he loves her and puts her happiness first. He does everything in his power to make it easy for her to marry this younger man. Anne finds the next day that this young fellow had no wish to marry her—it was just a kiss in a taxi-cab, interesting because she was engaged to someone else—and Eviot again is ready to help Anne to find happiness. This is Evict’s romance, but it is not the author’s theme. There is Lynd, the man of faith, of ideals, who has a “star”. It is Lynd who attracts to him these despairing moderns, and who through his faith revives them, sets them on the road again with new hopes, new purpose. This is a moving story. It is told simply, and without obvious form; but it is a declaration of the value of faith, of the urgent need of a star to save humanity from its inherent selfishness, which can lead it only to Unhappiness and to despair. “One-Way Traffic” by R. C. Ashby. (Messrs Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., London.)

THE TEACHING OF DR ANGUS The stir in Australia over the charges against Dr S. Angus, Professor of NewTestament and Historical Theology at St. Andrew’s College, has attracted attention outside of the Commonwealth. Professor Angus’s teaching was the subject .of a heresy charge, and after his brilliant defence before the New South Wales General Assembly, published under the title of “Christianity and Dogma,” the case went to the Australian General Assembly in Melbourne, where the Rev. John Edwards, of St. Andrews Scots Church, Sydney, delivered an address in defence of him. This vigorous speech has been published under the title “Faith and Doctrine,” and as it was largely instrumental in inducing the General Assembly to acquit Professor Angus of the charges brought against him, it is a document of unusual interest. I need not attempt to discuss the merits of the case for and against Professor Angus. The point is that in these two pamphlets, the arguments on behalf of him are ably presented and they permit one to understand the material of the discussions. In addition there is “Jesus in the Lives of Men.” This book is an expression of Professor Angus’s teaching, and is has been written for laymen and students. It is a book of great spirit, it is the work of a great man, and apart from the special interest that attaches to the author’s name at present, it is a book which cannot fail to make a deep impression. Fervent and scholarly Professor Angus has here written a series of quickening sermons, which will be effective in bringing light to groping minds. “Jesus in the Lives of Men” and

“Christianity and Dogma” by S. Angus; “Faith and Doctrine” by the Rev. John Edwards (Messrs Angus and Robertson Ltd., Sydney).

LAW AND WARFARE Warfare between the sheepmen and the cattlelords has been made the subject of many Western stories, but it never loses its attraction, and while there is some mystery, a generous share of romance and plenty of action it will continue to be popular. In “Bitter Grass” all the ingredients necessary for a successful Western adventure are included. The author, Russell A. Bankson, has a vigorous hero, and his heroine belongs to the opposite party. The death of her father results in the arrest of Job Calby, the father of her lover, Dan Calby, on a charge of murder and in the midst of the blazing fury caused by the violent warfare of the two interests in the Bitter Grass Basin, the romance is worked out with plenty of thrills. A first-class yam.

“Bitter Grass” by Russell A. Bankson (Messrs Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., London), i

THRILLS FROM BRAZIL Two men, circled by enemies in the tangled back-lands of Brazil, drew lots to determine which would stay and give the impression both were there while the other escaped. Valais, the Frenchman cheated to ensure that Alec Graeme, the sternly moral Scot, should have the chance to escape. This was the beginning of the adventure of “Men For Counters” by Gerard Fairlie, who has a flair for stories that thrill. Valais was captured and so was Graeme, so the friends are re-united in the custody of Alvarez, the wealthy Brazilian, on whose trail of perfidy they had been secretly working on behalf of a member of the Brazilian • Government. Alvarez’s cynical philosophy was summarised in his declaration that money could buy anything, and his career went a long way to confirming this belief. His money suborned the member of the Brazilian Government who had employed Graeme and Valais, and showed how near the pair were to uncovering the Alvarez plan. Their escape from the Brazilian’s clutches, amusing and quite thrilling, was given an arresting climax by the fact that just as they started to float down the river infested with crocodiles they saw a beautiful young woman on the bank waving them farewell. After their escape they go to Europe. Graeme in England meets with Mr Murdoch, the criminologist, and events take a sinister turn. Alvarez and the beautiful girl appear again, and there is a murder. Murdoch and later Valais help to pierce the mystery and so the story is carried to a satisfactory ending,

though not before there has been a, clever denouement, a delicious touch built on the incapacity of great people when confronted with little things. A fine Fairlie book. “Men For Counters” by Gerard Fairlie. (Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., London.) NEW AUSTRALIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE Mr P. R. Stephenson, who has been manager of The Endeavour Press (associated with The Bulletin) for the first year of its existence, announces his forthcoming retirement from that position to undertake the formation of a new book-publishing company in his own name. Details of the books to be published by Mr Stephenson will be 'announced shortly. The Endeavour Press, under Bulletin management, will continue to publish works by Australian authors as heretofore.

IRISH POETRY ZE PRESENTS ITS CHARACTER. There is a character in the Irish poetry translated by Frank O’Connor which is in much of the literature in Irish, and which persists in AngloIrish literature in our time. I do not think this Irish character 'has been well understood. It arose partly out of the isolation of Ireland as an island, and partly because Ireland was never part of the ancient Roman empire. Those ancient Romans were great builders but they were also great destroyers, and they obliterated in England, France and Spain almost all traces of the culture which preceded their own. In Ireland never subject to the Latin domination there are rich survivals of a culture almost unaffected by the later European. It continued the primeval culture of imagination which was, I think, the culture of the world before the Greeks came with the beginnings of philosophy and science. People simply imagined things about the universe, and what do we not owe to that imagination which discovered above this world its heaven worlds and its god worlds, and populated them with pantheons of divinities. How dark would nature seem to us, how arid our literature and art, but for the imagination of our Graeco-Latin ancestors and their tribes of gods, nymphs, naiads, dryads, hama dryads, oreads, fauns, and satyrs. India and Persia had their own divinities; and in Ireland the imagination of the ancestors created images which are as beautiful as any to the artist mind. Angus, the Celtic Eros, a beautiful young man circled by dazzling singing birds, his messengers which he sang into the hearts of young men and girls . , . Lug, who comes over the waters

on a winged horse out of the Land of Promise, Mananan the sea god with his boat, the Ocean Sweeper, Lir with his transformed children and the hosts of the Sidhe, all clearcut, bright and beautiful, to the imagination. Whatever element of truth lay in these imaginations was poetic or spiritual truth, a relation of myth and image to deep inner being. . . While European thought was being disciplined by philosophy and science, Ireland outside the European system was unaffected by these and continued for long centuries the primaeval culture of imagination. As it was never part of the Roman empire its own culture was not extinguished and it had not to fill the void with a culture of Graeco-Latin origins. In the Irish literature philosophy and science are absent. We never had even a great Irish theologian. Johannes Scotus Erigena, the one Irishman of intellect capable of rationalizing spiritual nature, went to Europe and became the greatest of mediaeval heretics. There were few intellectual influences to deflect the Irish culture from its natural development. As with other peoples its imagination stormed the heavens. There are in Irish literature many voyages to heaven, world or faery. But there was not as in Europe any rationalizing by philosophy of these heavenly adventures. Philosophy might have been a net to catch and sustain the spirit in its descent to earth and to keep it from despair at its fall. But the Irish never seem to have made any attempt to rationalize their vision.—From an Essay on the Character in Irish Literature by ZE., in “The Wild Bird’s Nest: Poems from the Irish,” by Frank O’Connor. (Dublin, Ireland: The Cuala Press.).

SAWDUST Messrs Peter Davies have just added two new titles to their “Great Occasions Series”: “The South Sea Bubble,” by Viscount Erleigh, an account of that amazing company-promotion of the eighteenth century and the disaster it involved; and “The Spanish Marriage,” by Helen Simpson, which is the story of Mary of England’s marriage to Philip of Spain, Wyatt’s rebellion, and the tragic trial and execution of Lady Jane Grey.

Two Australian best-sellers, F. J. Thwaites’s “The Broken Melody” and “Hell’s Doorway,” are being published in England at 3/6 by Messrs Eyre and Spottiswoode. These novels were published in Australia within six months of one another, and both sold well over 25,000 copies in six months. This is a record in Australia. Mr Thwaites has a third novel, “Flames of Convention,” at present setting fire to the Australian book market, and he himself is on his way to Hollywood to consummate his success by arranging for the filming of “The Broken Melody.”