"ERRORS IN TASTE"
Sir,-It is qa matter of public interest that .there is a paper enterprising enough to print a prize-winning New Zealand short story. Felicitations therefore to both author and publisher on . Anton Vogt’s "The Accident." But always mindful that the role of the critic is easier than that of the author, I submit comment on what appear to me errors in taste and atmosphere. : The use of the expression "By Christ" is an example of the former. Most of us are Christians and I believe to the majority of readers the use of this oath is offensive. While the short story may be a form of art or carry a message and so on, its chief object is to entertain and not to disgust. Fhis is putting the matter, I hope, briefly, but on its lowest common denominator of taste. And then the oath is several times repeated. Mr. Vogt may claim he needed the first for atmosphere and realism, but the repetitions do not appear to make the atmosphere thicker, but are rather examples of what could be described as exorbitance. As to atmosphere and realism as opposed to taste, I have lived on brief occasions with bushmen and have never heard one or indeed any New Zealander use the adjective "bleeding," though of course its synonym is common enough. And the real surprise in the surprise ending lies in the fact that Mr. Vogt should imagine that bushmen regard the Schedule to the Workers’ Compensation Act as generous at all, let alone generous enough to tempt self-mutilation. I ask leave respectfully to endorse the opinion of the competition judges that the story is very well told.
CERVANTES
(Wellington).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19470307.2.10.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 402, 7 March 1947, Page 5
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282"ERRORS IN TASTE" New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 402, 7 March 1947, Page 5
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