NEW BOOKS REVIEWED.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17242, 29 October 1927, Page 13 (Supplement)

NEW BOOKS REVIEWED.

CURRENT LITERATURE. Christmas Annuals. The Christmas number of the “Auckland Weekly News” abounds this year in high-class pictures typical of New Zealand life and natural scenic beauty. They form a valuable and varied collection, and the photographs are reproduced in such a striking manner as to command admiring attention. An especially fjne effect is presented by -the full-page pictures which open the number. Reproduced in two tints, these pictures set a remarkably high standard both for subject and reproduction. A careful choice of smaller pictures has brought out some delightful studies. They represent many picturesque aspects of New Zealand conditions, and form a strong section of the annual. The demand from all parts of New Zealand and from overseas has necessitated the printing of over 100,000 copies. “Life in New Zealand,” the Christmas number of the “Weekly Press,” contains far less than the usual supply of scenic views, the hulk of the space being given to attractive illustrations of the actual life of New Zealanders. The Duke of York’s slogan, “Take care of the children and the country will take care of itself,” is featured on a very striking cover, and the pictures of child life distributed through the pages are very happy. There are two stories by prominent New Zealand wrters, Mona Tracy and Katherine Mercer, and the coloured supplement is a line reproduction of the harvest painting by the late William Greene. Technically, the whole production fully maintains the reputation of the Christchurch Press Company, Ltd.

“The Private Diary of Leo Tolstoy.” Edited by Aylmer Maude; translated by L. and A. Maude.

The private alary of the great Russian novelist during the period when he served in the Russian Army and fought in the Crimean War is now published, and in it he perpetually accuses himself and records his own sins, lollies and excesses. His most intimate confessions, however, have been suppressed by his son, though the passages where they occur are carefully indicated with dots. The dots are very numerous; in one single page there, are five censored passages. The editor points out that: “The jottings are otlen so brief as to be hardly intelligible, but from time to time we get a good deal of information, some penetrating thoughts, and an insight into his laborious method of working, as well as a record of the sequence and success of his early productions and ol' the disappointments he encountered in his army service.”

There is no stile in these entries. This is a typical ’ specimen, written when lie was in the Fourth Bastion, one of tiie hottest points in the Sevastopol defences: "Have written very, very little of ‘Youth’ or ‘Sevastopol’ during these days. My cold and feverish condition were the cause of this. Besides that I am vexed (especially now - when I am ill) that it docs not occur to anybody that 1 am good for anything except chair a camxi and of the most- useless kind. Feel inclined to fall in love with a nurse I saw' at the ambulance.”

The translation is good, though a good many of the places mentioned by Tolstoy in'a Swiss tour which lie made are spelt wrongly.

“Secrets of Good Health.” By Sir W Arbulhnot Lane.

| It is a noteworthy fact that much of i the sickness and suffering in the world is due to ignorance of elementary truths, and that, to a large extent, the function of the medical man is the curing of ailments which a knowledge of the rules of health' would have prevented. Many efforts have been made to interest and educate the people in. ttie matter, and none has been more earnest in his endeavours than the author of this volume, who is a well-known London surgeon. He is also president of the New Health Society, which was founded for the purpose of promoting the health of the nation by direct teaching on die,, and habits and all that relates to the maintenance of the physical fitness of the individual. This hook is a result of the activities of that society. Here will he found quite a.wealth of useful information concerning the human engine and the means whereby it may be kept in running order. In plain, easily-understood language, advice is given concerning the best kinds of food, the most sensible clothing, the value of sunlight, exercises which keep men fit, Lo mention but a fevv. 01 the subjects <Mt wUh. Th usefulness of this hook cannot be over-estimated, being as it is an amplification of the maxim that prevention is better than cure. ‘“The Clash of Culture and the Contact of Race.” By Henry Lane-1 ox Pitt-Rivers. This volume should have a public in Australia, for two reasons. The author (Captain Pitt-Rivers) is son-in-law of the late Governor-General, Lord Forster, and was out there with him a good deal and it deals with the savage races in the islands belonging to Australia and New Zealand on a subject which is of increasing importance to the nation to whose care those islands have been committed. At the same time, I do not anticipate a popular reading for this work on the fundamentals of civilisation. What Captain Pitt-Rivers has sought to do, and has done with success, is to diagnose the causes of racial extinction and show its connection with the disintegration and the destruction of racial culture which has in most parts inevitably followed tire contact of natives with Europeans. We know quite well that the same has happened in other countries. ffhe original Hottentots and Bushmen of Africa are now r extinct. Ihe Indians of North America, the Incas of Peru, have disappeared or are rapidly disappearing in the former case. Generally we associate the disappearance with white contact, but it has remained for Captain Pitt-Rivers to write what will be a classic on the subject, even though he deals only with Melanesian tribes. “The Psychology of Character.” By A. A. Roback.

The word “character” is one of the most commonly used in the English language, but quite a number of people interrogated as to its meaning would find difficulty in describing what character is and how we get it. I suppose the generally accepted answer would be “the sort of chap a person is.” The author of this book is well known as a student of the psychological scienoes, and here he has comprehensively tried to demonstrate what character is, how it is created and influenced, and measuring it up scientifically