BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2890, 30 September 1916, Page 13

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

(Bv Liber.)

Thomson.

. Give-a ffiki a, pipe He 'im.smoke, Give a man a booh he can read; -'And Mi home is bright with a calni delight i Though the room be 'poor indeed.

BOOKS OP THE DAY GARDENING IN NEW ZEALAND. . Amateur horticulturists—arid not a few professional -. also—are under, a <doht of gratitudo to Messrs. Wliitcomlia ajid.Tombs for an oxcellout work just published by., this enterprising firm. The title is "A Manual of Gardening in New Zealand," tho' author being Mr. David Tannock, F.R.H.S., who acts as superintendent of gardens and. reeervos for the oity of Dunedin. Mr. Tannack has received • the assistance., of ■ three othir: export .'authorities on gardening, Mr. A. E." Lowe, I\R.HiS., head gardener to the : Hon.-R. Heaton Rhodes /at Tai Tap,: .who'contributes, a chapter on "Hardy. . Bulbs and Garden Paes"; Mr. \V. Sinclair, head gardener to .-A. -E. -G. Rhodes, Esq., Obristchuroh, who .contributes a useful chapter on "Vegetable- ; and Frtiit Growing," and- Mj.-'R. Nicdll, fli jrellkriown Dunedin rose;grower, who rfiites on "Rose. Growing for;; Exhibition." It is. many '.years' now since Murphy'e ' book on : gaTdening - in-' Now"'' Zealand was "published;-and it was rightly folt that the-, time had arrived for .a new, enlarged, and. thoroughly.. up-to-date work' on the "subject to make its, appearandOf on gardening: there has been,- of,recent years, a tremendous output, but, as .Mr. Tanmock,. points . out,. Awhile .. these works are not without interest .and •utility for tho Now. Zealand' gardener, ths very different conditions--due ■ to oiir seasons and climate, even in the South, make r it difficult to..apply their test ,to our, needs, and.the. varieties of plants, recommended aro often quite unsuitable.' It lias been tho objeot _ of the bditor : and' those who have assist--ed with experi atlvice to.inako tho ■book as practical as possible, and r the information given' is as simple, free from' technical terms;'"and ; a£_detailed as; the limitS'of'a : wort dealing with every branch of horticulture will admit. !Iu nomenclature the newer .names have •been adopted in some oases,; but'.' in most-the names generally in u'so have been adhered to; The book- may/be described as a cyclopaedia of New Zea-; land''gardening,' for- it'is. ..'difficult' to> find any subject of interest to tho horticulturist which does not attenti6fi?"""lt is : ' satisfactory" to -libtice that the author has devoted several pages to native plants, and that such matters 'as'making- ; and'' proper maintenance ,of hedges and fences, paths, and .' lawns are • not neglected. The book is beautifully produced', the illustrations being ! very, numerous. Many were prepared-from, blocks provided b,V the great English firms, such ag Buttons, Carters,and others, whilst niany have, been from photographs taken'in' the Dunedin Gardens j for Messrs. Nimmb and Blair. The coloured' ,! plat'e,—'whidh;. serves vis a frontispiece,- is an beautiful J picture of the new peony, Lady of the Iw est. The 4 supplementary chapter on "Garden Foes" (insect and fungoid), and "A Calendar' of Garden TVork" deserve- special mention, .yand. -the index is laudably extensive.' Altogether this is a work of which author and publishers have good:., reason to be proud. It is destinedjjiwei.believej to bo the standard - work on'-%ardenmg in New Zealand-- f : years---;to come. (Price 55.). ... ... v. -: SOME RECENT FICTION .The Long Divoroe. James Bogardus, senior,- whose acquaintance, itogether;, with thait of his son Jolm, _ we. make * in'] George Agnew Chamberlain's latest;novel, '"The Long •Divorce" ' George Allen an d TTnwin), occupies the position of a profeßsor of: Romance languages and literature at an American university. !Also, in' secret, he is a confirmed- devotee of draw-poker, and contemplates the publication (under a, nom-de I plume, of course), of an. exhaustive' treatise on that fascinating but, to some, rather expensive pastime.' He is a genial, if eccentric, soul, and much of 1 his geniality and no 'small degree of his eccentricity is' inherited by his son,, who goes i to Europe; to study literature and life in Paris, Leipzig, and other centres. He, returns, via Zanzibar, Melbourne, arid-other places, to the States, and takes up his father's old positiori,._the, poker-enthusiast having retired. professor, John is not altogether, a success. He resigns, and forthwith starts on what might not improperly be called a modern "Sentimental Journey," three young ladies, Joan, Pauline,' and Dora, assisting to make his 1 experiences amusingly exciting. But, like the voung gallant in'the old ballad, he loves and rides (rather, walks) away, and eventually, by this time inclined to take life ; to ifs;native city'and the university, v and is. welcomed with open arms by a friendly president. We liaVe him at the outweak; of war, ' cured of frivolity,; and determined to take life very seriously. At this, stage wo-are.-glad to leave having an uneasy feeling that gravity is not his forte, and that although he may yet become famous in academic circles, " ho may develop a terribly prosaib'personage. Mr. Chamberlain is, thank,goodness, not so deliberately, desperately epigrammatic in his latest'.jstory'as in that cloyingly clever novel. '.'Through'Stained Glass," and although his novel has! no plot to epeak of, it makes very good reading. Love's' Inferno. As a,'-.series', of 'picture-ip'f German methods, - of ! conducting warfare, Dr. [Edward Stilgebauer's : novel, ' 'Love's Inferno" (St'tmley. Paul), .bears out much that has bem written by Professor Morgan .'Bni'iother'.iEhglishmen,. oil Hun barbarity. The story was originally- published in French; at Geneva, where the .author, a German "professor, editor and litterateur, was spending.a hojiday when war broke out. Dr. Stilgebauer has settled in Switzerland, and it is hardly probable,- wo should say, that, he. is likely to return, to Germany, at least not whilst that country is under .the heel of Prussian military autocracy, .for his- story is certainly ..not calculated to endear its writer, to officialdom... The German ,edition of the story was sternly confiscated by the indignant authorities, but the book-is being: translated into several European- languages besides English, and is having , a hugo sale. Truth to; toll) M a novel, as a story, it is not'.a-little dull and'unsatisl'ying at times,, for the three'chief characters, an elderly major, his young and handsome wife, and her old; lover, a young officer, all make a - sad'mess"'of their lives. Where,'however, tho story possesses a powerfully dramatic and even sensational interests is in its realistic pictures of war. They,are not overwrought, not too gainfully worked up, are some of. Zola's in that terrible story, "La Debacle," but simply vivid and cdmpellingly convincing. The chapters in whioh i 6 described the awful fate which: overtakes tho pretty little •French village of Rosey, when, Captain Adolf, the gay young Prussian officer, the heroine's old lover, is shot 6y the .major's son, _ makes painful Sfflding. It-is-a. scarifying condemnation .of Hu&.baibarity~alf tho. horror

[ and misery of war, as conducted by the apostles of Kultui', is mercilessly laid bare. The book isworthy of a niuoli more extended notico than I cjn find room for ; this week. Despite certain crudities • and extravagances, it is de-. oidediy a novol to bo road, especially aB its portraits of Gorman offioers and soldiers liavo been drawn, be it not forgotten, by a German! The Daughter Pays. Mra. Baillio Reynolds, tho author of "The Daughter Pays". (Cassell and Co.. per S..and W; Maokay)," is a well practised story-teller, and she is at her best in her latest novel, the horoiho of which, Virginia Mynors, the younger, marries a middle-aged, -wealthy, but rather eccentric ' country gentleman, whom .Virginia Mynorß, tho elder, had jilted.' some twenty odd years before. The husband has bought up tiie mortgages 011 Mw v Mynors's property, but Virginia is not aware that he is marrying out of. hate rather than loVo, holding her to bo al selfish, and worldly a creature as her rain and silly mother. The girl determines to save tho family fortunes by marrying him, and honestly believes, in her innocence, that ho is deeply in love with her. ' .After tho however, the 'husband behaves like a bear, and a mad bear at that, and the poor little wife is at first very miserable. Fortunately, however, the husband' discovers that she is the vary opposite of what he had picture her as .being. 'I confess I do not like the device —that of opening a private letter —by which his conversion is effected, but Mrs. Reynolds manages a delicate situation ,very cleverly, and when;the-reader finds .'that after.all husband and wife have to come to love each ; other in" real _ earnest his satisfaction will make him overlook, certain improbabilities in the story. Virginia is a charming heroine, and : Mra. Reynolds's portrait of • the silly and selfish mother is satiric. LIBER'S NOTE -BOOK Stray Leaves. . •Florcat Etofc'aj "Eton Sixty Years Ago," ib a book shortly to be published by Mr. John Murray, himself' an Etonian;, - l'he author is Arthur 0. Ainger, and there, are chapters by General Neville Lyttelton.and John Murray. 1 " Cosmo Hamilton, the well-known English novelist, has married an, American lady and settled down in the States. A new novel from his pen, "The. Sins of the Children," will appear very shortly. The author, by the way, is a brother of Philip Gibbs, author of that clever story of journalistic life, "The. Street of Adventure," and now doing such admirable war correspondent work for the London "Daily Chronicle. 1 '; Frank Morton, of "Tho Triad," has published, through T. G. Lothian, of Melbourne, a new collection <!f poems, "Verses to Marjorie." Copies of the book have not, as yet, reached New Zealand, but the bpok is "out'.' in London an,d the verdict of English reviewers, notably those of the "Athenaeum" and "Times Wefckly Supplement" is .most, complimentary.

am not - an; admirer of tlio poetry [of that clever but somewEat eccentric young English poet, Ezra. Pound, but soma of my readers may bo interested to learn that Elkin Matthews will shortly publish a new collection of Mr. Pound's work done sinco his "Ripostes," which appeared in 1912. The title is "Lustra of Ezra Pound. Sir J. G. Fraser, author of that brilliant work, "The Golden Bough," has written a new work, "Folkloro in the Old Testament." The publishers aro Maomillans, who also announce yet another volume of verse by the famous Indian poet, Sir Rabindrariath Tagore. It is . a sequel to the well-known "Gitanjali." The late John H. Ingram, who wrote so much and so well on Edgar Allan Poe ; his work and his personality, left behind him an entirely new study of that.. ill-fated young poet, Chatterton. Tho book will be published by Harraps. Mills and Boon announce new. stones by Jack; London and the popular AngloIndian novelist,' Ida Wylie, whose "RajaVs Daughter" was 6Ueh a success. Lord George Hamilton has written his '.'Parliamentary Reminiscences and Reflections," and they will be published by John Murray. They cover the period from, 1868 when Lord George ! first. entered Parliament, to the year 1885, when'Tio "became the head of the Admiralty. Mark Twain's laßt phaso as a writer was a fondness for stories in which ho could express his ' philosophy of life. Such a story was "What is ManP" which his friends, wisely or unwisely, persuaded him to suppress. Such a story also is one entitled "The Mysterious Stranger,"- had not been printed when he died. It is now appearing serially in "Harper's," and by-and-by it will appear as a book. Personally I much prefer Mr. W. W. Jacobs's stories to his full length novels such as "Salthaven" and "Dialstone Lane," but a new Jacobs, be it short or long, is always welcome, and "Castaways," a new long Btory by this popular author, to be published shortly by Hodders, is sure of a hearty recoptioh. Other now- novels to bo published'by Hoddere are "Leathorface," a talo of tho Inquisition in Flanders in 1572, by the Baroness Orczy;,"Tho Five-Barred Gate," by Mr. E. Temple Thurston; "Cupid in Oilskins," by Mr. J. J. Bell, of "Woe Maegrogor" fame; "Tlio Matchmakers," another of Mrs. Buckrose's pleasant Yorkshire stories; and several English editions of new American novels. The excellent little war stories which Mr. Neil Lyons gave us last year, under the.title of "Kitchener Chaps," are to be followed by a second series from the same pen, entitled "A Kiss from Franco." Amongst Hodder_ and Stoughtou's autumu announcements (in fiction) is a story called."Grecnmantle," in which Mr. John Buchan relates tho .further advontures, on a trip to Borlin and Constantinople, of tho entorprising Mr. Ilaunay, tho hero of "Tho Thirty-nine Steps.'-' • Stanley-Washburn, "The Times" correspondent -with-the Russian armies in tho field, has writton a second book on tho war'under tho title "Victory in Defeat:'Tho Agony of Warsaw and tho .Russian Retreat."" Mr. Washburn contends that during .the period under roviow the psychology of tlio Russian nation was-crystallising, and that when this had taken place tho real danger to Russia was largely past. Barry Pain, tho popular English humorist, has joined tholHying Corps. Pain is hardly as Btout as tho yet nioro famous G.K.C., but he is "some" weight, and more than ono Home newspaper suggests, that ho will require on© of tho mow British Zeppelins alb to himself. Ellon Glasgow, usually ono of the most sedato of. American novelists, i« getting a littlo skittish. In her latest story, "Lifo and Gabriella," tho heroine remarks: "If ever I'm born again, I hope I'll.be.horn a fat blondo. They always get taken care of,"-

• A new story by Arnold Bennett is promised us shortly by Mossrs. CasBells. Tlio title is "Tlio Lion's Mouth," the sccno alternating botween London, Paris, and North-cast Essex. Other now Gassells fiction includes "Tlio Park WaU," by clover Elinor Mordaunt; "Mike," .a social romanco, with the war in tlio background, by tlio evorindustrious E. I l '. Benson: and "Mr. Britling Sees it '111 rough,' wliicli is now running as a serial in "The Nation." Mr. John Fortcscue, tho Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle, is, 1 read, at work on tlio interim history of tho war, which tho Government lias asked him to write, but .whicli will not bo ready for some timo. Mr. Fortoecuo has already written a History of tho. British Army.. It is in several volumes, and is a rather stodgy work. The author, by the way, was out horo in I.New Zealand , as private secretary to Governor Jervois, and was, I believe, an uneuccossful applicant for tho position of Parliamentary Librarian at Wellington. ' . The Reverend R. J. Campbell,formerly pastor of the City. Temple, whero the late and moro famous l)r. "Joo" Parker used to officiate, has been writ-ing-.the story of liis life. Tho title is "A Spiritual Pilgrimage." Williams and Norgate will publish it.