BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2652, 24 December 1915, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY

KjPLINC ON THE WAR.

A welcome little booklet, "France at War,'' by Rudyard Kipling (Macmillan and Co.), reproduces the articles descriptive of life along the Western front ■which wore the result of Mr. Kipling's visit' to France a few- months ago. The author displays all his old power of so vividly presenting a scene to the reader that the latter grasps its every detail, even almost its very, atmosphere. Of the old pretentious flippancy, and_almost theatrical brutality, . so' objectionably, present in his 'South African war impressions, there is none.- Mr. Kipling's style has gathered dignity, although now and then ono_ is struck by some'such odd simile as is conveyed in the following sentence:."All up the hillside to our .right'.the foundations of houses lay out, like 'a bit of tripe, • with the sunshine in- their square-hollows." - It is good to - read 'the author'sV: splendid, eulogies of; that superb spirit of patient endurance .'and-unfailing determination which animates- the:_ French people \to-day—a nation which.is brio big family. Mr. Kippictures of the! population at work —always'iat-, workr-behind . the (fighting line aresometimes very pathetic, but they i are -/'gently, beautifully :patlietic. It' is- the incident thatis ' pathetic, not ■tlie, spiritwith .which!'.thQVFrenoh man,still, less' the French'; lonian, regards • that ; ,incident. : "Every.aspect and detail of life in France -seems , overlaid with a •smooth patina of v- lbng-£ontinued .war— everything except f the' spirit of the people, and that'is as-fresh and glorious as the sight, of their ,own land in sunshine." It would be easy to .fill a column or two with extracts from Mr. Kipling's delightful articles; but this would be nilfair to the- author. I content ■ myself with quoting a fW .sentences from the final chapter,' "The Nation's Confidence".:— : The .French do not discuss, nor consider, nor"waste an emotion over, .anything that Germany says or ; boasts, or argues, or implies, or in- ' trigues after. They have the heart's ease that comes -from all being at work .for their country,, the know-.: ledge'. 'that the burden of work is equally distributed among all;" the 1 certainty that the women are working 6ide by side with the men; the. - assurance that when one man's task is. at the moment ended, another ■ takes his place". ' v And out of these things is 'born their power of recuperation in their leisure; their reasoned calm -while at ■work; and their superb confidence in, their arms. Even if. France of to-day stood alone, against tlie ' world's "enemy, it would be almost inconceivable to imagine her defeat now; wholly so to imagine any:surrender.. The war' will go on till the enemy is finished. The French do - not. know when that hour will come; they seldom speak of it; they do not amuse themselves with dreams of • triumph or terms. ' - Their business . is war, and they 'dpitheir business.. Wherever there is "a "Kipling shelf,'-' "France at War," the forerunner, I .hope,, of other and longer Kipling.snap-, "shots on the war, should find an honoured place. (New Zealand price, 9d.) - BRAMBLE BEES AND OTHERS. "The Insect's Homer" is ho'.v Mau-rice-Maeterlinck, whose "Life of the Bee" is certainly not tho least famous of the Belgian author's many works, 'once* styled the late Henri. Fabre, the veteran -French entomologist, - whose "Life of the Fly," "Life of the-Spider" and;; "The. Mason Bees" have been so .j widely applauded as valuable and 'fascinating studies in natural.history. Fabre is now dead, and the volume entitled "Bramble Bees and Others" (Hodder and Stoughton; per S. arid W.I Mackay) is probably the last of liis works to appear in an English translation for some time-to come. In his preface tho translator, M. Teiscera de Mattes,. explains . that-, he has, collected ■ in the present volume'all ; the-essayi on Wild Bees scattered through,'the Souvenirs Entomologiqiies ' of.. M. Fabre, with the exception of these on the Chalicodomae, or Mason-bees, which form the contents of a. separate volume, already published, entitled "The' Mason Bees." The essays deal with every variety of wild bees, and are written "in the ■ same simple, -yet niost fascinating, style for which the "cure botaniste" of whom France is so justly

Droud, is famous. Under the patient eyes of _ Fabre the most magical marvels of insect lif© are unfolded as they have been revealed to few other observers, and what the modest, yet deeply learned, village priest, and skilled coientist saw, lie possessed the faculty of describing with an ease and grace; often, too, with a quaint humour, which made a njost deTlc'htful compact of sound science and brilliant literature, l'abro's books havo been , happily described as "living documents, crammed with quaint conceits and • delicate touches of humour, and his - latest book will doubtless find the same widespread appreciation whicli greeted its preaecessors. - -

SOME CIFT BOOKS. Some excellent -gift books for young people reach me from the famous house °i bs ®H (P er Whitcombe and Tombs). An addition to Mcssrr.. Casspll's'wellknown Empire Library for Boys and Girls is an. illustrated edition ;of Robert Louis Stevenson's; fine,, romance, "The Black Arrow." "R.L.S." was wont at times to underrate the story as being permeated .by ■ too much "tushery," as ; he entitled latter-day attempts to reproduce fifteenth .century English. But it is a. fine story nevertheless, although it may not be an "Ivanhoe" or even a "Kenilworth," and with young readers it seems destined to enjoy a popularity second only to -that of "Treasure Island." The new edition is well printed, and contains 6ome excellent illustrations in colour vigorously drawn by Mr. Cyrus Cuneo..

"The Strange Girl From the Sea," by C. E. Co\vper ; is another Cassell publication, this time specially suitable as a present for a young girl. The period is that of the opening years of the nineteenth century, when England was at war with France. Smugglers and smuggling enter prominently into the story of the heroine, a shipwrecked girl'who is suddenly tiiown into; a'. South Country family. A brightly written, interesting story, to which . Mr. Noel Harrold contributes some attrac- i tive illustrations in colour. Both this and the preceding volume, are wonderfully good value at 3s. 6d. "The Australasian Boys' Annual" (Cassell and Co.) is a stout and handsome volume packed tight with stories and pictures which are sure to gain the approval of boy critics. .Amongst the contributors are Claude GrahameWliite and l Harry Harper, whose wellwritten account of the splendid achievements of the • British air-raiders during the, war will prove as interesting to adults as to youthful readers. The military and naval element i 6. strongly prominent throughout the volume, which als'o includes some excellent stories of school'life, sporting-adventures by sea and by land, and much other wholesome and , interesting. literature. Several well executed coloured plates and! a number .of in "black ■ and white add greatly to tho at-tractiveness-of a book .which is an ideal; gift-for boys this Christmastide of 1915. (Price os.) ..^j In the yearly ;volume .of • '.Chums" for 1915 (Cafisell and Co:),. there ;is •an astonishingly rich mine,q|:.j pleasant entertainmentJS''"' 'plus ,>r vsi*spm.e , incidental :■ aiid - useful--' -'.'information for the; " benefit.; '-'of boy readers The yearly, is a hardy annual which"'is-ever welcome in. households ,where there'; aro boys. Tbis t year/the fare provided,- both - literary and artistic, is'as generous in quantity and as varied 'in character as on previous occasions. Patriotic and war subjects, bulk largely,; as might be expected, in the list of contents, and as usual, the illustrations are exceedingly numerous. The frontispiece, the picture of a British battlo-cruiser engaging several German warships, is a fine example of colour work, specially suitable in subject, to the present time. (Price Bso

That well-established '.favourite "Little Folks" (Cassellt) well maintains its old reputation as a magazine for quite young children, who oan hardly appreciate the stronger fare of yChums" and other publications intended mainly for boys and ,girls in their earlier teens! Even here the war provides t'he ■subjects for several articles, but the editor has wisely-not neglected tlie purely imaginative side of the child's mind, and I am glad to see that the fairy story is still to the 'front. The illustrations, which are very numerous, are often very graceful of design and carried out in most- delicately attractive: colour

schemes. This remark specially applies to the beautiful pictures of Miss Florence Anderson. Mr. Harry Rouutreo's humorous plates are also admirable. Altogether, an excellent; publication, in every way suitable, for its special public. (Price 3s. 6d.) (Review copies of all tho above books received per Whitcombe and Tombs.) From Ward, Lock and Co. (per Whitcombe and Tombs), conios a prettilybound volume of "Nursery Rhymes," in which may be found all the old favourites, from "Old Mother Hubbard" down to' such comparatively lattor-day efforts as Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," together with unexpected trouvaille from many unsuspected sources. • Tho print is laudably large and clear, but the spccial feature of the volume is its wealth of illustrations, in colour. These are from tho gracefully imaginative pencil and brush of Margaret' Tarrant, whose art has not a little in common with that of the late Miss Kate Greenaway. This is a very charming gift book for quito young children, and is commended as such to parents and friends of tho little ones.