NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 40, 12 October 1922, Page 26

NOTES

Bad Books .::Americans do not like bad books, and their Government acts • accordingly. ' Thus we read that, . on June 21, a representative of the Western Society for the Suppression of Vice had John Kidd, head of a Cincinnati firm, fined 1000 dollars for selling Boccaccio’s Decameron and the works of Rabelais. Copies of the following books were also seized in New York: Women in Love, by D. IT. Lawrence; A Young Girl’s Diary, by an Austrian girl Casanova’ s 'Return, by Arthur Schnitzler. Boni and Liveright were prosecuted for selling the Satyr-icon of Petronius, and Robert Keable’s Simon Galled Peter was banned. Some people object to drastic action, but if immoral books are an evil there is only one way of dealing with them. It were no harm if action on similar lines were introduced into New Zealand, and a beginning might be. made with the list of blackguardly books by guttersnipes advertised in the Saturday issue of the Otago Daily Times for the sake of a few shillings paid by the P.P.A. to that smug daily of pharasaical New Zealand. If the directors of the Otago Daily Times make money by such methods their hands are not clean enough for decent people to shake. Another Macgill Book Patrick Macgill is known to those who read him as an Irishman who makes money by throwing mud at the country of-his birth for the entertainment of English people. His elemental coarseness and-brutality, combined with the fact that he was much advertised as a navvy author, secured him a certain amount of popularity until readers grew weary of having the same story retold them in book after, book. For some time past we have avoided being' taken in by a Macgill novel and consequently are no longer qualified to speak with any authority concerning his more recent productions. For the benefit of those who might be tempted to waste money on his last we quote from the New Witness the following expressive review of Lanty Danlon : Lanty Hanlon. By Patrick Macgill.' Jenkins. 7/6 net. Mr. Macgill has succeeded admirably in providing Mr. Jenkins with the approved type of fictional Irish folk in his novel. It is indeed" far cry from the Children . of the Dead End to the mention of farce and slobber that distinguishes Lanty anion, who combines the sentimentability of a Yalgian with the dishonesty of, a iSouth African millionaire. No doubt it will prove a good selling mixture, for not an Irishman in : it but is either fool or knave, the hero being an apotheosis of the two, especially when he does the thimble-rigging stunt in his own village. It looks as if Mr. Macgill either had been away too long from kindly Donegal, to remember what his countrymen really are like, or else had determined to present an ideal picture. ‘All,the same, we presume that few of the Irish will be flattered, while we . even doubt if many of the untravelled English will accept these marionettes’ capers as produced. by real flesh and blood or their unintelligent jabber as a sample of village wit. ~ Altar Steps” ■ Compton McKenzie holds a prominent place among the leading English novelists of to-day, although opinions differ concerning his- real worth as an artist. In the half-dozen novels by which he is best known Sinister Street, Guy and Pauline, . Carnival , Sylvia Scarlett, Sylvia and Michael— lie has amply proved that, he has imagination and insight and that he can write 'English prose. : Against that one must set his fondness for neologisms, or even for invented words,, his redundancy, and his fondness for dwelling on the sinfulness of young men and women. : In fact - it is •; hardlywtoo much to say, notwithstanding his reception

by- serious , critics, that he ;is ■ rather ah evil ' influence , than otherwise, and that few are likely to be improved by his fiction. ; Perhaps it is by .way. of .making some | reparation for past transgressions that 'he has how given us in Altar Steps a weary, long-drawn story of Anglican; clergymen and bishops, and of the differences| of opinion among thfe . High' and Low Churchmen; of 1 England. There is in ’ the book much good character drawing, and if, you like long descriptions of ail sorts of places you will find them there. But, as a story to read with interest and profit, we have nothing to say > by way of recommendation of it. , ; The Holly Tree ” This book is by one Gerald O’Donovan, of whom, as of Patrick Macgill, we say frankly that he is not worth while. And, as in the case of Macgill, once upon a time we used to read an O’Donovan boojj until experience brought us more knowledge of the man. Hence, as a warning to our readers we once more borrow the opinion of a reviewer. In the Irish World we find the following plain writing: The Holly Tree, by Gerald O’Donovan, London, William Heinemann. •- To be perfectly frank we look on the author of .this work as a rascal. He has been called an Irish “MariaMonk,” and we understand he is an ex-priest. He., recently brought out a work to which George Moore, a renegade Irishman concerning whom queer things are; told, and Francis Hackett, another peculiar type of Irishman, gave their blessing. The book was a labored attack on the honor of Irish girls and women, and was evidently intended to appeal to the meanest strata of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry. The author breaks fresh ground here. There is little of the morbid, anti-clericalism that disfigures previous books from his pen. ' The theme he chooses now is the classic one of the ages—Love. With such simple materials as a couple of West of Ireland families and a strange young man, he weaves an idyll which moves the reader. The motive is as ancient as civilisation. An unhappy marriage—a girl wedded to a man who never reaches her heart. Then comes the stranger who- moves. her. It is her child who**saves her soul, <X*> : . ■ The Auckland Catholic Students’ Guild A meeting took place at the Sacred Heart College on Sunday, the Ist inst., for the purpose of forming a Catholic Students’ Guild. After his Lordship Dr. Liston had expressed his pleasure at seeing such a largo number present, and wished them Godspeed-in' their excellent undertaking, Rev. Brother Borgia \ (Director of the college) pointed -out the need of having such an organisation.' Wellington and Dunedin had their Catholic Students’ Guilds, and, although Auckland had been first in the field by the founding of the Newman Society, which had flourished so many years and had done such admirable work,; it was felt that it .would be better to strike out on new lines and start an association which should. have a sound democratic basis. The motion “that an Auckland Catholic Students’ . Guild be formed’’ was enthusiastically carried. v The? following office-bearers were elected Patron, Right . Rev. Dr. Liston, Coadjutor-Bishop of Auckland; president, Rev. Brother Borgia, 8.A., Director of Sacred Heart College; hon. secretary, Miss Terry; hon. treasurer,; Mr. MjcGrail. .It was resolved . that the , next meeting should take place on Sunday, October 29 when a presidential address would be delivered bv Brother Borgia.. • His Lordship Dr. Liston then invi+w members to hold the. meeting at the Bishop’s Palace, Ponsonby, on that date, and gave further proof of his practical encouragement by promising to donate a,-. complete set/;of; volumes of , the Catholic: Encyclopedia to _ • serve as the nucleus of . a library for the reading circle. • ■ His Lordship delivered a very instructive and inspiring address, laying stress on the great ideals to be aimed at if we are to make our lives fruitful in the. eyes of God. Benediction of the' Blessed Sacrament as then given in the college chapel. - ‘ ■ • --v. ; f ;