Books Reviewed

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 967, 9 May 1930, Page 14

Books Reviewed

A FULL LIFE. CHARMING, illuminating glimpses ol! T. P. O’Connor, Edward Thomas, T. W. H. Crosland, Lord Alfred Douglas, Augustus John and others equally eminent account for portion of the interest that is aroused in tne reading of Mr Ashley Gfbson’s autobiography, ‘‘Postscript to Adventure.” The rest of the interest—and it never loosens once the book is taken up—is accounted for by the easy, graceful way in which the author presents his story. Here is a man writing without affectation, without the glib and nauseating egotism that has marred too many contemporary autobiographies. Mr Gibson, although a little egotism would be allowed, has none of it, and he has concentrated instead upon his background. He tells no more than the essentials about himself, but he tells us all he can about the people whom he met. A young journalist m London long before the war, he was very fortunate in his contacts, and he gives a fine brisk account of Edwardian London, and all the characters of worth are carefully photographed. Here is how he describes Edward Thomas, a poet, critic and essayist who will ultimately be much more highl; thought of than he is at present: In Fleet Street he looked -what he was, • hind let loose. Tall, lean figures in shagg: tweeds are nothing by-ordinar in tha thoroughfare. But none other has or ha< quite that way of carrying himself. He walked with a sort of lope, half spring: and half lackadaisical. And noting—a how could they fail to?—the face under th favourite hat of .fisherman’s frelze, froi youth to prime a face austerely beautiful vivid in the intensity of its tan, candoui of its blue eyes, and bleach of Saxon hair, sensitive passers-by almost gasped. I have seen lots of ordinary people, responsive t< this stranger’s quite extraordinary physical distinction, turn round in the street and watch him out of sight, an introspective Pan, whose arm pressed to its side not tin syrinx, but, odd anomaly, a couple of review books. Here, too, is an excellent snapsho of “T.P.” It describes the preparatio of the “Books of the Week” column in “T.P’a. Weekly.” Mr Gibson writes My province was to sit at the Chief’s elbow, feeding him at intervals of half ai hour or so with notes on “Books of tli Week,” and typed extracts in their propci order. T.P. slammed a book open ant shut, gave a lightning once-over to the accompanying documents, settled his coal tails, and proceeded to assault the typewriter as If it were a piano and he Pade rewski executing a Rhapsodic Irlandaise At intervals he snapped out an in inquir in my direction. “Page hundred-and-sixty-flve. This gui now. Did she ?” I had to be as pronr as Radio Rex with the answer. “Not yet, sir. On page two fifteen, think.” Meanwhile the sheets snowed steadily o. the floor until we were nearly knee-deep in them. To glance at any of those pages was to marvel anew at the superhuman skill of Walker (his secretary). Half the letters transposed and no spaces between the words. “Ping I” would go the bell. Then “Damn the feller!” and “Pingl” again. Apart from his adventures and con tacts in London, Mr Gibson did some exploration work in Africa, and a toss

of a coin sent him to an appointment in Ceylon. He also saw service in France, and these breaks in his life are all attractively described. Hig book is too interesting and too rapid in movement to have a dull page. “Postscript to Adventure.” Ashley Gibson. ,T. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. Our copy from the publishers.

A New Library Scotland Yard, to handle all the cases that are foisted upon it by the novelists of today would need to be housed in a building larger than Buckingham Palace and staffed by an army corps of detectives. The popularity of the mystery story remains at its peak and enterprising publishers are taking full advantage of the position. The Bodley Head has just issued a set of such tales, reprints of the works of modern masters of the mystery story, in a uniform edition of comfortable pocket format and set in pleasant type. In this library will be found “The Secret of Chimneys,” by Agatha Christie; “The Phantom Passenger,” by Mansfield Scott; “The Man in the Dark,” by John Ferguson, and “The Crow’s Inn Tragedy,” by Annie Haynes. Agatha Christie’s story is a colourful tale of a plot to fill a vacant Balkan throne and the complications following the murder of the claimant in an English country house. There is more than one killing in the book and interesting situations crowd one upon the other in an effortless way. As with ail of Mrs. Christie’s novels, the characterisation is excellent. We finish up with a brand new Balkan king, and the prospect of a very charming Balkan Queen, formerly a fascinating widow! Who killed Luke Bechcombe? That is the riddle propounded by Annie Haynes. The kill, of course, occurs in chapter one or thereabouts. “The Phantom Passenger” tells of strange happenings on a private yacht on which a criminal, passing as a guest, terrifies the w r hole ship, and “The Mail in the Dark” revolves round a murder "witnessed” by a blind man, who eventually recovers his sight and, incidentalls-, develops a warm regard for the wife of the murderer. Any one of these books will make good reading before a fire these wintry nights. “The Secret of Chimneys,” “The Phantom Passenger,” "The Man in the Dark,” The Crow's Inn Tragedy.” Four volumes belonging to the new Bodley Head Mysteries Library. John Lane, the Bodley Head, Ltd., London. Our copies from the publishers direct.

A Girl and Her Millions “Most unpleasant people” is no doubt how our forefathers would have described the young folk in Elizabeth Murray’s novel, “The Gilded Cupid.” But times have changed and the characters in novels have become revolutionised. Personally we found "The Gilded Cupid” an amusing fellow, even if the people who perused him were as decadent as it is possible to imagine some of the “younger set” of London to be—at this distance. Miss Murray’s sense of humour which, at times, is maliciously amusing never deserts her and her dialogue has the brilliance of crystal. Gloria Witley, daughter of a millionaire, enters London society to be pounced on by a horde comprising some of London’s impecunious nobility and its offspring. Their conversation, parties and escapades make bright reading even if one has to take'them all with the proverbial grain of salt. Gloria is rescued from one questionable adventure by the singularly attractive young man whose sanity balances the lack of it apparent in the other characters. There is a happy ending, but only after Gloria has been through those “fires and disappointments of love” which Miss Murray handles with a particularly apt pen. “The Gilded Cupid.” Our copy comes direct from the publishers, John Lane, the Bodley Head, London. South Sea Romance Beatrice Grimshaw has made the South Seas her own. “Star in the Dust” has the background made vividly familiar in a dozen earlier novels. Yet the picture does not lose its freshness, and in this case colour is added by intensely interesting sidelights on the French penal settlements of New Caledonia, with their horrors of rigid confinement and the “wagon gang,” and other grim details of convict life. Piers Finlan, plunged into this vortex of suffering by his search for Yvonne Salle, the girl he loves, seems des-

tined to a plaything of adversity. But the reader has a comforting feeling that everything will come right, and is not disappointed. Miss Grimshaw "has written a romance attuned to an adventurous tempo. “Star in the Dust” Is first-rate entertainment. “Star in the Dust,” by Beatrice Grimshaw. Published by Cassell .and CoLondon. Our copy from the publishers. "Going to Press” It is not the English custom to write textbooks on journalism, nor to establish schools of journalism. But books can help the beginner in the profession, and every recruit to the small but select company of British writers

who have written of the Press primarily for Pressmen is sure of a warm welcome from his fellows. Not that any member of the company writes text-books: they write novels perhaps, as Philip Gibbs and C. E. Montague have done; or biography, as Sir Edward Cook did; or reminiscences; or simply “pictures of the journalist’s life,” as Mr. F. L. Stevens prefers to call the lively little sketches that lie before us. Written principally for those newly entered on newspaper work, or those contemplating entering upon it, this new book is full #! interest for older journalists, and it is certain to be read with close interest, considerable amusement, and possibly a little amazement by that general public which supplies both the raw materials of the journalist’s craft and i the market for his finished wares. For Mr. Stevens has done a difficult job notably well. "On Going- to Press.” F. L. Stevens. Methuen and Co., Ltd, Our copy from the publishers. Excellent Short Stories Eight short stories by Miss I. A. R. Wylie are included in “Some Other Beauty”. They are set in many lands but each reveals the author’s wide knowledge of the world and Its most peculiar ways, and her compassion for sensitive souls who suffer from inability to stand up to buffetings. She writes with an ease that may be born of her long experience as a writer, but which is probably a natural possession and her stories are of an even quality that makes the volume particularly attractive. “Little Fraulein and the Big World,” the pathetic tale of the journey of a diminutive orphan girl—daughter of an English mother and a German father—from Germany to England, is an intensely moving narrative. Excellent, too, are “Pas de Quatre,” a “mixed foursome” which sorts itself cut in an amusing way l “Bravo Toro!”, an atmospheric tale of Spain; “The Old People,” a tragedy of age and “Some Other Beauty,” the quaint story of a lifelong ambition, realised too late. Miss Wylie has shown rare skill in weaving these short stories, which are decidedly original and brilliantly treated. “Some Other Beauty." Cassell and Co-, Ltd., London anrl Auckland. Our copy through Champtaloup and Edmiston, Ltd., Queen Street, City. Shielding Another Among the novelists of today who are able to maintain a steady output of consistently readable stories, the name of Miss Joan Sutherland must be listed. Probably much of her success lies in the twin facts that she writes in a manner particularly attractive to women, and frankly from a woman’s viewpoint, although her or k is by no means to be ignored by men. Of late she has introduced her interesting characters in foreign fields secret Places” signals the turn of Paris setting of a thousand tales. Lere we meet Frodor Staire. whose harsh ambition is softened by adver Eity. Undertaking the responsibility of caring for his fiancee’s head-strong sister, he feels bound in honour to bear her guilt when she kills a rou6 in self-defence. A well-balanced .dory this, with clever portrait painting and a boldly dramatic conclusion, r . . Sec ret Placca.” Cassell and Company SydrievDnv’ Tol '°? to ' Melbourne and and" Robertson, G °Sydney? 1 MeSSFS ’