The Observer from London, Greater London, England • 8

THE OBSERVER, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1954 ENTERTAINMENTS GUIDE Christianity CINEMAS STAKHANQVAS AgADKMY uSSbiv OPERA, BALLET field wad Ttrj with mu. tytTtT BOOKS OF 1954 A Symposium The Evolution of an Ihtect lfy-Mtfrk Wragg MorUy. (Georg AlUn and Unwin. hy HAROLD TlM0SON Wed- 7.30. IJoTl 7307 LtU Coy 1066.

in literature and' the arts name three during the past year. of the story from all three points of view (the Muslim, the Byzantine, the Prankish): and the. breadth of KSSIIVAl, HALL. Christrisa Seudtf-' VSJJ Opera and plays. ChUdtcnta pros, every mil.

THEATRES, EL? HI. To-morrow 3.30. 6.10 4 .45. J6 Hancock, Joan Turner A.JJrfSRJ,!"-.T5 7611. New.

Revue GAi WW. BOX, L2y. dL- Jt3L LEIC EVER since the distant days when I used to read the works of Jean-Henri Fabre I have been interested in insect behaviour. Not being an entomologist either by nature or training, I forget most of what I have read. This is a great advantage.

It enables me to return again and again to the same subject with ever-renewed surprise: it is as if I invariably forgot the solution of my favourite detective story. I thus enjoyed Mr. Morley's THE' Evolution of an Insect Society with the delighted acquiescence with which we welcome fresh information. I am too inexpert to say how far Mr. Morley's investigations into a community of wood ants, Surrey provide scientists with undiscovered facts: all I can say is that for the ordinary reader his book provides a connected story, careful psychological observation i and strange kindred images to which we readily adjust lour minds.

Professional entomologists are irritated when people write about insects in anthropomorphic Thus when Mr. Morley attributes to his wood ants such human emotions as pugnacity." alarm." or cowardice," we may feel that he is using man-made terms to describe sensations which may not he analogous. Is it legitimate to sav that a wood ant possesses a marked ability to learn." or that he can remember shapes by their smell? I think it is. fOR twenty years has Mr. Morley kept this particular community of ans under observation.

He has come to the conclusion that they possess mob minds, readily stimulated by demagogues. It is true that their lack of any language renders it difficult for them to convey or to remember instructions. is true that, if sundered from their fellows: they mope as sadly as any G.I. in exile. They are dependent on their nest-mates," writes Mr.

Morley, not only for food, shelter and procreation, but also for the mainten ance of the nervous tension which is necessary for the maintenance of their social life." fVn ant who loses her way, or is in some way isolated from her own nest, becomes so home-sick that she will refuse food, enter into a condition of nervous depression, and within a few days "roll on her side, twitch and die." On the other hand ants have not yet invented weapons of destruction larger than their own bodies can grow, or more powerful than would be good for the Their aim is not mutual destruction but group survival. Although they often indulge in raids into hostile territory, or even in civil wars, they are not that, once past' the title and the jargon it can open up windows upon a wide new land. Of literature as a work of art my choice be Christopher-' The Dark is Light' Ewjogfc (Oxford). Less 'more, thahthe perform-: ance, added to a performance, the book of the' play is the most; the best, the author has given us. JEAN COCTEAU T.

HAVE read three book this 'year with much more than my eyes alone: L'Atianlide et leg tenia, by Denis Saurat; La Conlear Tombee fro Get, by H. P. Loveeraft, translated by Jacques and Loem fur leg Sou- coaiw VoiantM, by Aim6 Michel. L'Atlantide speaks of the origins "of 'man of the 1 mythology of giants, and -the theories of Hoer- biger concerning the collisions of cceive moons with the earth. Loveeraft.

who is American. invents a terrifying world of space-time; his i somewhat loose style has gained by translation, into French. Aimi Michel not only records the more serious testimonies of those who claim to have( observed machines of unknown origin, but adds a study of his own on the theory of chance which I find of outstanding interest. If I. might add a fourth book to my list, I would mention Robert Amadou's La Parapgychologit.

STEPHEN SPENDER TTHE books whose names occur to me are the third volume of Steven Runciman's Hbtory of the Craadea (Cambridge University Press), Arthur Koestler's The InvislWe Writing (Hamish' Hamilton and Collins), and Frances Cornford's Collected Poems (Cresset Press). Steven Runciman's great book should perhaps teach to be cautious about invoking the Crusades' and the crusading spirit The second volume Koestler's autobiography greatly superior to the iirst is best "of all the ex Communist autobiographies. Frances" Cornford's poems are quiet and honest and put a lifetime of poetry- into perspective. Two other- books which resume themes of literature in this country are TIm Letters of W. B.

Yeats (Hart-Davis) and the very revealing Literary Essays of Ezra Pound ALAN PRYCE-J0NES A MONG the novels of 1954 I have enjoyed nothing better than Elizabeth Jenkins's The Tortoise and; the Hare (Gollancz). It was beautifully exact, and it dealt with the kind of problem which novelists generally overlook: incompatibility as it affects a settled marriage. My book of contemporary poetry would be Roy FuUer's CtnixstoBarts (Verschoyle), a witty," fanciful. little book which seems to. me.

to catch spirit of the more GodSoJLoyed the world X126 A Btllner'i Life i El ,1 ZABETH "This courageous, moving and lovely book7' Church Tima In Spite of Dungeons 026 S.J.DAVIES,a3.E.,C-f. (of tha -Okuioos OlogtatV) "bnmensdy moving. BEKNAKD rEXODSSOM "A story of the iindefeated spirit of man here is Faith. triumphant." collie knox The Rediscovery of the Bible (126 net) VVTLLIAMNEIX "Well informed, sober and judicious I can cordially reconunendit" froi. h.dodd A Scientist of the Invisible 026 net)' A.

P. SHEPHERD "An extremely valuable introduction to the teaching of Rudolph. Stctoer, a man of remarkable insight" Obttrvtr Nothing Is Quite ElMUgh (126 net) The story of a Soman Catholic rejected for the Priesthood. GARY MacEOJN "This book is written with simplicity, devotion and deep and serious undemanding. c.

v. WEDGWOOD, The Bookman HODDER AND STOUGHTON Publilkert qf 'Th Atctnt of Ermsf Some Cassell Successes for your Book Tokens 42. LESLIE BALLY 18,000 The Gilbert sold, Sullivaii Book 2. H.H.AGAKHAN 23,000 Memoirs of aid Aga Khan 16- igor 20,000 GOUZENKO gold The Fall of a Titan 15- Russell 75,000 of Liverpool 'ij TheSoonrgeof 50,0 the Swastika 126 PAT smythe 80,000 Jump for Joy sold 106 NICHOLAS 23,000 MONSARRAT sold TheBoys'Book of the Sea 96 NEVILLE DUKE 26,000 BookofFlying sold 86 NEVILLE DUKE 40,000 Sound Barrier sold 5- Christian DIOR 29,000 Little Diction- sold ary of Fashion Choaen by the Book Society JAMES COURAGE The Young hare Secrets The differences and similarities between childhood and adult life are ironically the times 'Sincere and mtefljgent TIME AND TIDE net JAMES JOYCE Dubliners This new edition has IS full page illustrations by Robin Jacques. 12s.6d.fter JONATHAN CAPE JUST OUT Ski-ing NEW NOVELS By STEV1E SMITH naturally bellicose.

MA worker's life-time of seven to eight years," Mr. Mrley infprms "inay well be JivMthrotigh iti entirety with nine more man a SKinmsn to Dreat the peace." Yet the mortality among them, which may be due to frustrated love or nervous depression, is excessive. Mr. Morley calculates that one-third of the population die every year, representing some 500 deaths a day. A large proportion of their labour force is absorbed by the task, of dragging these corpses out of the' nest and throwing them on the.

communal midrJen outside. The wood ant, so Mr. Morley assures, have been able to evolve and prosper owing to the developr ment of two main aptitudes. The first is their gift of building nests with a roof sufficiently waterproof to protect their queens and broods from the rigours of a damp climate; The second is the evolution of their gizzards in such a manner as enable the foragers to squirt in. liquid form the food- which they have digested into the mouths of their weaker sisters.

rPHE nest of a wood ant, with its connected colonics, constitutes a communal society, in the sense that each works for the benefit of others and on a pattern which is instinctive, rather than learnt or On the other hand, Mr. Morley tells us, there does exist scope and need for individual invention, even (believe it or not) for "thoughtful leadership." This leadership is provided by what he calls the excitement-centre ants who represent both, the nervous force and the group memory of the whole commune. These gifted if neurotic individuals start work at sunrise when their sisters are still dozing; they animate the whole nest by their affection for labour, the pleasure they throw into it, and the taut delight apparent in their every movement. It is these excitement-centre ants, with their jumpiness and powers of uplift, who give to every nest the stimulus of the unexpected and a delicate variation in routine. a 'community of half a million, ants ihe excitement-centres," the local Stakhanovas, can immediately be recognised, not by any physical differences, but the" fact that they are more noticeably active." Mr.

Morley suggests that it may be that the nerve cells of these eccentrics are so intricately developed that they can "communicate excitement to their fellows." If the Stakhanovas are removed, then the activity of the whole nest declines. These women are the leaders; they feel, they remember, they learn, and they believe. You see interesting this book must be. up in his old rich house with only a couple of daughters to torment are quite unnerving. Mr.

Frank Tilsley in contrast seems pedestrian. Brother Nap (Eyfe and Spottiswoode, 12s. 6d) is a continuationi of "Voice of the Crowd," his story about two young' Labour M.P. brothers, Ted and Nap; of mining. stock.

As legislators they do not inspire confidence, but then, of course, by the time the book ends we do know a great deal about them. Nap is ruthless and dynamic. Ted is not very strong-minded and in private life he behaves oddly loves his wife, Annie, from back home, has a girl, feels a worm; and so on. One would like to pay more attention to Ted's book he writes that makes a fortune for him in America and costs him another in taxation, the tenant who cannot be evicted, the disgusting lodgings and screaming children, but somehow one cannot; the grey dust of pedest nanism gets in the way. Inez and Her Angel, by Georgina Si me and Frank' Nicholson (Chapman and Hall, 8s.

is a curious story about a young girl Who is very unhappy to begin with. There is dollar currency, perhaps it is America? She. sits in a concert hall, but the music I is far away, her thoughts about her unhappy love situation nas. tear and numb. She cries for help and leaning back she feels suddenly, the soft plumage of an angel that is supporting angel is now always with her.

Slowly her whole life is changed. The office work is bearable again, the. servant who deserted her is no longer an her own faults and sins db not drive her to despair and a great happiness that is effortless and eternal over, her. It is the plumage that attracts, the. angel's face is always hidden, there is no talk between them.

The style of this book is of an old-fashioned moral flavour. Often. the authors stand up and say this is good, this is not." But seldom has an angel seemed so superior, strong and beautiful or a. sensitive, upright, passionate, human girl so at home in a peculiar circumstance. Have we been unfair to Mr.

Tilsley, over-praised Inez, missed a budding genius in Mr. Sturgeon, smacked down Miss Huxley? Is a critic's comment worse for being ad hoc rather than prophetic? Let Time do the sorting. Time, mercifully, is a highbrow. "One of the milestones of our time Elizabeth bowen WHITE BEYOND THE GLASS Howard Soriiw accurately tnan more Pretenuous ne vct written with volumes. And finally I should hke the possible exception of a wordrm praise of The wr.

TMK SHBP CINEMASCOPE. LONG iai. nxn man Tiwta ITU (U tljk. Colour. Robert N'rwlnn MA fcltv Wkdyi from 1.20.

877. ThhiMi fill. 4 4 7 tn l.Wltdw. 1 Peris, dartr at 2.30. 6.0 8.40.

Selfrldtet). Mly 4711 SIN! IS Cen.JC (ADULTS ONLY). W.17 MUS 4193. Wawaaa Mai Owed SasattavaK) It, LoUobrliida. de.Sfca.

1234. To-day S.35 A 8.0. aaiii awi. nn PcripcUa StereopBOBte Sound. i25.

TAiaYi JOUR jSrSuVfaX Hymkt. WMSttS. IiVeSgaLI aaown lit. PHFFFT (A). THREE HOURS i.

Tech. Prcn. 4.30. 6.30. Dn.

4. rAViLION. etti i 4.30. 7.5. iX).

Procrarames 4.30. 7.5. INDON PAV. To-diy frcim 4 30. (Door.

4.) Anna Neaali lie. fcrrol rl: Hynn. David Farrar in LILACS IN THR SPRINC (III. Tnicnlnr ODEON. Lck.q.

Norman Wisdom. ONE TURN U). Uader tk SMtkera Croai (U). Colour. Pron.

at 4.30. 6.35. Doora 4. ODEON, Arch. OnensaScopc.

Robert Newton, Loaf oka Stiver (U). Col. Pro. 4.30. 7.20 RIALTO.

Gary Cooper. Susan Hayward A Richard Widmark. GARDEN OF EVIL (A). Cinemascope. Tech.

Pron. to-dy. 4.30 A 7.0. RITZ. Ger 1234.

T-dV. 3.25 A 8. Aluialr Sim in THE BELLES OF ST. TRINIAN'S (U). STUDIO ONE.

Walt Dijney'a PINOCCHIO On at 4.30. 6.35. 8.40. A Prawfen of th Erctataaat tin 5.50. 8.05.

Dn. 4 p.m. TTVOLI, Strand. European Prem. HaaMi Grtttl Proaa.

4.45, 7.10. Doora 4. WARNER. Ger 3423. Alan Ladd.

DRUM BEAT (U). Cinemascope. WarnerCotor. Proaa. to-day A 7.15, Wadys.

from 10.0. CONCERT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL. SUNDAY 7.30 p.m. 2 JAN. S.

A. GORLINSKY announce! LONDON BAROQUE ENSEMBLE Proirammc of worka by RICHARD STRAUSS. Suite No. 2 in for 16 wind intuumenta (lil Performance In England) Prelude. Capriccio for Itrjng aextct.

Symphony (or 16 -wind taatrumcma. Conductor KARL HAAS Ttckeu: 36. SI-. 76. 10-, 126.

from Hall, (WAT 3191) A aaenta. EXHIBITIONS, DIAGHILEV. The OassavEa Eahlbilloa. Forbes House. Halkin Hyde Pk, Cnr.

CkairuT Jan. 16. Open dairy (inc. Sundays) 10.30-9. Admission 26.

Students 176. Wine A Snack Bar. To-day All-day programme of Russian musk. Boxing Day all-day programme of French music. Tues.

3.30 Children's lecture on enjoyment of music by Major Bavin. Wed. 7.30 Veronica Vaa-aar. Thurs. 7.30 Harold Rosenthal.

No lecture. David Sylvester. ROYAL ACADEMY IStb-CENT. EUROPEAN MASTERS. Wkdvs: 10-7, Suns.

2-6. Adm. 26 AGNEWS. The Lsnsdowne Collection. Adm.

26. 9 30 to 5.30. Saturdays 9.30 to 1 43. Old Bond W.I. ALFRED BROD.

36. Sackvllle Street, W.I. OLD DUTCH MASTERS. GIMPEL FRs. 50 South Mollon W.I.

Wster colours by SINGIER. hand-coloured etchings by CHAGALL, pottery by James TOWER. HANOVER GALLERY. 32a. St.

George W.I. Le Corbusier Water-colours. Molly Moss. Christine Rxsley. Diana Balfour ol Incurve.

Pauline Spender. Until Dec. 30th. SOCIETY OF PORTRAIT SCULPTORS. 2nd Annual Exhibition at imperial Institute Art Gallery.

South Kensington. Daily 104.30. Sundays. 2.304. Admission Free.

Closed 26th. IMPERIAL INSTITUTE, S.W.7. ARTS AND CRAFTS Or BR. COLUMBIA INDIANS. Wkdvs.

Suns. 2.30-6. Ada. free. ARTHUR 1EFFRESS (PICTURES), 21.

Daviea W.I. MAYfalr 7836. First London Exbbn. of Paintings by ALDO PAGLIACCI. MARLBOROUGH.

17-18, Old Bond W.I. FERNAND LEGER. Retrospective Exhibition. Daily Sat. DUTCH GRAPHIC ART.

Arts Council Exhibition. NEW BURLINfjTON GALLERIES. Old Burlington Street. W.I. Open till 15 Jan.

Closed 25-27 Dec. incl. Sat 10-6. Tue. A Thur.

10-8. Admission I-. OH AN A GALLERY. 13. Carlos Place.

W.I. XMAS Exhibition of Contemporary English and French painters. Dly. 10-6. Sat.

10-1. REDPERN GALLERY, 20. Cork Street. W.I. PLAIStRS DE L'EPOOUE 1900." Paim-roet.

Drawings and Prints. Hours 10-6. 10-1. Closes Jan. 1st.

DAVID JONES. Arts Council Exhibition. TATE WALLER Open till 30 January. Wercfys 10-6 Tues. A Tburt.

10-8). Suns. 2-6. 'oathjakin free. G.

F. WATTS. Arts Council Exhibition. TATE GALLERY. Open till 16 January.

IM Tue, Thar. 10-8). Sun. 2-6 (open Boxing Day 2-6). Admiaslon free.

WHTreCHAPEL AsTT GALLERY East End Academy 1954. Paintings. Drawings and Sculpture. Croaer to-day and Monday. Week-days 11-6: Sundays 2-6.

Admission free. Adjoins Aldgate East station. ZWEMMER GALLERY. 26. Litchfield W.C.2.

PICASSO POTTERY A original Artists' prints A lithographs. OWING TO THE REQUEST of acienjJsta, (he Exhibition of Israeli StientiBc Publications which is being held at the Consulate of Israel. 18, Manchester Square, W.I, haa been extended till 7155. Dally (including Sundays) 10. Fridays 10-1.

Saturdays closed. R. W. S- GALLERIES, 26. Conduit W.I.

Portraits by distinguished contemporary acsdemic winters of MEN OF FREE ENTERPRISE opening Tuesday. December 28th. II a.m. to 5 p.m. srRTCIlTON.

ROYAL PAVILION. The State and Private Apartments with period furniture. 8 rooms fully furnished. New restorations and exhibits. Dally 10-5 incl.

Sunday RESTAURANT S. F. GRILL (esuL '1925) furious pre-war for excellent Scotch steak and erilh now fume nututemeot. same butcbcr) gladly present the menu we've been waiting for and the same good flervice. 6, Deo rain Piccadilly Circus (1st Lett on boanesoury Avenue j.

rsoon-i i p.m, ERNA LOW wishes all her friends and mem bers of her holidays in Britain and Abroad Hanmr Christmas and a oleasant New Year. ERNA LOW TRAVEL SERVICE. 47. OH Brompton Road, London S.W.7. KENstngton 091 1 A 9ZZ36.

MASSAGE ft ELECTROTHERAPY. Fully qualified Blind Chartered Physiotherapists available in London and Provinces. Apply under Medical Direction. Agency Secretary. A.rfC.P., 8, Hirtde W.I.

(Wclbeck 3762.) COMPLETELY BEDRIDDEN yet too poor to buy a wireless set. Young woman ot zv. naralvsed from hins down, cared for bv aged mother, also housebound. (Case 2870.) The sole aim ol the Wire ess tor Ibe Bed ridden Society is to provide free wireless facilities for such tragic cases. Funds arc urgently needed for "the Society's nation-wide artivines The Wireless lor the Bedridden Society.

Desk 5. 55a Wclbeck Street, London, (Kcr. 4cr Nal. Ail. Act.

1948.) CANCER PATIENT (542038). O.A.P. (71). with wife but no family, needs grant for nourishing foods, fuet. warm clothes, blankets and rem of radio.

Please heln us to care for -'him (alo thousands of other sad cases). Jewellery wel corned. National Society for Cancer Relief, Dept. Al. 47.

Victoria Streetr S.W.I. DURING REBUILDING of MERCER'S HALL in Cheapsidc the new address of the City Jewel lers. H1CKLENTON A PHILLIPS. Is Imperial Parade. Ludgatc CIrcuv E.C.4.

(CEN 2743.) SELLING YOUR FUR COAT Then bring nr c-wt if for a fair rtflr InmilrtM Invited Curwen. Dept O.l 7a. Melcombe Baker Street. Londjn. (EM over 30 years.

ABBATT TOYS 1-22 Valuable loys and materials for play. Of interest to all parents and teachers. Persons! shoppers only. 94. Wirapole -London.

W.I. DOWN AND FEATHERS fDurihed) In one. pound bags. Ideal for topping-up cushions, pillows, quilts, sleeping bags. Sold by maoy furnishers and drapers write for address of nearest stockist to Fogartys.

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IS IT YOUR TSON OR DAUGHTER'S" birthday to-day? If so. will you help to make it a happier birthday for some less fortunate litvle boy or sir! by'sendtns a donation to the vr l- nrr lyi.tnrv Umw lt-M- scr London. YOGHOURT 'made easily and cheaplj 'at home. I Valacta Dept. S.O., Shipley.

Yorkshire. 1955 BOOKS from the U.S.S.R. Authors will include TOLSTOY GORKY PUSHKIN ULANOVA FILATOV PUax send for our new illustrated catalogue BOOKS from the U.S.S.R. free of charge from COLLET'S BOOKSHOPS 44-45 Museum London, W.C.I JOHN SI snNHDrALK CawaavScosal EVEattMAN. Leading, figures QUri5tan4j E.

M. F0RSTER HAYTj'not kept up with this year's or even1 with the reviews of them, and one: prevalent type ot book namely, tne memoirs of1 eminent persons re leased by. ibemselves I find difficult 1 So I recommend out of great inadequacy A novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding (Faber): School boys air-wrecked on a coral island. Begins like a Ballantyne but grimly otherwise. Beautifully written, tragic: and orovoca- tive of thought for grown-ups.

roems. mrJ44n uatRJog, ty F. T. Prince (Fortune Press). Often inspired by Michelangelo.

Title-poem relates to one of his cartoons. Monologue by him in bid age. Noble, compassionate, and again beautifully written. Art Book. The Art of India, bv Stella Kramnscn (fnaidon Press).

Best book on the subject. Those who look and those who learn both catered -tor: Nearly two hundred 'fine illustrations and: an erudite introduction. HUGH CASS0N AM ashamed to confess that I have read fewer than a score of 1 'iooks this year, and most of these by chance rather than by choice. (How different perhaps or-' per- haps not? would be a list of the three books one would have liked to have read in 19540 Biographical Dictionarr of English Architects, 160-184, by HM. Colvin (Murray).

I doubt if even Dr. Pevsner' has read' right through this magnificent book, but there must be many like myself who have enjoyed Delight." The Lying Days, by Nadine Gordimer (Gollancz). Certainly the nest ot tne tnree novels 1 nave Tead this year, though it is difficult to know how much of one's enjoy- of any book is increased by the fact, that one has 5 recently 1 visited the country (in this' "case South Africa) in which' the -story is set. A. Few.

Late Chryganthemams, John Betjeman's new collection of poems (Murray). Critics bave 'missed these as below strength, but I enjoyed them all and there "are at least-two in the collection which are surely among the best he has ever written. JOHN GIELGUD 'THE three most interesting books I have read this year are as follows The First Night of Twelfth Night, by Leslie Hotson (Hart- Davis). This has the fascination of a detective story combined with 1 a striking reconstruction of Shake- speare's England, A Stranger to Myself. by.

JSeymour Shubin (Benn). A breathtaking murder 1 story I found impossible to put down until. I had finished it. The Wilder Shores of Love, by Lesley Blanch (Murray). The best kind of biography cum travel book I have read for a long time: MICHAEL TIPPETT "EOR circumstantial reasons I have read less this last year i and.

the choice, of the interesting books has often' been accidental and involuntary. 1 A voluntary choice was Richard Ellmann's The Identity of Yeats (Macmillan), because, this has a wealth of fascinating material' on 1 Yeats's-poetic method and prints for the first titpe some lovely if unfinished reader who is already moved, as I am, by the often vehement music of Yeats's poetry will find that he can render -that music better after reading this book. An' involuntary choice 'was 1 a book with the terrifying title of The Psych oanalystg of Artistic Vision and Hearing, by Anton (Routledge). It asks the question what, when we are perceiving and enjoying form and order in art, do we in fact perceive and enjoy. Or.

to turn in' the circle further, what do we think we per- i ceive and enjoy (or- reject)." I found in this" remarkable Inflammatory Two hams and 400 cigarettes-all that lay between Miss Gertrude Stein, fleeing the flames of the 'Frisco earthquake aftermath in '06, and what could be worse than death seemed ample emergency rations. For thus one might not only exist: one might be able to be hospitable." So in 1940 the German advance on Bellay suggested similar provisioning: From The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book i (Michael Joseph, 21s.) one may learn the sequel" to this, and many another secret of the" good life." La Belle Cuisine? It was in the famous eau-de-vie de marc of Bellay that the two raw occupation hams incurably vast, were finally simmered to perfection. Under the tutelage of luxury- and deprivation, entre deux guerres. these inseparable friends mastered' the art of cooking.

And here; where truffles spilli thick as quarts of cream, recipes' vie with reminiscence, all offered with gravity, grace and precision. From Mirrorecf Eggs a la Brahan to COUNTHY LIFE NEW BOOKS Early Conversation Pictures Stlpk Eimtrit. 95 itottfrapha. 42s. Bones of Renown VStalJa.ValW IS shunrish 10a.d.

Mloii Rysbraek Senlptor M. I. M-ftwyvcBka. 41a. TrnifRenwiiabranoes ntUf Tmt.

ax oowejryas. zm. Parjerweights and Other Glass Cariosities 100 IS: -fl jl. juuiicy arts its assiu TY Brandy Bottles -fi EillmallaKU. iccararinas.

10s. 6d. Tl ocorasn Mr Crountry Houses amrl Gartxeris Opeo to the Public jann rirminf. iou pnoiograpns. im.

I his horizbnr especially in this last -I volume, in which the intervention of the Mongols extends the field of me World's debaier'eastwardi to the Great" Wall of China and He: sees that. the Crusades were- a and that the Eastern Oiristians were the victims: Science and OviUntion in China, Vol, -J, Sections 1-7, by Joseph Needham ((Cambridge University Press). This is the exciting first instalment of-, a comprehensive work, planned to. run to seven volumes. The author has set himself- to interpret the Chinese mind in Western terms, and he is ner- haps unique among living scholars in possessing' the necessary combination of qualifications for this formidable iindentandihg, The practical' importance Dr.

Needham's work is as great as its intellectual interest It is a Western 1 act; of recognition on a higher plane than the diplomatic one. ANGUS WILSON ()UT of the large number of hovels I have read this-' year Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) alone is considerable. If has mdividuality of language -and construction without being conventionally experimental it has great range and depth of social content without being selfconsciously epic." The Novels of the Eighteen by Kathleen Tillotson (Oxford University Press), is an important book of criticism. Mrs. Tillotson is quite unusual among modern literary critics: she is.

serious without falling into turgid metaphysics, and entertaining without falling into vapid belle-lettrism My third1- choice is Eatex, by Nikolaus Pevsner (Penguin). Dr. Pevsner must make everyone disagree with him sometimes, but this is only because he encompasses so many aspects England's archi-. tecture. His guide to Essex, my second favourite of England's counties, has given me more pleasure than, any other book this year: A.

J. AYER lily first choice is The Life of 111 John Stuart MOl, by Michael St John Packe (Seeker and Warburg), my enjoyment of which depended partly on my own admiration tor Mill and- interest in his work. Mr. Packe is a little weak on Mill's philosophy, but he has given an excellent portrait of the man and the society in which he moved. Dylan Thomas's Quite Early One Monilng (Dent), a collection of "broadcast talks," ii cleativ a less imnortant work than his "Under Milk-Wood" but it gave me more pleasure to read.

My third choice is Tne Invisible Writing (Hamish Hamilton and Collins), the second volume of Arthur Koestler's autobiography, which I thougnt as good as any' Among other books which I en-, joyed or admired were Philip Magnus's Life of Gladstone (Murray), Philip Toynbee's Friendg Apart (MacGibbon and Kee), and the first volume of Joseph Need-ham's Science and Civilisation in China (Cambridge), the prolegomenon to what is evidently going to be a major work of scholarship. GROUCHO MARX WISH I could help you. Un-- fortunately I have so many irons in the fire at the moment that there is practically no fire. i Just to teach you not to send me any more communications of this sort, VI am sending you my life story written by my son. A Merry Christmas to you all hands across the sea, God save the Queen, 10, Downing-street, and all that sort of thing.

Groucho, by Arthur Marx (Gollancz). bad poets laureate indeed, men such as Thomas Shadwell, Nahum Tate, Laurence Eusden and Henry James Pye. Yet Mr. Hopkins produces a brandy-like glow when he writes about them, painting accurate pictures of their struggles and misfortunes to such a degree that they almost turn in their greasy wigs to stare at us. The status of the poet laureate haa changed in the course of 286 and this careful book shows its ups and downs and how much or little could be made of the post by the personality of the poet concerned.

Mr. Hopkins is fair and searching, takes no sides in the eighteenth-century bickerings and gives us one or two delightful stories of Wordsworth, Tennyson and Alfred Austin. The whole book is a trifle sad, however, for it 'bears out the rather safe supposition that poets laureate, write their best when not writing officially when they are not, in fact, grinding out the verse they feel is demanded of them. D. S.

STONEHAM Big Stuff The maat thnlling exploits of the gnat African lig game fctuAen- of Caasl 1 leaetUs tsU by a bantu teratatm-atist. Author in Wild Africa." (John Long.) UlUaa. 13a. M. NAR6ARET HUGHES All Our Tomorrows A fast ottJ srf eanaraWaMe Weadtli anal yawer.

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Sally Rogers, Rose Hill in Laurier Lister's AIRS ON A SHOESTRING. 2nd year. ST. JAMES'S (Whi 3903). 7.30.

Tmrw. A S. 230. Portman, Margaret Leiahton in SEPARATE TABLES by Terence Ratllfan. ST.

MARTIN'S. Tern 1443. Ev. 8. Tomor.

Sat 2,30. Jam GRafaR Ruatilt the Pteasare. ST, MARTIN'S. COV 0995. From Dec 28.

2 A 4.30 (not The I3oieMli Papveti. SAVILLE. Evga. 7.30. Mats.

Boxg. Day A Sau 2.30. Elsie A Doris Walexa. EuSabeth Welch. Desmond Walter-EUia.

Pan? tha Piprr. Revue. SAVOY. 7.45. Sat.

5.30, 8.30. Weds. 2.45 Boxing Day 2.45 Margaret LOCKWOOD in Agatha CHRISTIE'S SPIDER'S WEB. SCALA. MUS 5731.

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SALAD DAYS. VICTORIA PALACE. Vic 1317. 6.15. 8.45.

THE CRAZY GANG. Nervo A Knox. Bud Flanagan. Naughton A Gold. Jokers WBd.

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3. 7 and Sats. 1.45. 4.45 A 7.45 (other days 2.30. 7J0).

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I Privileged Nlrttrnare (Weidenfeld and Nicolson), -by Romilly "and Michael Alexander one of the very best war books I have come I ARNOLD TOYNBEE t'pHE three books, which have impressed me most this year are Rendall of Winchester, by J. D'E. Firth (Oxford University Press). A biography that is candid and searching without being depreciatory or supercilious. Canon has set a model for other biographers.

has left' them no. excuse for pretending that "debunking" is the alternative to whitewashing:" A History of the Crusade, Vol. Ill, by Steven Ruhciman (Cambridge University Press). This volume "completes a fine piece historical work on the grand scale. Two; of the author's many quali- fications are his inside knowledge Shorter Notices -TUPPING winners for the Im-mortality Stakes is a popular pastime but not strictly an honest one, (Where's the post?) Cry "Mr.

Snooks a coming Shakespeare please advertisers and public I say, a coming Shakespeare, whiz-ho and about time Harmless enough, no after- effects, merely a waste of that short-supply commodity space. Better a book should come in the spirit of Browning'siEurydice No past is mine, no future, look on me." Very well, let us look on 'em. Miss Elspeth Huxley in A Thing to Love CChatto and Windus, 12s. fid.) has Mau Mau for her problem. The white settlers love "our" Kenya, build roads, hospitals, buy farms and animals.

The black people also love our Kenya, some wish the whites to blazes, but the old chieftain likes them because he likes law and order. Soon the Mau Mau begin slicing the living animals, torturing and murdering and enforcing the fearful oath eating ceremony. Their leader is an educated Kikuyu who first had high honourable hopes but murder has excited him, cruelty brings power. Miss Huxley makes her people true human.beings played upon by emotions that often grow darkest as happens with the Kikuyu leader when disingenuously rationalised. Not literature perhaps, but a fair account, well informed aiid vivid.

The love story in this book is not very good. More than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon (Gollancz, 12s. is American and far'from plain sailing. The author has the Gestalt idea of making six people into one complete and quite new type of human being. There is a mongoloid baby who can answer any question telepathically.

there is the grown-up idiot who invents an anti-gravity device, there is the child lanie and her two little friends, black twins, who can hisk through the air and wish objects about; there" is Gerry the run-away, who with Baby's help becomes evilly powerful until laziness sets in. He is finally saved by the nice boy Barrows and Janie, now grown up. There is a mixture of sadism, mania, npgic. engineering and psychiatry in i book which makes it seem very c.jver. But in the end we are told we should be good and join up with the great departed, including Henrv Ford.

This author has fine visual gifts. The flying twins and the old sex maniac locked Magnificent Obsession by LLOYD C. DOUGLAS Author of The Robe An inspiring message of deep spiritual significance lies behind this dnnuttJe cijes save biw sold. byJ.X.ILTOKlEN This entrancing epic-romance was- greeted with a paean of praise from the literary critics. The second volume, The Two Towers, is now published.

vBoth volumes are being reprinted. 21 1. each. ALLEN UNWIN for Beginners BRODERMAN a McPARTUN A mocb aaaded book of bade standard matrootioa. Many crlairama at photoa.

106 100 Master Games of Modern Chess TARTAKOWER ft da MONT An antholoay of snodcra matter nmaa, -moatly post-srar ray fully annotalatT 20- Reti's Best Games of Chess H. GOLOMBEK His beat (una pnaanted and anootaXed tha teadrag student of his play. 13- FOR BOYS AND GIRLS The Book of Ralf PHILLIS GARRARD Green Peas 'i la Good Wife, these arc dishes of character. Not all are eccentric or 'even extravagant The Hashish' Fudge and the Garlic Icecream (a good dressing) are' from friends. And Salad Bagration, of course, is respectably The salad of lemons, boiled, comes, with the" from the pen of Sir Francis Rose.

Safe enough in. a -well-kept- kitchen," it will be clear that this is a dangerous book to leave lying around unattended, wherever undisciplined appetites are liable.to be inflamed. H. G. P.

Official Poets: Mr. Kenneth Hopkins has a considerable gift for biography. Fifteen excellently potted lives of The Poets Laureate (Bod-ley Head, together with a selection from their official poems, make up a book which is scholarly and gently humorous. After Dryden there were some very fa Your book tokens will buy: 16s I And All the Trumoets DONALD SMITH Whiz: 850 on your Radio Dial MARION TAYLOR I Ss I Candlelight in Avalori AUGUSTUS MUIR The Running of the Salmon taverner BARRINGTON BROWNE I2s6d Nefertiti Lived Here MARY CHUBB Johannesburg Friday ALBERT SEGAL Marxism Present N. CAREW HUNT 10s 6d I Death on the Lawn JOHN RHODE Murder Poor Jenny nAKuOT NcVILLb EOFFREY BLE! MftMasie white nS, fM'ffta1 A fina adventure story of tbe Middle Ana.

For ass 10 op. King VmUtm't College Ide of Man GENERAL KNOWLEDGE PAPERS 1905-1953 Over 6,000 questions and answers 76 net SM CRESSET PRESS WM rnw aarnir uain, aWr wrr Ufa) KESH AND BL0OD Michael Swan The best novel to have attBeared in- English for many, many months a fresh, terrible beauty, its characters haunting USE ififargrnfltnff. wai.rw iwtvi.m. translation is impeccable ti ever." (I0t. 6d.

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