SHORT STORIES
THE HORSE WITH THE DELICATE AIR, and other stories, by George Joseph. Harry H. Tombs, . Ltd. HE student of the short story: will find in this anthology traces of the influence of Damon Runyon, H. E. Bates, O. Henry, and de Maupassant. He will not find anything as good as the legacy these writers have left us-which would be expecting too much-but neither will he find anything as good as much that has already been written in this genre by contemporary New Zealanders. Weare entitled to expect, in one of George Joseph’s attainments, a quality of self; criticism which he has obviously not yet acquired. A good short story demands ‘good writing, and the writing here is not as good as the author could have made it. The plots are almost all banal; some evoke vague memories of other writers. The Horse with the Delicate Air is itself reminiscent of a film. To write "Micawber" backwards and use the result as the name of a character, to hang a story on "Dalvadore Sale, king of the impressionists," these are devices of the adolescent.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19451026.2.14.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 331, 26 October 1945, Page 6
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185SHORT STORIES New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 331, 26 October 1945, Page 6
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