The Mystery of the Moa

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 35, 13 March 1931, Unnumbered Page

The Mystery of the Moa

(By C. O. and BH. Palmer.)

"THE making of verse is a somewhat rare accomplishment in New Zealand. So that it was with a feeling of pleasurable anticipation I opened and read "The Mystery of the Moa," lately written and published in collaboration by Charles Oscar Palmer and Hisie Palmer. An interesting and poetic contribution to the literature of this Dominion, this little book of verse, wfitten in the pauses of a strenuous life, shows acute consciousness of the beauty of our own and the Maori language, coupled with love and appreciation of ancient legends now in danger of falling into limbo of the forgotten. The story of the search for the Moa is recounted in dignified ‘and arresting lines, Maori lore and egend are effectively used with decorative effect, and the poem moves on in fitting metre to its finale describing the last rites in honour of the vanished Moa. A unigue publication, characteristic of our land and its origins, and instinct with poetic thought expressed with lucidity, originality and charm; the whole capturing something of the poetic quality inherent in the Maori race. * a % APPARENTLY the war book is still with us. Remarque, author of "All Quiet on the Western Front," which raised such a furore of criticism and dissension, has written a kind of sequel or continuation of that. terrible book, His latest work tells the tale of the sometimes difficult and disastrous return of the soldier to civilised life. Oye wonders if the vividness of this axtthor’s narrative will retain its gripping power when shorn of the horrible details and circumstances of war which crowd his earlier novel.

IsS DOROTHY PARKER, "Laments for the Living,’ hag written a depressing, but a singularly. arresting book. She etches a portrait in, a, few lines; a tragedy in a page or so; describes an everyday conversation on a telephone, and shows the heartbreak that lies under the vapid conversation. There is terrible realism in her studies, the stark nudity of truth. Who will readily forget the man Durant, elderly, conceited, smug seducer, odious and true to type? And every one of her studies is as cruelly exact, as mercilessly truthful, ® % * [UNDER the title "It Had Happened ~ Otherwise," an entertaining series of glances into imaginary history is to be published by Longmans next month. Eleven authors have contributed to it, including Mr. Churchill, Mr. Belloe, Mr. Guedella, Emil Ludwig, and Mr. Maurois. The sort of thing it is is illustrated by Mr. H, A. L. Fisher’s picture of the world as it might have been if Napoleon had escaped to America. M. Maurois’s biography of "Disraeli" is well known, Herr Ludwig’s literary achievement needs no bush, and the writers of our own nationality are well represented in this publication, which should be of a unique and fascinating character.