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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 1 (April 1, 1937)

Reviews

Reviews.

“The Street of the Fishing Cat,” by Jolanda Foldes (Angus & Robertson, Sydney) is the winning novel of the All-Nations Prize Competition. The story is so different. There is pure art in the telling. It is so simple, and yet so powerful. Just the story of a Hungarian family, Mr. and Mrs. Barabas and their three children whom the aftermath of war has driven to settle in Paris in The Street of The Fishing Cat. Here they meet other refugees—a Russian banker fleeing from the success of Communism, a Spanish anarchist, an exiled Greek and other driftwood swirled away by the whirlpool of war from the countries of their birth. It is a brave story written with no ulterior motive of creed or politics. We feel that the author has a story in her heart, and we hear her heart throb as she tells it.

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“Forty Fathoms Deep,” by Ion L. Idriess (Angus & Robertson, Sydney) is one of the most interesting books page 52 page 53 ever published across the Tasman. Idriess has taken as his theme the pearling industry of Broome, and what a book he has written! The romance, the tragedy, the adventure of the search on the sea floor for pearls, shell and baroque is woven into an absorbing story. And above this sea floor rare and wonderful characters tread the decks of the pearling luggers or the picturesque streets and houses of Broome. We meet whales and sharks beneath the water, and above we meet the motley and often unscrupulous population engaged in this romantic industry. We are dazzled with the sight of wonderful pearls which excite the murderous cupidity of unscrupulous folk engaged in the industry. Yes—a great and enthralling story.

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“Australia Through The Windscreen,” by William Hatfield (Angus & Robertson, Sydney) tells the story of the reliability test of a small English car on a tour through Australia. Hatfield, whom I remember gratefully for his fine novel “Sheepmates,” his “Desert Saga” and “River Crossing.” again displays in his latest book his keen sense of observation, his analytical brain and his great capacity for interesting the average reader. A writer of this calibre naturally does more than merely describe the changing scene from his windscreen. There is always a tale to tell and critical comments to make of national and individual interest. Hatfield is great company in his gallant little English car.

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“The Yellow Robed Wago,” by Marion Roberts (Eldon Press, London; Whitcombe & Tombs, Ltd., New Zealand agents), is a tale of mystery, love and international intrigue, with the scene in Burmah. There is a sinister suggestion that the operations of a mysterious White Abbot are not being devoted solely to the furtherance of Buddism, but rather to stirring up disaffection among the Burmese people. The small secret expedition sent to probe the mystery meet with hair-raising adventures. A good thriller.

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“Wilderness Orphan,” by Dorothy Cottrell (Angus & Robertson, Sydney) is one of the most artistic and interesting stories of its kind yet produced in Australia. It tells the story of Chut, the Kangaroo, from the moment he crawls from the pouch of his dead mother to his final days of freedom in the great Australian outbacks. His contact with the kindness and then the cruelty of human nature is related with all the art of a Jack London. A book you will love to read—and keep.

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The first Century Book of Humour was such a great success that a second volume was inevitable. This was recently published by Hutchinson's (London). It is illustrated by “Fougasse,” contains fifty-two stories by forty-eight authors and comprises over a thousand pages. Most of the great humorists are represented—A. A. Milne, H. G. Wells, W. W. Jacobs, P. G. Wodehouse, Walter de la Mare, Somerset Maugham, Stacy Aumonier, Anthony Armstrong and many others. It is certainly a great collection. Worked out on a mathematical basis there must be a half a dozen laughs to the page which gives the reader 6,000 laughs for a few shillings, and you know the old story of what a King offered to anyone who would provide him with only one smile.

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“What of Australia's Future,” by Joseph Hamlet (A. & R., Sydney), sets me wondering, as a publishers' representative and also as a reviewer, how an Australian publisher can publish as a proposition (and A. & R. know their business) a cloth board book of over 200 pages retailing at 3/6. The author has written his book “As a close student of his country's affairs, an ardent patriot and a destructive critic but with constructive proposals.” The study of this book may alarm our friends over the Tasman and is not without interest (and shall we say alarm?) for we New Zealanders.

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