Messer Marco
[N preparing The Adventures of Marco Polo (which has just finished its Sunday morning run from 2YA) the BBC was evidently of one mind with Doctor G. M. Smith in believing that there is no such thing as absolute truth, and that-in any case it’s much more important to be interesting. On this basis they produced an excellent programme, though it is. difficult to see why it would not have been equally excellent if Uncle Joseph had been rePlaced by~ Uncle Maffeo. However,
there is perhaps little hard substance of truth left in the story as corroded by time and contemporary reportage as that of Marco Polo, and it is sufficient if an account of him achieves imaginative reality. The BBC programme had validity gained without the sacrifice of romanticism, an effect due largely to the peculiar timelessness of its narrative style, the beautiful balance of its sentences which made even well-worn phrases ("This day we make history") sound Delphic rather than sententious. It was a programme worthy of that traveller who, says Masefield, "created Asja for the European mind."
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19470124.2.33.3
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 396, 24 January 1947, Page 18
Word count
Tapeke kupu
182Messer Marco New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 396, 24 January 1947, Page 18
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in