A Miscellany

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31083, 11 June 1966, Page 4

A Miscellany

A Country Like Home. ByGuy Young. Caxton. 154 PPThough it is about ten years since the sketches which form this posthumous collectipn appeared in the “Listener" above the distinctive initials “G. le F.Y.,” many readers will remember the series and be delighted to reread them in this volume. It is not a | book to be read at a sitting. ■ but one to be dipped into at • intervals so that the reader ; comes to savour the quality : both of the writing and of the personality which lies behind it Guy Young, who for years suffered from tuberculosis, died in 1957 at the age of 37: yet in his short life he had produced work which, though mainly published in periodicals. should have a permanent place in New Zealand literature. At intervals from 1951 to 1955 Guy Young spent time at “Rancho La Rosa,” a health camp settlement in Mexico and this forms the background for the sketches: a background which, though never insisted upon, provides a colourful and vivid scene. But it remains background and the chief interest in the book is in the people Young met and the relationships he formed and observed. If one word were to be chosen to typify this writing it would be the adjective “tolerant.” Behind the humour, behind the insight, behind the ironic detachment there is constantly revealed a love for people, a gift for communication with them and a rare willingness to accept them as they are. The interest with which Guy Young met guests and staff at La Rosa and the Mexicans in the ’ own of Tecate is reflected in his writing and gives a freshness and spontaneity to all the characters drawn and the episodes related. M. H. Holcroft writes in the Introduction, “Good work can find its way without fuss or fanfare—a little slowly perhaps but inevitably.” This book with its distinctive style, its gentle humour and its compassionate understanding should help Guy Young's

name to become more quickly known among those who appreciate good work.

A Forest by Night. By Fred J Sppakman. Bell. 193 pp.

The title of this book tells us exactly what its subject is. Frad Speakman at a time when “death had emptied the home” turned to his beloved English countryside for comfort and spent the nights throughout an entire year under the trees of Epping Forest watching and listening. “A Forest by Night” is the unique record of this year of observation. In diary form this wellknown naturalist captures for his readers much of the magic of the world he knows and loves We feel with him the bitter chill of the quiet frost, the frustration of losing a sight of a badger through a careless movement, or the excitement of a fight between two young bucks. The atmosphere of each month of watching is subtly evoked and we feel too as the year progresses the lightening in the author’s heart as he finds solace in the forest and in the friendship of Keeper Woolley and Dr. Ludrig Koch, famous for his wild life recordings. With so much that is interesting and informative in this book, one wishes only that the author had been a little more ruthless in his pruning of some extracts. The small climaxes and rewards which are so important in wild life watching are so well handled as to seem far from small but too often we wade through pages of over-long and repetitious descriptions of the waiting with no reward. Sometimes too Mr Speakman becomes a little too emotional and imaginative though in fairness it must be admitted that he generally brings himself back to reality.

After pages of eulogy on a dawn chorus he finishes with this delightful sentence: “Sunrise and sunset may be but damp and dust, and song but sex, but man has an appreciation that can accommodate both science and beauty.” This indeed is a fitting way to end a review of Mr Speakman’s

book for he manages in its pages to accommodate both science and beauty and to stir the reader to appreciation of both.

Human Robots in Myth and Science. By John Cohen. Allen & Unwin. 142 pp. Illustrated with index.

Professor Cohen, who is Professor of Psychology at Manchester University, describes this book as an essay in the history of ideas. In it he has tried to capture elusive Automaton, elusive in that it appears everywhere, in myth, legend, poetry, religion, mysticism and the history of science. As a source of inspiration throughout the ages it is now, in contemporary times, threatening to transform our entire domestic and social life. The author uses an historical approach to the subject, dealing first with Biblical, Egyptian. Greek and other Ancient world robots. This is followed by excursions in to the alchemy and fiction of the Dark Ages. The renaissance and 17th and 18th centuries saw the first true application of automata in craftmanship and industry. The recent past, however, has seen the greatest upsurge of growth in the world of robots and the author speculates on what the immediate future may hold in this field. As Professor Cohen develops his theme he gives considerable attention to an analysis of the motivation of robot makers throughout the ages. He suggests that the history of automata reveals a duality of purpose, an age-old quest for technical skill for purely utilitarian purposes on the one hand and the desire to become one with the gods by “making a man” and transcending both matter and self on the other. “But this duality perhaps only signifies that man. like a bird, has tw< wings. Our early forebear were at once cave artists an tool-makers. Their descent ants, still ply the double rol of shaman and technician.”

Austerlitz. By Claude Mar ceron. Allen and Unwii. 308 pp. Illustrated with Index.

This is a story of a battle, a battle which ended in Napoleon’s defeat of the Austro-Russian armies in the hills of Moravia in 1805. Claude Manceron is a specialist of the period and has, in this book, given us a blow by blow, minute by minute account of Austerlitz. The reader is a privileged witness: he is everywhere at once, in the secrets of the two headquarters as well as at the various points of the battlefield and behind both lines. Clearly-drawn maps and charts aid the reader in following the complicated course of events but as with most books of this type one is continually having to break from the narrative to search for the appropriate map. Mr Manceron has exploded two myths or legends about the battle. The mist, not the sun, of Austerlitz was the real miracle for Napoleon and the famous legend of the Russians drowning in the Satschen lakes is shown to be false. Above all, the author shows that, in the end, Austerlitz was only a half-victory for the French because Napoleon was slow to exploit it. The characterisations are clear and brilliant and the story dramatic as befits so detailed an account of a great battle. Austerlitz, perhaps more than any other, holds at one and the same time all of the attributes of Napoleon’s character—his luck, his folly, his genius, his limitations and his greatness.

The Karakatao Colt. By Julian Prescot. Arthur Barker. 191 pp.

This is the story of four people, three young lawyers and a woman—Aunt Clara—who club together to buy a colt and set out to win the Derby. Here, in absorbing detail, is to be found every aspect of the racing scene: we rub shoulders with owners and trainers, stable-boys and jockeys and are given exciting glimpses of the seamy side of racing.