BOOK OF THE WEEK.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1930, Page 17 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK.

ROMANCE AND WARFARE

(By

C.I,

"The Sunken Elect,” l-y Helmut

Lorenz .(translated by D. F. Tait) ; CasS.ell and Company, Ltd., London and 'Melbourne. '. Perhaps this German -novel ' would 'have beeii better labelled “warfare ami romance,” for it is first of all a story or the German navy's part in the Great War, though there will be some readers who Will Ac. impressed' father by the romance woven into -it than th-e-natal side of the. story. • '

The story opens with-the. Kiel .Week of June, 1914. The . 'German . ha’vy id ■ plci'Qred as 4 havirig been raised gradually ■ from nothing''to become a factor in world power.. Officers and men, full of loyalLCnthiioiasih/ 'have a great respect for the British Navy and arc ready to offer the most friendly greetings' to the great British Fleet that is to° attend the week’s displays and festivities. Among the officers there .is some doubt as to whether the British purpose is not that of spying out a rival’s strength, but on the whole the atmosphere is friendly, and the novelist finds opportunities to feature personal friendships Between hosts and guests. •There is, of course, no suggestion that Germany has built up her fleet with any hostile intention; rather the implication is merely that tho Germans m their'admiration for the British have been keen to copy their, example and edger to win the applause of the world’s greatest maritime nation.

1 The news of the Serajevo murder, received while the festivities aie in progress, throws the first shadow, and it Ts not long, before the novelist plunges his sailors°into war. Up to this point he has developed the outlines of what •promises to be a gripping story. He has, as it were, grouped his characters into . three sections, whose interplay affords scope for stagecraft. There are the officers of the German • fleet, who have the highest ideals of service. Prominent among these men for the purposes of the story are Commander Barnow, first gunnery officer of the .new battle-cruiser . squadron, and. Sub-lieu-, tenant Kampf, through whom .we later to get into touch , with the submarines. The second section comprises the crews, .whose viewpoint, as distinct from that of the officers, makes an interesting study. Then there are the folk on°shore. Barnow’s beautiful wife Erica is the heroine. Unknown to them both, Barnow’s English gunnery officer friend, Norton, is deeply in love with Erica, while another German officer soon falls in love with her. Kampf’s attachment to the daughter of a great industrialist gives the story another “heart interest,” and the theme is repeated in the case of the humble" sailormen.. The total result is a’novel comprising three double plots, which the novelist handles quite capably. On the declaration of war the German tone naturally changes. • Convinced of their own ability, the German officers and men are keen to go to sea and meet the rival navy, but the policy of the High Command intervenes. As one reads on one realises that the real motive of the book is the discussion of this policy of inactivity and its effects. The ratings grumble; the junior officers loudly voice their indignation; the r seniors cannot conceal their disgust. It is little satisfaction to any of them to aather that the plan is to preserve the fleet intact in order that it may be a powerful force in the awaited peace negotiations. It is not surprising to find running through the story the suggestion that the British are skulking behind their harbour defences; that is a simple enough deduction for the disgruntled .Germans. It may rouse the ire of 'patriotic Britons, but one can pass it by because it is natural enough. When at last-the Battle of Jutland comes into the story the account similarly flatters the Germans; in fact, everything that happens testifies to their superiority. Of course at this time of day it docs not matter a great deal. Well, to get on with the story, everything leads° up to the-.surrender of che German navy and the scuttling of .the ships at Scapa Flow. The novelist is at pains to expound th» cause, and that is why the story of inactivity is so prominently featured. To it is attributed the dry rot which gradually breaks down the discipline of the lower ranks until the proud spirit exemplified in the early chapters is shattered.. \

With* -fine dramatic instinct the novelist omite the actual et-ory of the sinking of the fleet. But the last voyage across the North Sea io a fine piece of descriptive writing, and the one personal tragedy which serves to close the incident is a thoroughly artistic embellishment. The chapter in which the deeds of the Germans at Jutland are recounted is the finest’ thinw in the book.’ . Helmut Lorenz surety must have written with most accurate knowledge of actual naval fighting on a grand scale. I can recommend everyone who wishes for real thrills to read this part of the story, for such vivid descriptive writing is rare.

With al! his art, however, the writer at times slides from the highest levels into melodrama. Just before Jutland. Erica has found that she loves Lieutenant Adenried and hae written asking her husband to set her free. Barnow U killed in the battle, and a day or two after the news reaches Erica word conics of the disappearance of her lover. But Norton, of whose love she 'fi unaware, is saved when his ship i? blown up and taken prisoner to a German hospital. Erica, now full of remorse for her treatment of her husband, makes atonement by nursing the Englishman back to health.

The tendency to unreality and melodramatic crudity in apparent in many of the passages relating to the seamen. One wonders, whether they really did discuss polities and international relations with the savoir faire attributed to them by the novelist. But while these certain imperfections are obvious enough, it cannot be said that they spoil’the general effect of a remarkably at tractive 0 story. English readers have reason to bo glad that a very good translation enables them to enjoy an unusual book.