CANDLE ENDS
THE LORD OF THE FLIES, by William Golding; Faber and Faber, English price 34 6. THE ROOT OF HIS EVIL, by James Cain; Robert Hale, English price 9 6. CANDLES, by Francis Gaite; Hodder and Stoughton, English price 10/6. THE DARK WATER, by Margot Campbell; Arthur Barker, English price 10/6, A GROUP of boys thrust down on a remote island in the course of some future war are left in The Lord of the Flies to work out their salvation. They set up a state; then undermine it. They hope to be saved (the allegory sits heavily there), and neglect the means of salvation, Virtue is in retreat, the naked will to power rampart, before the abrupt return to common sense with their rescue. This allegorical fantasy is brilliantly successful within its scope. James M. Cain is known as the author of a rather sordid thriller. The Root of His Evil is a "straight" novel, about a waitress married by a rich neurotic/as part of his love-war with mamma; she masters a difficult situation-a conventional competent, unexciting book. Briet Candles is about two ghostsone American, one British-who haunt their descendants touring France. It contains much arch humour, and its fantasy is generally rather feeble. The setting of The Dark Water is in some scarcely definable part of the South Island back country. There are hints that Margot Campbell really knows some of the country background, but her grotesquely romantic story consists in manoeuvring the farm girl heroine into a position where it will be wholly suitable for her to marry an impoverished Scots peer. This can hardly be commended as a picture of New Zea- .
land life.
David
Hall
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 814, 4 March 1955, Page 14
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281CANDLE ENDS New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 814, 4 March 1955, 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.
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