A MAN WITH A GUN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1054, 6 November 1959, Page 13

A MAN WITH A GUN

A GUN IN MY HAND, by Gordon Slatter; Pegasus Press, 15/-. ‘THIs story of a young man who re- '" turned to Christchurch for a war reunion, and to shoot someone, may be our most original novel. It is an impressive study of a neurosis and its origins, set in detailed descriptions of Christchurch life, from domestic homes to breezy gutsy lingo of pub bar and "diggers’ " gossip. The narrator, Ron Sefton, loaded Luger pistol in pocket, arrives by ferry and notes the familiar scenes. Then, and in his observations and encounters in the city through the one day, he breaks off repeatedly and sometimes with disconcerting suddenness, to recall in a series of flashbacks war experiences in Italy and pages in his aimless wanderings as a labourer. A re-hab. bursary at Canterbury College had led nowhere. These : (continued on next page)

BOOKS

(continued from previous puge) memories are often very vivid. Those of slaughter-house work are calculated to convert to vegetarianism. Ron keeps thinking of his gun and fingering it. Gradually a pattern emerges. Ron admired and loved a war cobber called Mick, who was everything Ron was not. Brooding on Mick’s death and the lot of stay-at-homes, fills Ron with hate. "Love makes the world go round," he muses, "but hate oils the wheels." Especially he hates one Wilkinson who has prospered: and married a girl Ron had loved. So he looks for Wilkinson to shoot him. He will be in the crowd at the Ranfurly Shield game. When Ron discovers Wilkinson leading Canterbury, he dredms of himself imMortalised in Rugby history as the man who- shot the Canterbury captain. A football fan will particularly appreciate the way in which this situation is resolved. After the eVening reunion, which is excellently done with its breezy camaraderie, the distraught Ron nearly pulls the trigger. Then, in the quiet of a friend’s home, the denouement comes, like the surprise at the end of a conventional thriller. Ron reveals to the reader, and releases within himself, the teal core of the mystery. Gordon Slatter has an acutely observant eye and a rich vocabulary. Despite the narrator’s bitterness. against his country, which is apt to become a snarl, the book presents authentic pictures of our life in this coming-of-age time. Among the conventions we have shed is politeness in literature, The dialogue here is characteristic, especially the uninhibited shirt-sleeve speech of the male, in native idiom. The book’s weakness is that it lacks a strong and visible continuous backbone. The tale is too long and the breaks too confusing. Hate can clog the wheels. But Gordon Slatter has

written a notable book.

A.

M.