THE RIGOURS OF WAR
YOUR OWN BELOVED SONS, by Thomas Anderson; Victor Gollancz, English price 12/6. THE MAGICIAN, by Somerset Maugham; Heinemann, Enéflish price 15/-. THE SPRINGBOARD, by John Fores; Hodder and Stoughton, English price 12/6. THE LOVELY CREW, by Daniel Nash; Jonathan Cape, English price 13/6. HOMAS ANDERSON has written his first novel about Korea. To those who have sampled recent American novels of
war, these facts would be a major deterrent, but they need not fear. There are no women, they are seldom even discussed. There is no constant spitting, barking and snarling; no tedious torrent of vulgarity. Apart from the curious habit of drinking Aqua-Velva, these characters fall into no pattern other than one would expect from a conscript army anywhere. Your Own Beloved Sons makes the point that war novels often miss; that adaptability and the power of forgetting the worst horrors are human faculties of great power; and that good soldiers are usually friendly, solicitous and have an admirable sense of duty. They accept the rigours of war cheerfully, they refuse to allow its brutality to depress them; and the truth is that they don’t hate war as much as they should. The "classic" novels of modern war spring to mind. This is the best so far. Why Somerset Maugham should allow the re-publication of this Edwardian chiller about the evil tricks of an obese sorcerer, his ravishing of a fair young maid (already bespoken) by occult means included, is hard to understand. Maugham’s preface ("autobiographical fragment") tells the reader how he came to write the book, and from where his inspiration derives, but it does not explain how this poor work comes to be reprinted and offered for sale with a new jacket. The Magician has a plot crude enough for the worst of horror comics, with fitting embellishments, such as homunculi in bottles, and the death of | the villain by extra-sensory strangulation. Not a bad idea, that. Springboard is not a very good novel, although the central idea, to write a story around life at a great international airport, is a promising one. Mr. Fores has unfortunately overdone it. There are too many people, too many stretched metaphors, and not enough restraint. The Lovely Crew-all about the mixed crew.of a war-time Greek freighter-pro-vides an excellent evening’s entertainment, In every way a tale well told. ,
Edward
Malone
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 913, 8 February 1957, Page 11
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393THE RIGOURS OF WAR New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 913, 8 February 1957, Page 11
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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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