“TWO MEN FOUGHT.”

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19893, 23 May 1936, Page 24 (Supplement)

“TWO MEN FOUGHT.”

Powerful Fzrst Novel. . . ""1""! FAMILY hhMITY PURTRAXED. For those who have loved the rugged beauty of the Cornish coast, Alan Gould‘s “Two Men Fought “ will fur—nish hours of pleasure: to the uninitiated the novel will claim merit both for descriptive force and a remarkably {sustained atmosphere. As a first novel [it may he considered brilliant and, al—[though the story, apart from its inti—[mate association with sandy coves, ver~ dant countryside and treacherous sea, might be regarded as trivial, the smouldering enmity between two simple families makes diverting and unusual reading. The author has a Cornish soul. His writing is steeped in Cornish tradition. One feels he has known and loved the subjects he portrays. Could there be a. more vigorous picture than he offers or the buxom farm-girl, Hilda: 1 "She had grown into a his, splendidly ihandsome girl, too handsome to last. In a ‘ few years she would. perhaps, be rat where ‘once she was splendid, and then she would be able to take her place at the cottage door with a thousand other slatternly, dispirited women . . . the countryside proiduces them as prolincally as it gives us thistles; but although thistles may spoil a meadow they still have the merit or a certain beauty." The author is a master of the force that comes from simplicity and frank—ness. He tells convincingly of the futile fond of three generations start—ing with the simple friendship of the blunt and steady Lavinets. trappers for centuries, and of the wild, attractive Cornellys wresting a precarious living from the sea. He shows how, as they grow, their souls are sown with the seed or family hate while 'the children of a third generation, wonderingly, face up to the facts of youthful friendship and wonder at the gloom of a futile hate. Till the close of the book is the fued maintained and then it is only on the note of tragedy that the families are reconciled—lH. —“ Two Men Fought " by Alan Gould. (Collins and Go.) ANOTHER “WILD WESTER.” ‘ “Rustlers’ Round-up.” Those with a penchant for wild west stories will find “ Rustlers‘ Round-up" no better and no worse than the average run. There is the customary array of bandit gangs and posses, “hard-ridin' and fast-shootin‘ guys", hold-ups, tueds and gun duels —enough, in fact. to please the most fastidious fan. No such yarn would be complete without characters who cxclaim “Shocks!" or “Doggone!“ every few minutes and Blaze Tremaine, Tod Logan. Bat Lindstrom and the rest never cease doing it. Fast-moving action centres around the efforts of & sherifl to round up a. troublesome gang of cattle thieves and their wily chief, who had terrorised several towns and the surrounding countryside quite long enough. Just how The W'histler gets his men is told in a series of thrilling and highly dramatic sequences. ———“Ru-stler’s Round-Up" by E. B. Mann. (Win. Collins and Sons and Co.)