Guthrie-Duff
\VJHEN I saw that Oliver Duff was to arrange and deliver a series of teadings from Tutira I thought no-one could have been better chosen. GuthrieSmith may not have spoken with the voice of an Otago Scot, but there cannot have been two men in New Zealand with minds more alike, nor two men who have done more to persuade us to care for our land and the creatures on it. Yet the first of the readings which I heard produced a curious sense of disappointment. Not that Mr. Duff didn’t, read well. He read freely and naturally, as if he were reading something he had written himself. That was the trouble. Hearing the Duff voice one instinctively expected the Duff style: those repetitive aphorisms of which I need give no example here since he will have done so on another page. Guthrie-Smith’s prose is supple and graceful, but with the voice preparing us for plum-Duff it almost seemed flat. Then once or twice the expected almost happened and one began to think "this is more like it," when it wasn’t more like Guthrie-Smith at all. However, this feeling fades after a time, Oliver Duff becomes the voice of Guthrie-Smith, whose own style shines out unalloyed. I’m sure this comprehensive series of readings is going to give many listeners some idea of why they’ve been hearing about Tutira for so long.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19570201.2.50.2
Bibliographic details
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 912, 1 February 1957, Page 26
Word count
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232Guthrie-Duff New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 912, 1 February 1957, Page 26
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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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