NOVELISTS' HISTORY
THE EMPEROR'S DUCHESS, by R. G. Waldeck; Peter Davies. English price, 10/6. THE BIG FISHERMAN by Lloyd C. Douglas; Peter Davies. English price, 12/6. NE of the heartening things (or is it merely depressing?) about the bestselling, popular novelist today is his easy competence compared with his opposite numbers of even a few years ago. Countess Waldeck’s book is concerned with the minor Napoleonic general Junot, and much more with his courageous wife (who, incidentally, never was the Emperor’s duchess, though she was Metternich’s and several other peoples’ too). The chief purpose of the book is to look askance at the Napoleonic legend. It is adroitly put together, has a great deal of entertainment value and very little as a work of art. Occasionally the writer makes a slip. Ouida herself could not have bettered her bloomer in describing Junot’s prowess at billiards: «|... It was he who invented and perfected a clever instrument which sharpened the cue without slowing up the . game." 2 About Mr. Douglas's book I feel profoundly uneasy. It is not.as well written as The Emperor’s ‘Duchess; the history is biblical. The Big Fisherman is Saint Peter. To a lot of people apparently jt is a reinforcement of their piety to see a popular novelist blunder Tis way through the New Testament background, dragging in the Arabians, the Romans and the Greeks as well as the Jews. To me this chattering book is a waste of ‘triviality and boredom, and its weakness as a piece of literature, compared with the New Testament narratives, amounts to a blasphemy. The writer evidently has impeccable ‘intentions, but sincerity
is no substitute for taste. He has done ‘this sort of thing before; let us hope he |
will not do it again.
David
Hall
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 543, 18 November 1949, Page 19
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294NOVELISTS' HISTORY New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 543, 18 November 1949, Page 19
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