RED-BRICK PRIESTLEY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 466, 28 May 1948, Page 11

RED-BRICK PRIESTLEY

THE LINDEN TREE: A Play in Two Acts and Four Scenes. By J. B. Priestley, William Heinemann Ltd. HIS play of Priestley’s, staged in London last year, was enthusiastically received by the critics, and proved so popular that, apparently, it is still running. Ivor Brown, one of the ablest of them, says many people have voted it Priestley’s best, and considers the "beautifully veracious acting" to be "as true to life as the text of the play itself." Yet in New York The Linden Tree ran for less than a week. We may perhaps find in certain original and vital elements in the play, part of the explanation of this American failure. It is not only that English domestic and University life are different from American. The _ background of this story of a history professor in one of England’s "red-brick universities" -those provincial institutions that do such good work but in the popular view are overshadowed by Oxford and Cambridge-is drab. It would be (continued on next page)...

BOOK REVIEWS (Cont'd)

(continued from previous page) relatively drab in any case, but this is an England that has had a lot of paint peeled off its life in two wars. Exteriors and interiors are dingy, and nerves are on edge. It is partly out of this condition that the conflict arises. The idealist professor is 65, and "a pushing young particle" of a new Vice-Chancellor, who (according to the professor) stands for "the mass production and conveyor-belt system of education," wants to retire him. The professor, loving his’ work and believing he can do some good with it, is determined to go on. The family involved in the dispute at a birthday reunion, are a mixed lot. One daughter is a doctor with aggressively Left views. Bitter about social conditions, she is also unhappily in love — torn between two creeds. Another daughter has married a wealthy French aristocrat, and enthusiastically embraced the comfortable civilisation of that class. The agreeable son has set himself frankly to make money and enjoy life; the problems of the world can go hang. The youngest daughter, ardent and more innocent than the others, is closest to her father. The wife sides against her husband, because she is sick of life in this provincial town. © angular students come in for tutorials. The family argue and quarrel. Priestley shows his old skill in making good drama out of two common situations, clash between principles, and family jars. Possibly The Linden Tree is a bit more "talky" read than staged. The preacher in J.B. cannot be kept under. The talk, however, is in character and vital, and if you are unable to see The Linden Tree you will find it well worth reading. We imagine, however, that repertory societies in this country won’t leave this fine play alone for long. FOR HOME STUDY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By E. L. Woodward. RUSSIAN LITERATURE. By Richard Hare. Methuen. (Home Study Books). A POST-WAR series along the lines of the Home University Library, Home Study Books seem (to judge from Se

these two) to set at least as high a standard in accuracy and readability as their prototypes. Professor Woodward’s 65,000-word History of England from 54 BC to 1918 is a_ straightforward narrative (not a summary) with thoughtful emphasis on the social changes that have taken place during the centuries. A kind of sub-theme underlying the earlier chapters shows society’s gradual realisation of the importance of individual rights, but towards the end this theme seems to become partly obscured in the flood of events. There is a very good chapter on the End of the Middle Ages, and some remarks on the Crimean War and the Russo-Japanese War which are illuminating in view of present events, Generally the friendly style, with a spicing of entertaining footnotes, make the book very readable. Russian literature is a fascinating subject, and this general introduction by Richard Hare is a good one. The first chapter on Slavophiles and Westernizers sets the theme, and the whole book emphasises the declining influence of the latter as writers grew to accept Belinsky’s idea that social usefulness is the highest criterion of literary merit. The critical judgments here are on the whole not profound, but the plot summaries and quotations provide the _ correct stimulus to make a reader want to get hold of the works themselves and make his own decisions. One defect is that while giants like Tolstoy and Dostoevski get plenty of space, many of the minor writers seem to be too summarily dealt with (a common fault perhaps) to give a balanced view of the general development. The concluding chapters on Gorky and Literature after the Revolution are a fairly unbiased analysis of the effects of Marxism, and will help to clarify many people’s views of the present relationship between the State and the artist in Soviet Russia. i