Swift Analysis

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 490, 12 November 1948, Page 19

Swift Analysis

HE Sunday night talk by Dr. D. ‘" Daiches Raphael, who is vacating the chair of philosophy at Otago University, was one of the very best talks yet heard in this/ series, as Dr. Raphael, a keen observer, had a few pungent things

to tell us before leaving New Zealand. The average New Zealander, who absorbs pats-on-the-back as a sponge _ absorbs water, and bristles like the porcupine at the first show of ‘ criticism, may not have liked all that Dr. Raphael had to

say, but he would have to admit that the criticism was fair and constructive. Dr. Raphael poked some mild fun at various social customs (such as the Dunedinite’s love of getting into evening dress on all possible occasions), but also packed into his brief quarter of an hour not only the occasional dig in the ribs but also a number of shrewdly-ad-ministered elbow-jolts; few of our institutions missed his swift analysis, from the social security legislation to the icecream for Christmas dinner. We could have done with not one but a series of such talks by Dr. Raphael. His radio personality is pleasant and easy to listen to, and he has much to tel us which we Should hear. I was sorry that his innate tact and courtesy made him just a little too complimentary to us; I am sure the things which he left unsaid would have been even more stimulating that those he did say.