Books Reviewed

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 755, 30 August 1929, Page 16

Books Reviewed

JEKYLL AND HYDE AGAIN A story with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde basis is “Jack O’ Lantern,” George Goodchild’s latest detective mystery. It is a weird and at times almost uncanny tale of a modern Jack the Ripper—Jack O’ Lantern, who kills with a knife that leaves a wound shaped like an S! DetectiveInspector Wrench, of Scotland Yard, discovers a series of clues that, to his horror, seem to point to someone in the house of a famous judge, to whose ward he is engaged. Suspicion is thrown upon an Indian servant of the Judge, but the mystery is complicated when Wrencl} actually sees Jack O’ Lantern, without being able to capture him. His brief view of the criminal, however, proves he is not the Indian. In the meantime, while the mystery is slowly being unravelled, the author describes the life of the mad Jack O’ Lantern. The secret of the murderer and his connection with

the two groups of people in the story is well kept, so that, though the reader knows there is a connecting link, he cannot guess it almost till the last page. “Jack O’ Lantern,” by George Goodchild. Published by Hodder and Stoughton, Limited, London. Our copy from the publishers’ Sydney representative. Early Wairarapa. Criticism of a slim little book which has just been added to tba literature of New Zealand is partly disarmed by a statement that it has been put into print simply to foster interest and perhaps to suggest the basi3 for the earlier chapters of a comprehensive history of the Wairarapa and its settlers. Certainly it invites criticism, but probably the criticism that is desired would be in the form of letters to the compilers of the book, correcting or amplifying statements in it. “Early Wairarapa” is avowedly only a compilation, not an assimilation, and it has the obvious defect of such work. Without reference to the original sources, it is not easy, in some instances, to say where quotation begins or ends, There is excellent material in the book, but it has not been dressed carefully enough. The spelling of Maori words is not systematised or corrected; the usage of English itself is not consistent; the documentation is not sufficient for a work of this kind; and there is not enough identification, by means of initials, of some of the people mentioned in it. The responsibility for the book is fixed rather curiously; it is “from the outlines of H. A. Heron, M.A.. adapted by A. Clemas and J. 11. Fieldhouse.” The book is published by Palamontain and Pethericic, of Masterton, for A. Clemas, who holds the copyright. “The Realist.” The fourth number of “The Realist” contains a penetrating article by Mr J. B. S. Haldane on “The Scientific Point of View,” a long and interesting review of some problems of population and production, under the title “The Over-Production of Food,” by Dr R. A. Fisher, and an essay on Russia and European civilisation, by A. Lo-banov-Rostovsky. These are three outstandingly good contributions among a dozen or so of good ones. Simplicity and a Serpent. “Peep o’ Day,” an English farmstead, as its title suggests, has a set> ting of country lanes and dappled sunshine; also a distinct flavour of that old, old tale of the fresh, guileless, country maiden lured by the bright lights of a city. Simple Lucy is and simple she remains till the final chapter —even to the point of boredom. Other characters, excellently drawn, are a definite contrast, noticeably the dour owner of the farmstead, whose very existence is bound up in its wellbeing, and Basil, her stepson, strong, but so silent as to be almost inarticulate in important situations. The Serpent in the tale, city-bred and plausible of tongue, presents himself in such guise that it is impossible for any but the callow maiden to mistake his identity, and after several eye-opening situations with a plentiful mixture of witchcraft and superstition thrown in, Lucy and Basil present the matrimonial picture which has been obvious to the reader since the first chapter. •*Peep o’ Day.” Hylda Rhodes. John Long. Our copy from the publishers.

“The Silent Cities” There are 2,485 war cemeteries in France and Belgium, and under the clusters of white headstones lie half a million British dead. Thousands of their relatives from all parts of the Empire have made the pilgrimage to search for a particular grave, and thousands more in years to come will make the same journey. To these Mr. Sidney C. Hurst has performed a notable service by his painstaking compilation of “The Silent Cities,” a comprehensive guide to the war cemeteries of the Western Front. Mr. Hurst was at one time connected with the Imperial War Graves Commission, and

: began by taking photographs and | ! collecting data in his spare time. En- j j couraged by Major-General Sir Fabian : | Ware (vice-chairman of the commis- j | sion), Mr. Hurst decided to publish j ! his work, and a volume of over 400 j ! pages, illustrated with nearly a thou- | | sand photographs and location maps, j is the result. j “The Silent Cities,” an illustrated guide j j to the war cemeteries and memorials to the “missing” in France and Flanders j 1914-18, by Sidney C. Hurst, P.A.S.I. j Methuen and Co., Ltd.. London. Our j copy from the publishers. Dr Dolittle Again. Viewed from a childish outlook, Dr Dolittle must be a fascinating figure. He is so extraordinarily accomplished, so much a man of the world that even young old folk can enjoy his odd excursions out-of-the-way corners. This time it is the moon which engrosses the doctor’s attention and that of his companions. Tommy Stebbins, Polynesia and Cbee Chee, and their thirst for information in those outlandish paths has a host of entertaining results. When one finds Dr Dolittle conversing fluently with lunar plant life —well it’s not surprising. It's just another side of this gifted personage. The quaint flights of fancy and sudden humorous touches «>re well within children’s comprehension and there will be a warm welcome for this story-book with its tale of four venturesome spirits. The illustrations are delightfully illuminative and the doctor with true professional instincts is equipped for every situation in a morning coat and a top hat. “Dr Dolittle in the Moon.” Hugh Lofting. Jonathan Cape, Ltd. Our copy from the publishers. Miss Radclyffe Hall. His uniform edition of Mary Webb completed, Mr Jonathan Cape moves j on to give us one of the works of Miss Radclyffe Hall. Miss Hall has had no Mr Baldwin to make her suddenly famous, as did Mrs Webb; but Sir William Joynson-Hicks did his best. Actually, she deserves a fame very different from that which the censorship thrust upon her. “Adam’s Breed” is a really fine novel —it was awarded both the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1926; and “The Unlit Lamp” is also good. These are the first two volumes. The plain black-and-gold binding is very attractive. Uniform Edition of the Works of Radclyffe Hall: Vol. i, “Adam’s Breed”; Vo!, ii. “The Unlit Lamp.” Jonathan Cape. Our copies from the publishers. “Trousers Of Taffeta.” This story is a further gallant eifort on the part of the West to project itself into the thought of the East. The author, Margaret Wilson, knows her subject well, and experience, j rather than blue books and hospital j statistics, forms the material out of which she has compiled a very inter- i esting tale. Perhaps, if she had cared to use them, the statistics were close to her hand, since the story deals with the daily life of a woman’s hospital in India. She is more concerned, however, with the human interest, and in Bilkis, the tragic girl wife, in the Rani, with her cast-iron conservatism which perhaps has its equivalent in the West, and in Nur, who typifies the awakening Indian thought, she has presented three types of modern Indian life that bear the impress of truth. With keen sympathy she sees the brighter as well as the darker side of the polygamous life of the Mohammedan women with whom her story deals. A human book, and one that is well worth reading. “Trousers of Taffeta.” Margaret Wilson. Jonathan • Cape. Our copy from the publishers.