Books and Their Writers

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16820, 24 August 1922, Page 11

Books and Their Writers

Notes by " The Reviewer

GrUBLASESQTXB. “ Being convinced that his end was nearly come, and having lived long on earth (and all these years in Spain in the golden time), the Lord of the valleys of Arguente Harez, whose heights see not Valladolid, called for hie eldest son. And so lie addressed him :—“ O eldest son of mine, your younger brother, being dull and clever, on whom those trails that women love have not been bestowed by God . and know that here on earth and for augljt 1 know’ Hereafter . these women be the arbiters of all things. Your )ounger brother, not having been given these ways that women prize—and God knows why they prize them, because they are vain ways— for himself he will win nothing and therefore [ leave him these valleys But to you I leave my long, most flexible, ancient Castilian blade which iniidels dreaded, if old songs be true. . . and what ?t shall not win for you in the wars shall be won for you by your mandolin. And choose, my son, rather a moonlight night when you sing under those curved balconies . . maidens see m the light of the moon, especially In the spring, more romance than you might credit. . The sword to the wars,” he said. “ The mandolin to the balconies.” With that he fell back dead. So he was buried, “ and his eldest son fared forth with his legacy dangling from his girdle in its long, straight, lovely scabbard, fared forth on foot along a road of Spain.” A story this of the days in the child hood of the world, when armies camped a couple of hundred yards apart in the evening and awaited the morning drumbeat preparatory to launching themselves into the melee ; not oi days when a score of the finest swordsmen may in a moment he blown to atoms by a shell coming from Lord knows where. Life in the days of chivalry has ever given more scope to the pen of the novelist with imagination ; it was fuller of happenings. some of which -were calculated 10 make one content to be living then some of which were the reverse. These -♦ Chronicles of Rodriguez ” are told gracefully and vividly as might he expected from Lord Dunsany, eighteenth baron of his name. Along the road with high heart goes the moustached, becloaked, besworded hidalgo, seeking fame, fortune and adventure, seeking love, finding life and Serafina. And the faithful Morano (the accent on whose name the linotyle will probably refuse to produce) does a great deal more for bis lord than save bis life in the encounter with the strange swordsmai under Serafino’s balcony. Rodriguez is temperamental ; you will journe} with him happily even if you doubt bis ability to find bis castle, and you will perhaps understand bis attitude when be differs from Morano in the mu tier of Don Alvidnr-of-the-Rose-Pink-Castle-on-Ebre. And you will probably part regretfully from him when he attains the Dukedom of Slia--r Vi',sl?’- The experience of Rodriguez is that of all men: Farther than ever seemed the Pyrenees, higher than ever their harrier, dimmer and dimmer : /rew the lands of romance.” There is a meaning in this dream tale of a. castle in Spain that each reader may win for himself. Meanwhile he will enjoy a masterly piece of imagination work. (Londoii: G. P. Pulnam’s Sons). MAGAZINES. “The Vision of Re-ire. ’ “ The Hou.-e JteauuluL” “ Shackles,” Daughters

of the Moon,” lt Under the Mist,” “ Some Guns—and a Girl,” “ The Thunder King,” “ The Woman Who Was Afraid.” “ The Wrong Man’s Daughter,” “ Dreams Come True,” “ The Real Thing,” “ Men of Affairs,” lt The Gentleman from India,” “ The Way Back.” ” As One Woman to Another,” “ The Sentinel,” “ The Cherub’s Last Chukker,” “ A Dream of Marble Halls.” These are some of the titles of stories in the Royal, the Red. the London, the Premier and My Magazine for duly. Some of the articles are ” The Treasure House of Ages,” ‘The Wonderful Walls of Hu 11ahid,” “ The Loveliness that Calls the World to Italy,” “ Small Clues to Great Crimes.” 11 The Art of Nelson Keys,*’ “ Bond vStreet Hints for Beauty’s Boudoir,” “ The Charm of the Modern Girl,” , *' Character in Handwriting.” Some Reflections on Ireland ” (By Augustine Birrell), ‘ c Mars the Mysterious,” ” No Royal Road to ifolT.” These' magazines, devoted exclusively* to fiction, or to fact and fiction, are likely to supply something to suit most tastes. (Dominion Book Co., Christchurch.) “ Mermaid is very good eating, un-eliiva-lrous as it sounds. You are probably aware that the mariners’ ‘ mermaid ’ is that queer beast, the. chi gong or manatee.” Excerpt from a very interesting article on the queerest feeds in the world, in the July Chambers’s Journal.” Buccleuch and its legend, the Burma, ruby mines, wasps, dark stars and double stars, the charm of little things, “ The Lamp of Fellowship ” (the seventh of Judge Parry’s Lamps of Advocacy—with t number of bright stories), Les Landes (a description of the region between Bordeaux and Bayonne wherein a, great afforestation scheme was carried to success by the T rench Government) are some of the articles. There are the usual stories and Science and Arts notes of new things for the month. DRAB SCOTS. ‘‘ The hour for the funeral had struck. In accordance with custom—immemorial Scottish custom—a service was to be held in the dining room, but the coffin had not yet been carried down stairs. Outside in the street heavy rain was splashing, steadily, monotonously, soaking the dun-coloured pavements, the grey slopes of the roofs.” That is the opening of Mis* Winifred Duke’s “The House of O'gilvy ” which is announced as one of the runners-up for the recent John Long £SOO prize for the best first novel. Di- Johnson asserted that a book should help you to enjoy or to endure life. This book may or may notThe opening follows a quotation from Rupert Brooke to the effect that “ The folk who loved you not will bury you, and go wondering back home. And you will rot. ’ Then you may read a matter of thirty odd pages before- you discover definitely whose is the funeral. By that time the average reader isn «. likely to care much if all the dramatis personae get buried. The Ogilvy family 'S not one that you would feel inclined to make ayiv effort to become better acquainted with. You credit Miss Duke with her ability in character drawing and yon wish her luck had thrown within her range of observation some persons whom you would have been more id eased to meet. * London : John Long, Ltd.) A DRUGGIST’S STORY. “ Wilrnot stretched himself luxuriously and continued reflectively.

Mystery is the essence of love and lifewithout which the glamour of one an 1 the zest of the other would cease. The fairest romances and the- blackest crimes are wrapped in thickest mystery. It is only marriage that clears away the rosy mists oT romance.” “What awful things you Think of,” Benley exclaimed, turning about in his chair and flicking the ash off his cigarette into the fender. I can no more call up a. vision of the frightful mix-up and ceaseless changing that would inevitably result from universal free-love than I can count up or estimate the appearance of any number of units beyond fifty thousand.” And that’s that. So when u casual passer-by has informed Wihnot 'hat he. the passer-by, saw Wilmot’s wife where Wilmot didn’t expect her to he. and has tried to clear himself on finding lie lias made a 1 faux pas, you aren’t surprised when Penley says,

“ How strange that Bren ton should be so convinced tnat lie saw your wife, fm certain he really did see her, and "as merely deferring to *you when he retracted his statement.” Very man.' women write stories and some of them are able to make their male character’s seem natural human beings of the class to which the characters are alleged r.» belong; more don’t. Miss Bankes whose “Shadow-Show” was, according io the announcement of the folder, “closely in the running for the recentJohn Long £SOO prize for the best first novel,” will be more successful in depicting men when she knows more about thorn and how they behave when rot in the company of her < harming sex. Miss Bankes, who is only twentytwo years of age, gives indication of being able to tell a story and possibly

her next venture will deal with puppets not unconvincing or so admirably calculated to make you desire to kick them. One still hopes that the class known as “ Society ” in the Old Country has virtues to counterbalance the inanities debited to it. (London : John Long, Ltd.) CLYDESDALES. “ Tlie contents of this, the forty-t-Mirth volume of the Clydesdale StudBook are these ;—Additional produce 3238, mares with produce 1559, stallions 190.” Details of the doings of the Clydesdale Horse Society, rules and regulations governing entries in this volume, and a list of members of the Society as at January 1, 1922, are given. The pedigrees of mares having produce previous to September 30, 1921, and stallions foaled before January, 1921, are here in an abbreviated form ; the pedigrees are recorded in full in previous volumes and when extended pedigrees are wanted, full particulars may be obtained by reference to those. There are a. number of corrections on pedigre.es entered in previous volumes. A most comprehensive index makes the work particularly bandy for reference. Some idea of the amount of work entailed in the production of this guide may be gathered from the fact that there are about 800 pages. All who arc interested in the Clydesdale will find it informative.