Books Reviewed

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1063, 29 August 1930, Page 14

Books Reviewed

EARLY NEW ZEALAND rpiIANKS to the generosity of Mr. H. E. Partridge, Auckland possesses a collection of Maori portraits, and paintings representing native life in an earlier period of our history, that is unsurpassed in the world. These were executed in the early colonial days by Gottfried Lindauer, who devoted many years of his life to depicting the rangatiras and warrior-chief-tains of Aotearoa afe he saw them. These are the only records we possess of many of the giant figures of another age, and their value is not to be assessed in mere terms of pounds, shillings and pence. The accuracy of the portraiture has been vouched for by contemporaries of those whom Lindauer painted and the intricate moko work, or tattooing, so carefully reproduced, is of vast interest to ethnologists and others who admire the Maori people. Linder the title, "Pictures of Old New Zealand," Messrs. Whitcombe afid Tombs have ispued a splendid “descriptive of the Lindauer treasures, although that description may mislead our readers as to the format of the book which is of large proportions, beautifully printed and illustrated and handsomely bound. The letterpress is supplied by a wellknown authority on Maori history and folk-lore—Mr. James Cowan. Mr. Cowan supplies an authoritative note to each of the reproductions dealing with interesting phases of Maori life—children playing knucklebones, kai time in a native village, ko-digging, primitive fire-making, weaving and plaiting flax. the tohunga-ta-moko (tattoo-artist), at •work —and an informative reference to the involved laws of tapu, this to accompany the well-known study of a nude young Maori girl timidly feeding boiled taewa, speared on a fern stalk, to a mighty tohunga. There are biographies, each accompanying portraits, of Tamati Waka

None, sterling old fellow whose support of the British is still gratefully remembered; of Patuone, his brother, the comrade-in-arms of the redoubtable Hongi; of Tawhiao, second of the Maori kings; of Wiremu Tamehana, the kingmaker; Rewi, of “Last Stand” fame; Paul Tuhaere, of Orakei; Te Ua, first Hauhau prophet; Eru Tamaikoha, stern old cannibal; Henare Potae, of the Ngati-Porou; of the Hon. Sir James Carroll, Hone Heke M.P.; "Te Kuini” Topeora; of Julia Martin, who had ‘a local “Grace Darling” reputation; Guide Sophia, and Paratene te Manu, the old eagle of the Little Barrier Island, who refused for so long to leave his eyrie and did so only to die. The list, of course, is merely an indication of the valuable historical information gathered together in this very excellent volume. The publishers may take a justifiable pride in their handiwork. “Pictures of Old New Zealand,” 211 PP- Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., Auckland, and other cities. Our copy from the publishers direct. , George Lambert, A.R.A. “A vital spirit has gone from amongst us” (Julian Ashton). “The world war taught us that there was no one who could not be replaced; yet who shall fill Lambert's place?” (Arthur Streeton). “Without him it is going to be a difficult task to keep ourselves from degenerating'to the selfsatisfied, sluggish atmosphere that prevailed here before his death” (Elioth Gruner). These and other glowing tributes to the art and personality of the late George Lambert are included in a special memorial number of “Art in Australia.” Among others contributing appreciations are George Bell, H. S. Gullett, Basil Bur-

dett, Daryl Lindsay, W. B. Dailey, Hans Heysen, Norman Carter and William B. Beattie. Beckett Lindsay and Arthur Adams, poets both, strike a threnodic note. A representative selection of the work of the amazingly versatile Lambert has been chosen by the editors. It includes, in colour. “The Belle of the Alley,” Australian landscape, “Hera,” a portrait of Dr. Hamilton Russell, “The Smiling Sister,” “Important People,” and that

magnificent piece of bravura, the selfportrait with the now-famous dressinggown, pipe, magnificent hands and two or three spikes of gladioli. A number of Lambert’s superb pencil portraits are included, and a study for the recumbent figure he sculpt for tho St. Mary’s Cathedral war memorial in Sydney. This is the second number produced by “Art in Australia,” under the new scheme of six issues a year, at a reduced price. One is glad to learn, from an editorial note, that the decision has been popularly received. The magazine still maintains the high quality that gave it such distinction as a quarterly. “Art in Australia.” Lambert Memorial Number. Our copy from the publishers, Art im Australia, Ltd, Bond Street, Sydney. A Negro’s Poems Belonging properly to America, Countee Cullen, a young negro poet, has had his fourth volume published first in England. The last year he has spent in Europe through the kindly aid' of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and it is, therefore, fitting that part at least of his leisure’s fruit should be given to Europe. Cullen is already recognised as one of the most promising of the young American poets, but for the present he is a little too self-conscious, of his colour, and there is something of the negro apologist in a good deal of what he writes. All the same hej Is a first-rate poet, and he has written, excellent lyrics, and at least one powerful narrative poem. Cullen is a lover of tradition, and that means much in a time when the rebellious poet is more often praised than the reactionary. Cullen worships at the old shrines, and he worships faithfully. He has written some fine sonnets, among them “Black Majesty.” an address inspired by thoughts of the three negro kings of Haiti. Here is part of it: These men were block, I say, but they were crowned And purple-clad, however brief tHeir time Stifle your agony, let grief be drowned; We know joy had a day once and a clinic. Park putter-snipes, black sprawler-in-tlic-mud, A tiling men did a man may do again. What answer filters through your sluggish blood To these dark ghosts who knew so bright a reign? N •‘Lo, I am dark, but comely,** Sheba sings. •‘And we were black,” three shades reply, “but kings.’* His sonnets are all cast in the perfect mould, and a random choice is sufficient to prove his skill in this difficult form. “At Parting” shows bin at his best: Let us not turn for this aside to die. Crying a lover may not be a friend. Our grief is vast enough without that lie; All stories may not boast a happy end. T.ove was a flower, sweet, and flowers fade; Love was a fairy talc; these have their close. The endless chronicle was never made. Nor, save in dreams, the ever-scented ror*' Seeing them dim in passion's diadem, Our rubies that were bright that now are dull. Let them not fade without their requiem How they wove red one time and beauti ful. And how the heart where once the rubbled May live, yet bear that mark till it Is dead The title poem of the volume, “The Black Christ.” is a narrative o e strength and beauty. It describes lynching, and, from anythin; else, is a powerful indictment of thcsystem of rough American justice. But it is the poem that deserves remembrance, not the sense of evil and injustice that inspired it. With tho exception of th e best of Masefield, nothing better has been done in English narrative verse for years. It moves briskly, convincingly, and has great beauty. “The Black Christ and Other Poc-ms.** Countee Cullen. Putnam. Our copy from the publishers. “The Three Marys” A novelist who was born just a few years too late is Frederick Niven, author of that greatly, if quietly, admired Scottish story, “A Tale That Is Told.” He writes of a past generation in the manner of the past generation. His designs and structures are wholly pleasing, sometimes almost exquisite, but they retain an atmosphere of yesterday-—an atmosphere many of us are pleased to describe as “Victorian.” And having thus described it we are apt to shun it or, at best, under-estimate its mellow values. Nevertheless, if justice is done, there will come a time when Niven will receive the recognition he deserves as an interpreter of a phase of Scottish life ignored by his predecessors and contemporaries as colourless. And when that time arrives, his latest book “The Three Marys” will be ranked with' “A Tale That Is Told” and placed among novels with the lasting qualities of those of Barrie and George Douglas. “The Three Marys” is the life story of Robert Barclay, portrait painter. W r e follow him intimately through his training days to his triumph, and find deep interest in his triple love story. His three Marys are women as dissimilar in character and status as

women could be, but to each goes the strong sympathy of the reader, guided by a pen that is skilled in the subtle art of character drawing. “The Three Marys” ends on a note of tragedy with the death of Barclay in a railway accident, but essentially it is a happy work —one to be read at leisure and in the tranquil mood of the writer. “The Three Marys,*’ by Frederick Niven. W. Collins, Sons and Co., Ltd., London and Auckland. Our copy from the Auckland representatives. “Murder Most Foul” They would be delightful train or boat companions, these folk from “Murder in the Village,” one of the latest Methuen Clue Stories, by J. C. Skinner. It is the always-new “murder most foul” theme, with the excitement worked up to a crescendo from a charming country idyll. “Who killed the South African, Toonev?” everybody in the Yorkshire village of Blindley askdtl one morning when the poor man’s body was found near tho woods. And so the reader is lured from page to page until one of those supremely enterprising amateur detectives unravels a mystery which is almost calculated to cause sleepless nights. Not the least of the thrills is a wild dash across moor and road in which the hero is pursued by the villain in another motor-car. Even that has been made exciting by Mr. Skinner. And a nicer quartet of lovers has yet to find its niche in a thriller. “Murder in the Village.” Methuen and Company, Ltd., London. Our copy comes direct from the publishers. Mining, Guns, Abduction . . .

All the good, exciting things that go to make a tasty Western “pie” are to be found in “The Forgotten Hills,” Robert J. Horton's newest novel of America’s outdoors. In the beginning we find ourselves watching the indiscretions of rich and dissolute Roger Hartland whose playground is New York. A faithful family retainer who is acting as his “gentleman’s gentleman” spirits him off to the West “for his own good” and, once there, he begins to take a lively interest in the affairs of a mine he owns, also in a charming little person he meets while riding in the hills. From then on the pace speeds up. There are mining problems, shootings, and an abduction. There are rescues, battles between rival business factions, and intrigues of the cherchez la femme vareity. On the other hand there are few hopeless unrealities, and melodramatic nonsense is absent. “The* Forgotten Hills,” by Robert J. Horton. Collins Sons and Company, Limited, London and Auckland. Our copy from tlie Auckland branch. Wild Gardening To the amateur gardener with a little imagination, the wild garden dffers illimitable possibilities. A shrubbery or glade can be converted with no expense into a place of loveliness that will vie with, if not excel in beauty, its more formal prototype. In it one may cultivate a number of delightful plants which, on account of either their undue vigour or encroaching habits, cannot be associated with choicer and more delicate species. “Wild Gardening” deals with many types of the informal garden in very complete fashion. Wisely, the author does not dogmatise on the subject; rather, his ideas are designed to stimulate and provoke idea*. It ft well worth the study of every amateur gardener. “Wild Gardening.” K. H. M. Cox, F.L.S. Pulau and Co. Our copy from the publishers.

A Werewolf Wife. A fanciful, beautiful, yet tragic story is told by Madame Aino Kallas in “The Wolf’s Bride.” Little more than a short story, it was awarded the Finn, nish State Prize for literature in 1928, and since then it has bedn translated into various languages, and last of all into English. The story is simple ancli fantastic. The wife of an island, peasant turns into a wolf. She is thedutiful wife to her husband by day, and by night she runs with the raver* ing pack that plagues the countryside Then her husband finds what truth is, and he sends her from his house to death. That is the story, but the superlative skill with which it is told, and the harsh, eerie atmosphere (that is created in the telling makes this a beautiful example of the storyteller’s art. “The Wolf’s Bride.” Aino Kallas. Jonalian Cape. Our copy'from the publishers. BOOKS IN DEMAND AT THE AUCKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY NON-FICTION “ THE THREE BRONTES,” by E. Dimnet. “ REPUTATIONS,” by B. 11. Liddell Hart. “HOW ABOUT EUROPE?” by Norman Douglas. “FORTY YEARS WITH THE ABORIGINES,” by Rev. E. R. Gribble “IT ISN’T FAR FROM LONDON,” by S. P. B. Mais. ”SEA DEVILS FO’C’SLEby Lowell Thomas. ‘‘PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN OILS,” by E. G. Lutz. “ THE BENCH AND THE DOCK, " by Charles Kingston. ‘‘PLAYS, ITU SERIES," by John Galsworthy. “AMERICA CONQUERS BRITAIN.” by Ludwell Denny. FICTION “ MISS MOLE,” by E. 11. Young. “ THE AXE," by Sigrid Undset. “ FORTUNES OF RICHARD MAHONEY,” by 11. H. Richardson. “ GRAND MANNER,” by L. Kronenberger. ‘‘APRIL FOOLS,” by Compton Mackenzie. “ JALNA,” by M. De la Roche. “ NORTH OF SUEZ.” by W. McFee. “ SONS AND LOVERS,” by D. H. Lawrence. “ THE UNLIT LAMP,” by Rad cliff e Hall. “ WURTHERING HEIGHTS,” by E. Bronte.