N. Z. SHORT STORIES selected by D. M. DAVIN Oxford University Press, 6/- One of the functions of fiction is to entertain. But the writer of good fiction sets out to do more than just that. If you take a close look at a short story, you will usually find that the author, as well as spinning a yarn, has told you something about his attitudes to life in general. Whether you are interested in these underlying ideas, or in descriptions of particular times, places, and people, I think you will be attracted, as a New Zealander, to this volume of short stories about New Zealand. It is sometimes interesting, and often sobering, to see ourselves as others see us. We discover features a mirror never reveals. In these stories you will read about the kind of people you know, the places you have lived in or hope to visit some day, the work you do and the recreation you find, and perhaps the way you feel about it all. Nearly a quarter of these stories have Maori themes. Writing about Maoris has always proved a ticklish business for New Zealand authors. Too many of them have been hampered by their own private dissatisfactions and the conviction that the grass on the other side of the fence (the Maori side) is greener. Their

BOOKS OF GENERAL INTEREST REACH FOR THE SKY—Paul Brickhill. 16/- THE ASCENT OF EVEREST—Sir John Hunt. 30/- SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET—Heinrich Harrer. 16/- THE STRANGE LAND—Hammond Innes. 10/6 VIKINGS OF THE SUNRISE—Sir Peter Buck. (Add a little for postage) For books on any subject write to Paul's Book Arcade Ltd., HAMILTON

sympathy is with the Maori, but they are apt to idealise his way of life and to ignore its problems. However, this criticism cannot be levelled at many of the stories in this volume, which is a collection of some of the best stories written about New Zealand to date. It will give you a pretty fair idea of what writers in this country are capable of doing. Read them seriously or for pleasure, or to learn something about New Zealand and New Zealanders, or to find out how pakeha writers can handle Maori themes—whichever way you choose, I think you will find the reading well worth while. —J. C. Sturm

HAWERA—A SOCIAL SURVEY Edited by A. A. CONGALTON (Hawera Star District Progressive Association, with Hawera Star Publishing Company Limited) Some people in Hawera thought a community centre would make a good war memorial, and this is a report of the survey conducted by a team of Wellington social scientists, which will be used as a guide in planning a building to provide facilities for community activities. Open it at almost any page and you will be nearly blinded by a dazzling array of figures. But don't let this put you off. Take a closer look and you will find nothing unfamiliar. The figures stand for commonplace matters, like how many husbands in Hawera help their wives wash the dishes. It seems a round-about way of getting such simple information, and althogh the figures are impressive, their value depends on the honesty and co-operation of the people who answered the interviewer's questions in the first place. It's amazing what people will say when they have to answer a list of questions on the spot. However, the report is a good example of the methods of social scientists, and as a guide to planning a community centre for Hawera it should prove invaluable. One of the most interesting sections of the report is the Maori survey—an excellent comparison of Maori and pakeha groups living in the same area under similar conditions. Certain matters not related to erecting a community centre are only mentioned in passing, but they suggest a whole field of inquiry which sane able research students might care to follow up. For instance, instead of observing what Maoris do, how about discovering how Maoris feel about what they do Such a study may explain why ‘the chief disgrace to the town according to many of the Maoris interviewed is the state of Maori/pakeha relationship’, while no pakeha included it anywhere on his list of disgraces. —J. C. Sturm