BOOKS AND WRITERS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20956, 8 November 1939, Page 4

BOOKS AND WRITERS

COMMENTS AND EXTRACTS

STORMY SEAS TALE OF ADVENTURE “IN GRIP OF THE GALE” If any one would like to have an idea of the stormy seas which are to be found to the south of New Zealand, let him read Knud Andersen’s “In the Grip of the Gale.” The son and the daughter of a Danish sailmaker make the journey with Billy Bomb, mate of a whaler, in an absurdly small vessel. They are searching for ambergris. The voyage is described in a vigorous and interesting fashion. The Auckland Islands, to which they sail, are described well, and the whole story is entertaining. TALES OF PIONEER WOMEN NEW ZEALAND’S EARLY DAYS ADVENTURES IN NEW LAND One of the most picturesque phases of New Zealand’s history would have been lost to posterity but for the efforts of those who have collected the tales of pioneer women and recorded them, to be preserved for all time. Women who came to New Zealand to join the men who had come before, women already with families who undertook the great adventure into a new and unknown land, and women who were born in New Zealand in the earliest days of the colony—these are the heroic band who give life and reality to “Tales of Pioneer Women,” a book that will be read with the keenest interest by thousands of people in New Zealand and abroad. The book is a collection of 81 tales gathered by branches of the Women’s Institute throughout New Zealand. In many cases they are written by wellknown authorities on the early history of the country, and as a whole they give a vivid picture of the lives of the pioneer women in the primitive settlement. Hardships and dangers there were in plenty, but the simple lives these brave and resourceful women were forced to live were not without their brighter moments, nor without their culture and | conscious building of the foundations 1 of the Dominion as it is known to the present generation. The book is not a mere recital of history; it is a living and breathing story of an adventurous and picturesque period in which our grandmothers and grandfathers held the stage. “Tales of Pioneer Women” is finding wide acceptance as an entertainment as well as a forceful reminder of the obligations New Zealand of today owes to the women oi yesterday. It contains stories collected from almost every province and district in the Dominion, and New Zealanders in their journey through its pages will meet many old friends, or friends of their fathers and mothers, in the most unexpected places. FATE OF HITLER LAST YEAR OF POWER PREDICTIONS IN BOOK Be assured—there will be no war. This is the “sensational message of hope for the world” which Leonard Blake has written to cheer mankind in “Hitler’s Last Year of Power.” Hitler is doomed. Mr Blake knows. The stars have winked. 1940 will see the last of the Nazis. The astrologist, having scanned the heavens, declares, “the horoscope of the November Revolution and the horoscope of the Nazi Revolution in reality have much less influence on Germany’s destiny than the horoscope of Bismarck’s First Reich.” The sign of Aries, Mars, which can j give us the information, occupies the I apex of the twelfth house in the I horoscope of the German Reich. ! . . . There is a limit to maniacal I egotism. So, soon as Germany oversteps this limit, the War god Mars. ; in the house of undertakings, then j an unscaleable barrier erects itself | —Saturn square (not squares) Mars | —and throttles the lust for such exI tension of activity. | With international honour, re- ! enshrined, people brought back from | Beyond, cities resurrected, nations reconciled, and dictators de-bunked, all will be well.

EXPRESSIVE ENGLISH BEAUTIES OF LANGUAGE “The Music of Language,” by J. Campbell-Mclnnes, provides speakers and singers in English with a ready opportunity of learning something about the beauties and potentialities of their own language and so increasing their ability to make themselves fully expressive. In the first part of the book Mr Campbell-Mclnnes writes of the growth, meaning, and cultivation of English speech, of verbal imagery and ordered sounds, of the music and magic of words and of dialect and literary usage. In the second part he writes of the voice as an instrument, of vowels and consonants, stress and emphasis, tone and quality, and breath control. In the case of the singing student at least, the book provides the necessary urge in applying “the principles of the music of language to those of the language of music.” CLERGYMAN LIBELLED AN UNUSUAL ACTION REFERENCES IN A BOOK An unusual libel action has been settled without a hearing. In his recent “Guide to Modern Wickedness,” Professor C. E. M. Joad described a service which he attended at his “local church,” which was identified beyond doubt as that of Mapledurham, near Reading. In his report of this service he was incautious enough to refer to the vicar in terms so “extremely objectionable” that the clergyman felt it necessary to seek a public disclaimer and apology. He therefore brought an action in the King’s Bench against the author, the publishers, and the printers. They agreed to make an apology in open Court, to withdraw unsold copies of the book, to undertake that it will not be reprinted without the deletion of the objectionable passages, attid to pay the vicar £250 over and above his full expenses. He is transferring the £250 to an ecclesiastical fund. It was stated in court that he is a clergyman of high reputation, presented to the living of Mapledurham by the patrons, the Provost and Fellows of Eton College, in recognition of his 25 years’ service in poor London parishes.

“GOING, GOING, GONE”

COLLAPSE OF CIVILISATION BOOK BY AN AUSTRIAN “Europe, Going, Going, Gone,” by Count Ferdinand Czemin, flippant, impertinent, and filled with wisecracks, is one of the most diverting and not the least informative books which has been written round the possible collapse of civilisation. It is studded with sallies of clean wit, cheek by jowl with extraordinary sagacious dissection of the national characters of the peoples of the Continent. A disillusioned Austrian, the author loves England but does not spare her national idiosyncrasies.

“The English have common sense, instinct, and a sense of humour. The latter they store in Ireland, and get it when they want it. England is the wonderfullest country to go away from, and to come back to. Life in it is dreary, and full of draughts. “Kings have got into the dreadful habit of walking off the stage; pretenders arrive by aeroplane or on foot and take over from presidents; whole countries turn into protectorates overnight; and even Fuehrers have been known to dissolve into thin air in the course of history. Put America in Mess “I know the Americans don’t particularly care for Wilson, but why they don’t is beyond me. For though he probably didn’t mean to, he did all he could to put Europe in its present mess, and thereby gave America a start which no one ever again will catch up with. “A new de-nationalised Europe will come out of the next war, or Europe won’t come out of it at all. “The French have a cold heart, black beards, very witty wit, a fast language, and a habit of committing crimes passionately which invariably melts the jury and gets them off. “The Germans are idealists and most of them will remain idealists as long as idealism pays. If not—not. The Germans are romantic and have produced Wagner to prove it. His “Ring” contains all anyone need know about Germany’s foreign policy. It is easier to understand, and more truthful than Hitler’s famous novel. Touchy Adolf has often been accused of being a lunatic. I wonder if he is. Maybe he is just a fanatic. Some Germans believe it was Adolph who said “Apres moi le deluge.” Cannot Be Appeased “Totalitarianism cannot be appeased, for it is its very nature to fight and conquer. Hitler has gone too far. He can never stop. He has got to conquer the world for Germany, and become a hero or fail in the attempt and be cursed for ever after. “Once it makes up its mind Democracy is sure to win.”

WHERE THE STATE IS ALL

ABSORBING NEW NOVEL “GLORIOUS MORNING” APPEARS Of particular interest in these days when a Totalitarian State is attempting to force its way of life upon the world is a novel titled “Glorious Morning,” which deals in an effective and unusual manner with an imaginary Totalitarian State in which the compulsory greeting is, “The State is All,” instead of “Heil Hitler.” Published by Hodder and Stoughton, the book is written by Norman Macowan in an unusual and

interesting style. It concerns chieflv the daughter of an old family of the State who has a vision and receives a message from God to deliver to the people of the State from which God has been banished. In spite of official vigilance and repression the message is delivered, with astonishing results.

Although the scene is laid in an imaginary country where all the liberty of the people has been sacrificed to the State, it yet bears a familiar flavour. In the domineering and ruthless officials of the State, very cleverly and realistically drawn, a familiar note is struck, and the drama is the more intense and interesting because it has a counterpart in reality.