Vanitas Vanitatum
|S TATION 2ZB’s Sunday night Playhouse of Favourites is biting off more than it can chew. It makes an excellent job of its dramatizations of the short story (De Maupassant’s The Piece of String and Stevenson’s The Suicide Club were two I recently enjoyed), bit its attempts to deal with full-length play or novel must lead to gross distortion. Last Sunday’s Vanity Fair was a dreadful example of this brevitas brevitatum. Becky herself emerges from the paring process still recognisable in appearance, and somewhat improved in moral character (there is no time to dwell upon her, baser thoughts or her meaner actions) even if diminished in literary stature, and the Hollywooden sweetness of her voice (incidentally, did she ever say "Hold me tight, tight, George?") supports the illusion that she is puppet rather than puppeteer. In furtherance of Thackeray’s claim that Vanity Fair is a novel without a hero the worthy Dobbin has been eliminated, and it all boils down to a variation of the E.T. with Becky at the apex, and Rawdon, George and Lord Steyne jockeying for position on the base-line.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19480521.2.28.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 465, 21 May 1948, Page 14
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185Vanitas Vanitatum New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 465, 21 May 1948, Page 14
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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.
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