Books

The Pitcher And The Well Paul's Book Arcade, 15/- ‘In the beginning there was a very small boy and a very big river. A poverty-stricken home in a small, drab New Zealand town. It rained endlessly … of course I knew no other place, so at the time it seemed a pleasant enough home town. It was home, you see.’ This is the anonymous autobiography of a New Zealand airman. He wrote it during the last war while he was lying in a German prison hospital suffering from injuries from which he eventually died. It is written in the form of letters to a friend in New Zealand, but this is really only a way of giving his book a convenient framework; perhaps all autobiographies are best written either as letters or in the form of a diary. The slightly pompous introductory blurb says that ‘the author found in his job as navigator of a British bomber a life more satisfactory than he managed to find in peace-time. He hadn't done very well either as a careerist or as a man. In war he found a more creditable sense of achievement …’ He was a brilliant navigator, and his accounts of his war experiences are very vivid and exciting. ‘The Pitcher And The Well’ is certainly, as has been said, one the best of all war books. In my opinion, though, the most notable thing about this book is that it is the first really mature autobiography written by a New Zealander. The self-portrait that he presents is a very frank one, and in many respects it is far from flattering. But this is clearly due more to a most unusual self-knowledge and honesty, to a tough intelligence and to adult emotions, than to any very remarkable iniquity on his part. Any good autobiography tells us something new about ourselves; a good autobiography by a New Zealander tells us more than most. If you once start this book, I'm fairly sure you'll be hypnotised into reading every word of it.

Native Trees by Bruce Hamlin A. H. & A. W. Reed, 7/6 This is another addition to Reed's very useful ‘Nature in New Zealand’ series. Like the rest, it has clear, attractive illustrations, is simply written by an expert, and is most inexpensive. Sixty-nine trees are illustrated and described; these are selected ‘for their usefulness, beauty, curiosity or abundance’. Anyone with an interest in trees will find it invaluable, especially since it fits into a pocket so easily. —M.O.

George Courts Karangahape Road in Auckland is the keenest place to shop and George Court's the place for Bargains always ⋆ BUY FOR CASH, LAYBY, TERMS, CHARGE, or ‘STORE CURRENCY’ 10/- initial deposit in ‘Store Currency’ gives you £10 spending money within the Store … with 20 weeks to repay. GEORGE COURT'S Karangahape Rd., Auckland. Private Bag, C.1.

SOME OXFORD BOOKS ON THE HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND Beaglehole The Discovery of New Zealand 21/- NZ McClymont The Exploration of New Zealand 21/- NZ Taylor Early Travellers in New Zealand 78/6 NZ Sinclair A History of New Zealand 25/- NZ Miller Early Victorian New Zealand 30/- NZ … of all good booksellers … Oxford University Press Wellington