THE READERS' COLUMN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 188, 7 February 1914, Page 8

THE READERS' COLUMN.

(By James Worthy). j NATION BIiILDINC. i i ."The .Man of Egypt," by Clayton Scdg- ' wick Conper, M.A. (London: llo'd- \ der and iStonghton; lflljl). Whftlier om: has travelled Kjjypt per medium of Cook's, »r by the more loisured way of delving into travel books % tlie fireside, oric instantly associates the word •'Egypt" with Hie Nile, the Pyramids, shrieking guides, hot, dusty camel rides and dustier railway journeys. By no chance do you think of the people—vital, human, with the loves and the hates, the passions, the hopes, the fears common to us Western people. But the author here lifts the veil, and we have before us. men of like passion I with ourselves—a people with ideals; a people with a religion that guides their daily action; a people who lire pressing towards the light. This book On Egypt has nothing to tell us of the Pyramids or the ancient civilisation of the country, but it does tell us what the Egyptian farmer thinks of the political situation as regards British occupation, and | how the people who are living in the Egypt of.to-day are taking to a system of education. Only a dose perusal of the book or very extensive quotations can give one a clear grip of the book, I which is thoroughly comprehensive in I its grasp of the various phases of Kgyp- | tian life and problems of to-day. Kov j instance, i chapter two tells us how i Egypt is governed. The various fuwe- ! tions exercised by the Khedivcr the British agent, the Legislative Councils and Assembly, are clearly set forth. In chapter four we have the remarkable story of the British occupation, and the undefined, yet very definite position we hold in respect to the, government of the country. Next we come to the education question. The primary system (Kuttabs, or Moslem schools) have a chapter to thenv-ir-lves. The attendance at secondary schools and colleges has enormously increased in recent years. The solitary text-book of the nation continues to be the Koran, but there are other evidences of a tendency to break ifway from—or, we should rather say. add to—the curriculum by the inclusion of some elementary books of science, geography and history. The great El Azhar University, the'"Oxford" of the Moslem world, is fully described. The great interest of the book centres upon the concluding chapters. "What, is an Egyptian .Mohammedan" is concisely and lucidly answered. The discussion of "The Moslem and the Copt" in their relationship to the civic and national life provides food for much thought, and the conclusions reached are logical. But the writer's best effort in a book which is thoughtfully anil cleverly written throughout in the discussion upon Islam and modernity. He reasons—and, we think, rightly—that the rigid conservatism of Mohammedanism is not compatible with modern buainess life, and handicaps out of the race for Western civilisation all true Islamites. Intelligent Moslems whom the writer has conversed with anticipate a modernising and rationalising of their religion to the, exigencies of a progressive twentieth century life. This has yet to be seen. Should it not do so, he predicts a "setting buck" of. the peoples of Egypt into a eul de sac, which the modern world of thought and business will shortly .pas's, iijiheedingly by. We think, however, -Mr. Cooper has shown us a people awakened, rubbing their eyes and looking round 1 . Doubtless they will not be long before as a people they set out. In fact, we believe the march has already begun.

SOME XOYKLS OF TO-DAY, , t'The Business of Life," by Robert W. Chambers, author of "Tho Younger Sot," etc. Illustrations by Charles Dana Gibson. (N'ew York: D. Apploton and Company). Wo own to have thoroughly enjoyed many of Mr. Chambers' novels, but few, if any, have reached such a high standard as Die one before us. It is a story of high life in the fashionable and expensive circles of American society; but the theme? is one that teaches a "lesson as to what constitutes the fundamentals of life's happiness. Money, poverty, education, lack of it—none" of these things are essential to the true enjoyment of life, but the love of man for woman, and the reciprocal love of woman for man; a beautiful oneness of life and purpose which make of any circumstances paradise. As a love story it is distinctly satisfying. It is the kind that provides a moral uplift for the reader. The heroine, is the clever daughter of an art dealer, who follows in her father's footsteps, takes over the business at his death, aim! by her application and thorough knotttedgc further develops it. The hero, Jim Dc.sboro, is one of the aimless varieties of Xow York's wealthy classes who, finding himself in liiinneial straits, consults Jacqueline »vers about selling his fine collection of armor. The 'train of circumstances developed from this business interview are distinctly interesting, and we follow the story through much stress and_ strain to a most satisfactory con- ■ elusion. •"The -Witness for the Defence," by A. E. W. Mason, author of "The Four Feathers," etc. (London: lloddcr J and Stougliton). Mr. Mason writes so well that his .' hooks are assured a very wide circle of readers. Perhaps our expectations have been raised too high by such mas-ter-pieces as "The Four Feathers" mid ; "The Turnstile." but we suffered, we i will not say a sense of disappointment, but rather an absence of that enthral- ( nient with which we read the other two | hooks mentioned. Then, too, the plot | of the story is not one we have much i sympathy with. There is so mucli of ( misery in the world that the racking ( strain which get- possession of a woman tied to a man whose standards are o somewhat low, is a •heme that might r well be left alone. Men, more than n women, are but children of a largir ( growth—so much can be done by a sin- j cere, good woman to lead a man ariglit, s but the story might well have been de-

fleeted along those lines. Still, as : t stands, it i» a novel much above the average. The plot is worked out with Wonderful finesse, and all the art of th.' trained .story-teller we know Mr. Mason to be. .Mrs. Can-others suffers a lot from her husband, but still more from ttic hushing-up of her almost justifiable crime. The witness for h«r defence, Henry ThresU, has a different position to maintain. ICveu when he marries Mrs. CarruthcTs happiness is not attained until a clean breast is made of the whole business. For those who like them, it will lill every requirement of the tragic. t'The Road of Living Men," by Will Lcvington Comfort. (Philadelphia: .r. B. Lippincott Company). The writer breaks entirely new ground in this story. Woven about the love tale of two Americans is the life story of a member of the reform party of Young China. While hastening .hither and thither across the Pacific or up to the interior of China with the travellers, we are at the same time following very closely the methods of those who would untangle the knot which finds China in the. thraldom of a hideous, centuries-old civilisation, and allow the latent good qualities of the nation to be liberated and extended by a judicious infusion of western ideas. Some idea of the grievous toll of life that is paid by the progressive party in China is gathered from our story. The writer puts very graphically the method of raising the rank and file of the nation. These men (the Reformers/ bring along tho nation a few paces, leading it toilsomely up tile steps, and are thep crushed to death by reactionary methods. The nation, however, never quite sinks bade to its former level, and other reformers fill the breach and give a further lift until sacrificed in turn. (*) Ueeeived from the publishers, Messrs llodder and Rtoughtou. (t) Re--1 ceived for review from Mr. A. S. Booker, the U.K. Bookshop, Devon street.