Current Literature

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1935, Page 21 (Supplement)

Current Literature

ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY NEGRO LIFE IN WEST AFRICA. ROMANCES IN MODERN SETTING. The chief librarian of the New Plymouth Public Library reports the following books in popular demand:— General Literature. “The Gael Fares North,” N. R. McKenzie. “Confessions of a Journalist,” Pat Lawlor. “Phantom Crown: The Story of Maximilian and Cariota of Mexico,” Bertita Harding. “Wild Career: My Crowder Years of Adventure in Russia and the Near East,” William J. Gibson. “On the Dragon Seas: Tales of the China Seas,” R. Nyburg and A. Zacke. “Old Days: Old Ways,” Mary Gilmore. Fiction. “Richard Savage,” Gwyn Jones. “Frost at Morning,” Beatrice Kean Seymour. “The House in Paris,” Elizabeth Bowen. “John O’ The Green,” Jeffery Famol. “Four Gardens,” Majory Sharp. , “Life and Love,” Denise Robins. The following volumes have been added to the library recently:— “Africa Dances,” by Geoffrey Gorer. (Faber and Faber, London). Mr. Faber has told his experiences in French and British West African dependencies very well. He was not so concerned with the white man’s point of view, but studied with much sympathy the effect upon the negroes of European domination. He found himself able to understand the unspoiled life of the negro, his social laws and customs, his strict marriage laws and tribal rule, and his carefree attitude provided food and water were available.

The author of “Africa Dances” is severe on the administration by Frapce of the native races. He says: “There is no doubt that the negroes of French West Africa are a dispirited, miserable and resentful people, whe can now only be ruled by fear. It is not merely the colonial policy which has brought them to this state, but the brutal and abusive manner in which the French treat them on nearly every occasion, and the systematic way in which they are cheated in every transaction, which the cheaters quite erroneously believe their simplicity prevents them from realising. Actually it is their fear and their experience with the results of complaints which keep them appafently quiet.” The contrast between French and British administration he sums up in the words of a French trader: “He told me he had spent a long time in the Gold Coast, where, . . . you can’t do anything. ‘lmagine, down there nearly every nigger can read and write’ ... He couldn’t hide his anger against the English traders who are stupid enough to pay directly to the negro the market price of his goods, which ‘spoils the business’ , . • I was universally informed that the only treatment that negroes can understand is physical violence. It is certainly the only treatment they ever get. When I told Frenchmen that a negro in the English colonies who was maltreated by a white man could bring an action for assault they were incredulous and horrified.”

Primitive negroes, in communities undestroyed by outside influence, “know that the world is entirely spiritual; what we treat as the physical universe . . . is to them nothing but clots of matter entirely neutral in themselves and only taking on the qualities of the spirit, whether human or inhuman, which inhabits them ... We should think it unwise to bathe in crocodile infested water; the negro knows that crocodile bodies are completely lumps of neutral matter; if crocodiles shpuld hurt a man it is because a\ sorcerer has sent his soul into that animal, temporarily displacing that portion of the all-the-crocodile-there-is fetish which ordinarily animates it and which is friendly to the negroes who have propitiated it.” Which accounts for the power of the sorcerer in the land!

The quotations given show the frame of mind in which Mr. Gorer made his investigations into the negro life and outlook he describes with such felicity. It is one that few travellers reach on so short an acquaintance with coloured races, but it gives additional interest to an exceedingly well written description of little known races.

“Life and Love,” by Denise Robins. (Ivor Nicholson and Watson, London).

A lovely lady with a “low, sweet velvety sort of voice,” commercially a wonderful asset for a “crooner,” loses her voice, her lover and her fortune in a few sad days. But those who know Mrs. Robins’ books are not dismayed! The strong, silent man-with-a-past is sure to appear in time to rescue such a darling as France: u. Hale, and Julian Grey fills the bill admirably. Equally of course, the lady recovers her voice, but as she has been placed beyond the need of earning her living one hopes she will never again use it for “crooning.” Those who like scented sentiment will appreciate this latest effort of Denise Robins. Those who do not will reflect that her success as a novelist is testimony to the affection still felt by many for the type of romance Ouida created half a century ago.

“The Days Dividing,” by Neil Bell. (Collins, London).

Circumstances were not so happy for lovers in Mr. Bell’s story. Indeed the reader .feels that so fine a woman as Anna Castell deserved something more than the middle-aged happiness that came to her and Robert Sanford after many tribulations. Sanford himself is a curious study. He was essentially honest in character and yet was justly sent to prison on two occasions for theft and fraud. He was a man of strong intellect, yet allowed a partner to ruin a colossal business, he had no illusions about women, and yet imagined his wealth and devotion would bring him true affection from the aristocrat he married. It is difficult to reconcile the weakness and the strength of the man. Perhaps he is the more attractive on that account, although some of his actions certainly put a tax upon credulity. Anna Castell is more understandable. She was pretty, efficient and good natured. She became confidential secretary to a man who treated her with apparent deference, and who would, he said, have married her could he have been freed from his wife. That freedom comes quite unexpectedly, and Anna then discovers that her employer desired her as a mistress and not as a wife. She escapes the peril and finds sanctuary with “Mrs. Ken,” a night club proprietress with a liking for Anna and a shrewd judgment of men and women in general. Mrs. Ken is a likeable char-

acter and could hold her own with people of high and of low degree. It was through her kindness that Anna met Robert Sanford, and although there were many vicissitudes to be overcome they ultimately found happiness together. There are many minor character studies in this book which is quite an interesting record of a modern romance.

NEW BOOKS REVIEWED CHALLENGE TO PACIFISM. JOAN SUTHERLAND’S NEW NOVEL. “Pacifism At The Bar of Holy Scripture and History/’ by the Rev. Isaac Jolly. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., Wellington. A. J. Fyfe, Ltd., New Plymouth. In the 64 pages of this little book Mr. Jolly has packed sufficient statements and argument to provide grounds for much controversy. As a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church he has felt it his duty to set out his reasons for his belief that “Paciiism is wrong in theory and would be mischievous in practice.” He urges that pacifism is contrary to the teaching of the Word of God; to the teaching of history; to the principles of the Reformed Church. He discusses pacifism and the changed character of modern war, and concludes with an argument “that pacifism, if widely adopted in the British Empire, would increase the danger of war, and would endanger the safety of the Empire.” Probably few of the readers of this forceful argument will feel competent to discuss the theological aspect of the question, but most people will admit that Mr. Jolly has expressed very clearly his earnest convictions. He believes that peace is worth working for, and that it is worth considerable sacrifice to obtain. He does not believe in peace at any price, but that the only way to secure it is by an international collective system with sufficient force available to make its rulings' obeyed. It is necessary, he says, to look at the facts of history and of the present day without sentiment and with a sense of responsibility. Mr. Jolly believes that the Empire has been raised by God to be a great influence for good in the world. “If pacifism becomes strong in the British Empire, the Empire will become seriously weakened, 'while the other great Powers are heavily armed,” and in its weakened state not only will the Empire’s influence for good be weakened but its actual destruction is possible. “It is our duty as Christian citizens to do everything in our power to maintain peace. The League of Nations should be strongly supported; other nations should be justly treated; but when the duty comes to us of doing what we can to maintain the existence, the independence, and the integrity of Empire, then the Christian citizen owes a duty to his own nation, and to the civil Government which God has placed in charge of it.” To refuse to do this, to adopt the pacifist’s position, is tc increase the danger of war rather than further the cause of peace. Whether his conclusions are agreed with or not, Mr. Jolly’s booklet deserves study by all who are interested in world problems. It contains plain-spoken argument and is evidently the outcome of much thought and honest convictions.

“Silver Mist,” by Joan Sutherland. Cassell and Co., London. A. J. Fyfe, Ltd., New Plymouth. ;

They are all here. The winsome girl who works for her living, her rich friends, the attractive man who falls in love with the girl, and the other lady who will not let him forget the past in which she has had so large a share. Miss Sutherland knows just how to bring such folk together and to show the rocks and quicksands that prevent the smooth running of the current of trtie love.

In “Silver Mist” she has added a spice of adventure in the mountains of South America, as well as the thrill of a nearly satisfactory motor smash in which the “vamp” and the hero were badly hurt. That lady threw her net wide, and among her slaves was the nice girl’s brother, to say nothing of other men of wealth besides the hero.

■ It is not possible to criticise such a story. You either like sweet stuff or you do not. For those who do, this book will be as attractive as any Miss Sutherland has written. Even those who find such stories insipid will admire the author’s gift of description—whether countryside in Britain or the more imposing scenery of untamed mountains.

“Marble Gunner,” by Patrick Mee. Jonathan Cape, London. A. J. Fyfe, New Plymouth.

There is nothing sacabarine in the autobiography of a gunner who had 22 years’ service in the Royal Marine Artillery. It extended from the days when “paint and polish” counted a good deal in naval efficiency to service in the Great War, particularly in the Mediterranean and during the Gallipoli expedition. The book gives navy life, as seen from the lower deck, with its amusements as well as its duties. Pride in the King’s service to which he belonged is apparent throughout. Criticisms and appreciation of officers and comrades are given freely, and the ways of the Admiralty were apparently as puzzling to the rank and file as they were at times to those in higher positions. The author had rough as well as easy times ashore as well as afloat, for his marriage was, as he puts it, one of his failures. Even that does not quench his sense of humour nor his faculty for making the best of things. He has written a thoroughly interesting story, and one that wi|l add to the pride most Britons have in the navy and the men who have made its fame.