BOOK OF THE WEEK

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1935, Page 1 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

TARANAKI MAN’S TRIUMPH

(By

U.S.)

“The Little Country,” by John Guthrie. Th os. Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh. A. J. Fyfe Ltd., New Plymouth. “This full, copious novel introduces to us a scene unfamiliar to most British readers,” says the publisher in a foreword of this rather remarkable first novel. “In spite of Katharine Mansfield we know little about life in New land. By the time we have finished ‘The Little Country’ we know a good deal; in fact, much of it seems as if we had known it all our lives. The cross section with which Mr. Guthrie has presented us includes many activities, from petty politics and real estate to mountaineering. He uses a big stage and a large cast df characters. This remarkable first novel is the most ambitious we have published, and one. of the most successful. We think its author will be heard of again. He is a patriot and a hard hitter; he understands human beings; and he can write.”

So much for the publisher’s opinion. Taranaki has a special interest in this book, for it is perhaps the first popular novel from one of her own sons to achieve such instant success. To understand the book it is almost necessary to know something of the life of the writer, a life characterised by a. supreme triumph over tragedy, a shining example of the mind rising superior to material things during the process of which the warmth of family affection and communion with nature were the saving graces. It is not difficult to understand, that from .these circumstances Would arise a philosophy possible only to a nature ground/ in such a mill. Throughout “The Little Country” runs the thread of this philosophy. John Brodie, the real identity of John Guthrie, is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brodie, New Plymouth. At the New Plymouth Boys’ High School John soon gained notice as a scholar and athlete, and many Taranaki people will still remember his performances as half-back in the team that won the Moascar Cup. Of his immediate subsequent career it is sufficient to say that he went from one success to another. He played half-back for the Taranaki representative fifteen when still a boy at school, was wicketkeeper for the Taranaki representative cricket team, captained the Canterbury College Rugby fifteen, toured Australia with the New Zealand University Rugby team in 1925, became editor of the Canterbury College Review and a member of the executive of file Students’ Association, was nominated by his college for the Rhodes Scholarship, and came very close to touring Britain as half-back with - the 1924 All Blacks. During his vacations Mr. Brodie did temporary work as a reporter on the staff of the Taranaki Daily News, and after he had taken his BA., degree and Diploma of Journalism at Canterbury College he was given a permanent appointment with the Daily News. In journalism he instantly gained recognition as the original “M;0.5.,” author of the Current Comment column in the Daily News, and for his special articles over the pen-name “Juvenis.” During that time he wrote some delightful cameos, amongst the most popular being the, story of St. Mary’s Church, New Plymouth, and a series on Pukekura Park at the celebration of its 50th anniversary. While itouring, however*, with the Canterbury Rugby' I representatives in 1926 Jack sustained an injury that led to a cruel and tragic ending to his. athletic career. He was soon obliged to give up regular employment with the Daily News, and during the ensuing years of suffering only an iron will and amazing stoicism carried him through. Although one leg had to be amputated and the other left with but limited use, although month after ■ month was spent in hospital with numerous operations, and as . long a period lying as a cripple at home, his spirit never wavered, and ultimately, when he recovered sufficiently to winter in Fiji, he continued writing for the Daily News a series of delightful descriptive articles on the islands. During this period “The Little Country” was conceived and bom. Those who expect to find in “The Little Country” the tense expectation of a mystery novel, the fierce stirring of melodrama or the erotic passions of distorted minds and crazy people will be disappointed. “The Little Country” is more subtle than that; it is a page from the everyday life of New Zealand, so real that its characters might well have stepped out of Devon Street into the book, so normal, so life-like, that they are the spirit of New Zealand, and always very human. The foibles and little weaknesses for which we love our friends just as much as for their virtues are cleverly portrayed. But it is all as kindly and ■ free from malice as Mr, Punch.

Though actual place names are disguised, the first scene is quite apparently New Plymouth. Later chapters are laid in Auckland and Christchurch, and later still at the Thames jubilee celebrations, but the changing scenes all have a bearing on the central plot, and the characters and their actions are interwoven. If there is a moral to be drawn it is the ultimate triumph of truth and beauty and the hollowness of worldly ambition when it takes an unworthy path. The petty dignities and trivial conceits with which humanity frets away its little hour are brilliantly presented, and there are some fine descriptive passages.

“The Little Country” will not startle the reader, but it is something he will remember. It takes you into a typical New Zealand home, introduces you to the daily life of the family, and before long you are intimate friends with them all. Semi-amused, semi-detached, your guide presents them much as Gilbert presented his people in the Savoy operas, and then you pass on. The book gains in strength as it proceeds, and in the concluding stages there are some powerful expositions of an acute and farreaching philosophy. Just as Robert Service has caught the spirit of Canada in his rollicking ballads, and Banjo Paterson has perpetuated the living Australia, so has Mr. Brodie, with keen insight and judgment, captured and interpreted the psychology of our own people. His book should be- read with interest and appreciation by all New Zealanders who would like to see themselves as probably others see them.

We are taking orders for this delightful book which will be published early in August. It will make an excellent gift for friends abroad. Secure your copy now, as we anticipate a big demand. A. J. Fyfe Ltd, “The Book People,” next to “The Kash.”*