HAWERA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 17 June 1933, Page 2

HAWERA PUBLIC LIBRARY

NEW BOOKS. The following boo-ks have recently been added to the public library: “The King in Check,” by Talbot Mundy. In his new istory of Jim Grim, Talbot takes the liberty of introducing a living character, King Feisal. The story deals with the abandonment of the Damascus campaign, in which the king is influenced by three undeniably fictitious characters. The author retuses to Say how much “of it is true. “Smite and Spare Not.’’ by Lance Sieveking. The story of an ultrasensitive young man to whom the laxity of his own is abhorrent.

“The Two Undertakers,” by Francis Besding. We are introduced to a couple of coffins, in one of which is the body of a secret agent who was killed in a continental train accident, while two other passengers were trying to hold a message which the agent had thoughtfully swallowed; while in the other coffin is the body of an old lady travelling to her last rest. The labels on the coffins are reversed—and that is the reason for this exciting story. “Martin’s Summer,” by Vicki Baum. This author never repeats herself. “Martin’s Summer” is entirely different from any of her former books. The scene is ’laid in the Austrian Tyrol. the mood is. idyllic and sentimental, though the actual .story is realistic. Martin, the young hero, is , a German engineer, who, out of a job, accepts a temporary post as swimming instructor at a bathing station on a lake among the Tyrolese mountains. He is rescued from drowning by a fascinating girl of the “child of Nature” type; tine girl’s mother, of the exotic type, casts a temporary spell over the' young man; her husband accepts this' ais he ha.s other things, with his facile philosophy; and the hero eventually comes to his senses. A story with a judicious mixture of comedyand pathos. “Vicar’s Walk,” by H. A. Vachell, makes a very convincing and interesting story- The vicar’s walk is actually a row of ancient houses attached to fountains Cathedral. In fthe Walk live many minor church officials, such as the organist, vergers, etc., and it is round these and their families that the story is woven. The environment of the Walk is ultra-respectable, hut this does not prevent the younger generation from reacting to the influence of the Great War, with dire results. Love and death play havoc with this peaceful worid, hut cannot deflect the pervading ecclesiastical atmosphere that influences all. who live under the shadow of the cathedral. “Mutiny,” by Charles Nordlioff and J. N. Hall. This is a very competent piece of reconstruction. The istory of the mutiny of the Bounty is told in detail, with the minimum of invention. There is a good deal of information as to the customs of the Tahitians ' and the ways of sailing-ships. To those already.acquainted with these islands, the book should prove especially interesting. | “Round the World In a Baby Austin,” by Hector MacQuarrie. All those who have read this author’s breezy description of a trip across Australia in “Emily,” a baby Austin, will enjoy tliis story of & trip round the< world in Emily’s successor, Emily 11. Setting out from Wellington for San

Francisco in the Tahiti, Hector Mac-; Quarrie and Dick Matthews lost their car when the ship went down. A dramatic account is given of the anxious days of waiting; before relief eame_ to the Tahiti. Back in New Zealand, they were fortunate enough,, to he presented with a new car by Sir Herbert Austin, and at last, with Emily 11, safely readied San Francisco. Then started a tour which was to prove their mettle and Emily’s. The proceeds of a lecture (Mr MacQuarrie was a versatile person) paid for repairs. Emily toon the trail again for New Zealand—via New York. London, Paris, Borne, Constantinople, Baghdad, Baluchistan, Calcutta, Penang, Singapore, Port Darwin and Brisbane. These are only a few of the plaices marked on a map to make motorists wild with envy. Ana the little car certainly had a charmed life! Perhaps it was the blessing given her in Borne by a holy father that enabled her to escape by inches the boulders thrown at her by Serbian bandits near Nish. Once it was charged bv an elephant, but he lacked the speed to catch the nippy little car. The author dismisses the incident with tlie remark, “Elepliants loathe haoy Austins.” It is this sensei of humour that helps to make the hook readable. “Humanity Uprooted,” by Maurice Hindus. In* this account of present day Russia, of a laa*ge section of liumanitv uprooted, torn loose from its old hearings, apd striving both with fanatical madness and sublime fervour to create a new humanity, Mr. Hindus takes the artist’s view of the .situation Havincr steeped into himself Russian history', Russian literature, and the psychology of each of the classes, he gives a vivid, brilliant, yet impartial description of life there to-day.