ART AND MEMORY
THE STONE, by O. E. Middleton; the Pilgrim Press, 12/6. QUOTATION from Malraux set in the front of this collection of five short stories seems to imply that O. E. Middleton relies on memory for his source material. Certainly three stories hark back to early youth. So much has been said about New Zealand writers’ obsession with childhood that it is rather refreshing to find Middleton unintimidatedly boxing on and using the material of youth in such a natural, inevitable fashion..The strength of these short stories is their truth. As they say, they write themselves, This does not mean that they are plotless "mood pieces" which get somewhere by the hen’s method of going on scratching up the soil. All have a firm shape and are the products of deliberate art. At the same time, it is the evocation of our own time and place, small town or small farm, which will give most to readers in this country. The longest story, "The Stone," is so packed with excellent material, it makes it clear Middleton could well handle a novel. It remains, however, a successful short story, not a novel manqué, and its plot, a piece of small-boy. wantonness achieving its emotional impact ten years later, is among the best of any yet written in New Zealand. ‘A rather similar character, the old, wise Scandinavian or German, occurs (continued on page 14)
BOOKS
(continued from page 12) in three stories, reaching his fullest development in Muller, self-reliant and solitary, in "The Stone." Otherwise the persons of the stories, even Prof in "The Corporal’s Story," are those we know well and afford us that pleasure of recognition which is not the least of the gifts of the artist. These are five good stories, four previously unpublished, and they make one glad O. E. Middleton is still a young man. The book is elegantly produced and is adorned by some of Dennis Knight Turner’s drawings. These do not "illustrate": they are’ works of art in their
own right.
David
Hall
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19591023.2.21.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1052, 23 October 1959, Page 12
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341ART AND MEMORY New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1052, 23 October 1959, Page 12
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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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