Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 12, 1977, Winnipeg, Manitoba Books i r i a if r i1 h a 5 s5, v. Reviewed by Claire Street my name is Masak by Alice French 110 pp., Winnipeg 46t Justen listen my children. and i la Tell you a Story of where i was born and where i grew up. About your ancestors and the land we lived on. About the animals and the Birds. So you can Thal is the dedication of mrs. French s Gem of a Memoir Lis ten my children so you can there s a pathos in the words a regret a dream the writer knows won t be fulfilled. For no one else can Ever see again the traditional inuit life of the Western Arctic. Even mrs. French s View and interpretation even her grasp on it is tenuous and relatively recent reach ing Back Only to the 1930s. And before thai were the generations and the centuries and All the living that by now is Only a Wisp of remembering. So canadians especially of the South have every cause to be grate Ful for this Little volume and to wish that it were bulkier. Reason too to be grateful to Mary scorer of pegu is for producing it with such care and taste. The Book is a credit to Winnipeg publishing More than a credit a Pride. When the author was Only seven and her brother Only three the two children went As boarders to an anglican Mission school in Aklavik. Their Mother had contracted tuberculosis and shortly after died in the Aklavik Hospital. That was in 1937. Four years and a whole new world later Masak Alice Smith was her anglicized Back in sum Mer whaling Camp with her own people learning to scrape skins sew mukluks and crimp whal skin with her Teeth for the soles of any heart must ache at the thought of two such Young children uprooted from a warm communal life and dropped into another communal existence the school that was kindly Alice Masak French and purposeful but not family warm. At Masak and her brother were luckier than most. Their father part Laplander part Nuil. Spoke English Well and so did his children. Thus for them there was t the additional Barrier of language. The Only personal Contact this Reader has Ever had with Young inuit was years ago when three patients from Winnipeg s old children s hos Pital were taken to see the Northern film classic Nanook. No communication was possible except smiles and nods when Candy was passed. Otherwise the round Brown faces were impassive. Even As they watched the real and familiar on the screen one Felt that the unreality of their present was Block ing their vision. The three were in a limbo of suspended action and thought. How Long would that slate last one wondered. Mrs. French makes some references to the instruction she received during her six or seven years at the school. But for some reason she keeps these on the Light Side telling of the inuit child s bewilderment Over humpty dumpty and the like. It s to be regretted that she gives few details past the Nursery rhyme stage. How did her education there influence her life How much or How Little of what she Learned proved of value to her what changes have occurred in education for the inuit and what does she think of the changes the questions Tumble out. Mrs. French write More. Tell us More. This Reader for one. Read every word of his Little Book hoping for More looking clues. It was tantalizing and that s a compliment in itself. The Black and White photographs have interest but need More exact dating. There is no Way of telling for instance whether the anglican school still exists at Aklavik or in what form. But better a Book that leaves the Reader thirsting for More than one that satisfies too glibly. This Type of Canadian Memoir becomes More valuable each year. And mrs. French and miss scorer Between them have made a Fine contribution. Insight into India two views reviewed by David Williamson Days and nights in Calcutta by Clark Blaise and Bharati 300 pp., Toronto. Doubleday ss.95. Clark Blaise is the Montreal writer and professor who has two excellent Short Story collections behind him a North american education and tribal Bustier Bharati Mii Herje is a professor and author of two novels the Tiger s daughter and wife she was born in India the United states and is now living in Montreal. She is also the wife of Clark Liaise. In 1973, their House burned Down and their car was demolished in an Accident. These events triggered their desire to take a trip to Bharati s Home land and slay there for a year. Clark wanted in understand his wife s Back i v u u i reviewed by l. H. Neatby explorers by Desmond Wilcox pp., Agincourt Methuen. In explorers Desmond Wilcox has produced a work that is tops both in attractiveness and solid Worth. His Book based on the bbl television series ten who dared traces i he careers of ten adventurers in j some instances an the author admits travellers than Origi Nal discoverers and takes us to Antarctica the arabian desert the Jungles of Central Africa the australian desert the Valley of the Orin oco. I he southwestern United states and guides us in the track of Colum bus and James Cook. In addition to copious Black and White illustrations each of the ten biographies is adorned with four pages of color photography shot in every instance in the outlandish re Gions with which the text deals. In consequence we have a Rich variety of Superb Scenic photographs whose Imprest is heightened by the drama. I and in some instances the tragedy Wilh which they Are associated. The text is in keeping Wilh the format. Or. Wilcox is informed accurate and without Bias. He awards Praise without becoming extra a Yang and fulsome. Some readers May i i ind the stories of Columbus Pizarro and Cook a Little hackneyed in the limited space accorded them they will find no such fault elsewhere. Roald Amundsen s achievement is appreciated and his character fully and fairly assessed. We Are introduced to two Lilile known victorians who were original ind courageous to a degree rare even in thai age of daredevil eccentrics. Charles Doughty professing himself a Christian conducted a research in sacred places of Muslim Arabia where no infidel had dared to go except in disguise. He encountered much danger and some ill usage but came Back alive. Even More venturesome was Mary Kings Ley. It has Long been known that in civilised society a Clever woman can cow a Man by Calm a blushing effrontery. U took miss Kingsley to demonstrate that by that Quality a woman could penetrate seventy Miles of african Jungle where no european had preceded her and with in Protection but a handful of native carriers could win the esteem and command the hospitality of the cannibals in the villages where she paused for anthropological observation. Like Doughty she ran this appalling risk not under compulsion As in the Case of Bligh s boat but out of Mere curiosity and to serve the cause of science. In portraying the horrors experienced by Jedediah Smith in the bad lands of the american Southwest and the tragedy of Burke and wills in the australian desert the author Dis plays real dramatic Power. The same May be said of Stanley s de scent of the Congo. The Many to whom the name of Alexander von Humboldt is vaguely familiar will Welcome the summary of his life and achievements. One is distressed to find a writer for the bbl confusing the words deprecation and and assigning to Amundsen the Dis covery of the Northwest passage which had been traced by British explorers throughout Twenty years before the norwegian was born. However such minor blemishes de tract nothing from the Worth of Hook which gives us such fascinating glimpses of the Topography the Worts of nature and the ways of Man in the remoter parts the Earth. Ground better and thereby enrich their marriage Bharati wanted to see if things had changed to indulge a Little in nostalgia and most to determine How much she herself had changed in the 14 years since leaving Home. They packed up what few be longings they had left and they set off Wilh their two sons Bart and Cruie. They relate their views of the experience in two separate sections Clark presenting his first. He expresses his reactions As those of a wide eyed tourist. He met the film maker a Lya Jil Kay and was dazzled by hint. He stood in Awe of the great contrast of wealth with illiteracy and poverty. He recall Calcutta s Cho Winghee Street at night no matter How Rich you Are there s always that walk to your car Down a Street that is dark Smoky and littered Wilh sleeping bodies and with the beggars who never sleep groups of Street children brew ing Tea around a fire and the occasion Al Mother propped against the Wall her babies sleeping on jute Mats at nor he was shocked by Ine squalor and the latent crime highways and most streets Are considered unsafe and it is unwise to Lake a taxi but if one does he must not let his wife step into the car first because the Driver might just drive away with her. Clark was greatly impressed by the strength of the John family Indian society s primary institution which might support an unemployed Man for most of his life simply because he is the first son. Clark Blaise is Mot effective in Point ing out the paradoxes of Indian life. For example the artist is very much a celebrity Bharati has achieved considerable Fame in her own country through novels published in the United Stales yet it is not socially accept Able for an artist to live off his coca Lively the successful Indian writer holds Down a regular Job and writes in his spare time. One novelist named r had published 1c novels by age 38, yet was forced by join family obligations to restrict his writing Lime to sunday mornings cold trip perilous passage by truce 245 pp., Don Ettta though Clark is a Fine Story Teller he is not As Good at pinpointing real peo ple s distinctive character traits As say Paul Theroux is in his chronicle of a train trip through Asia the great railway some of Clark s prose grows tedious too when he starts philosophizing instead of keeping his narrative gifts concentrated on the Many colourful vignettes. Bharati s Section is very much the woman s Point of View. She is witty and Wise when comparing the lives of former girl friends who have made it in Indian society with those of her liberated Montreal acquaintances. She finds problems in both worlds bul sees clearly that for All the Subtle prejudice she must contend Wilh in North America she can l go Home. Something is terribly terribly wrong Wilh the world 1 came from in Calcutta. What is unforgivable is the lives thai have sacrificed to notions of propriety and obedience my class is refining itself into extinction almost like the Edward wait British who were most responsible for creating it is tempting to compare Clark s prose with reviewers have already fallen into that trap treating their Book As if in were a debate. Days and nights its a Sluus is Best seen As two distinct Points of View up a country that continues Lobi As in Nichols and Complex As it eur was. The Book is Ais ii the pc Paunu St Alcmene of an intelligent couple com ing ton rips Wilh their mixed marriage and seeking to eradicate the very concept of Days and nights in Calcutta is quite fascinating but it could be greatly enhanced by a few photographs and especially a glossary. The different terms for joint family members make sorting Oul the people As difficult As it is in a russian novel. Or Dook i overs reviewed by Tom Oleson pages world of books writers and writing vol. 1 3o4 pp., Detroit Gale research co., s24. A jewish professor and family Are to be smuggled Oul of wartime France Over the pyrenees Inlo Spain. The French underground hires a Basque Shep Herd As guide. His is a lonely introverted Man who dislikes peo ple but who likes the Money. is about his efforts to gel the frail family Over the High mountains in Spile of Snow Ava Lanches bitter cold wild animals and the pursuing nazis. A routine enough plot but or. Nicolaysen gives the Story plenty of action and suspense right to the Lasi Page. . A Magazine according to Oxford is a periodical publication now usually illustrated containing contributions by various by that Defini Tion. Pages can probably be considered to be the Magazine its publishers and editors claim that it is. It is however unlike any Magazine i have Ever seen in both size and Price. It is a hardbound volume pages Long heavily illustrated and at j2-1, heavily priced. To is. The publishers says meant to be a periodical and readers May subscribe to it More volumes Are planned although no where in the Book or rather Magazine itself or the promo top notch spy novel the Winter spy by Paul Henissart 285 pp., Don Mills Musson s10.75. The publisher s Blurb equates or. Henissart s novel of nage with John be Carre s the spy who came in from the cold now considered a modern Day spy Clas sic. This May be a slight exaggeration but nonetheless or. Henis Sart s Effort is away above the Cut of the usual run of spy novels. It is. Like the Low keyed Well written and with a wealth of color detail and characterization. Robert Winter aging foreign affairs advisor to the . President is on his Way to Europe to help set up an important Summit conference in Vienna. Bul Winter is a double agent having been caught by the Kab through his weakness for women. He has however been feed ing the soviets misinformation and it has been decided that he will to eliminated which will result in wrecking the conference. A hired gunman is sent Ham Borg to do the Job and with him com of Kim card rapps pwt High in the hungarian secret police. The Job goes off As scheduled but then discovers that his Boss Anna pecs head of Avo the hungarian intelligence service has plans for his elimination As Well. So Rappaport is on the run from the Hamburg police the Cia who. Correctly suspect the worst and from his own organization. With the help of Claudia a Young actress whom he picks up on a Hamburg ferry he makes it Back to Budapest assisted now by the Cia which wants him to remove incriminating papers from Anna Pec s Safe. On the run continually Rappaport who in spite of the fact that he is a Many times murderer and torturer gets the Reader s sympathy pulls off the Job. At the last minute an ironic ghost from his bloody past brings retribution. Unlike Many spy stories his is not one to be charged through non Stop. Or. Henissart s writing do serves leisurely and appreciative and Reading and undoubtedly will it from most espionage aficionados. R. M. Tonal literature that accompanies in is there any indication of How often it will appear. At a shot however one would be Safe in assuming that it will be neither a weekly nor a monthly. The publisher of course May Call the Book anything he wants bul whatever name it goes under readers will judge it by its Quality and How Well the editors fulfil the task they have set for themselves. Pages they say is based on the belief thai the Book Loving Public has been Cut off from the world of books by a Barrier of specialized scholarly and technical Publica through this volume and its successors they Hope to open up this world again to Reading As the subtitle indicates the Magazine deals with Many Dif Ferent aspects of the world of books writing publishing illustrating collecting and the writers themselves. The Content is Stron Gly american with the emphasis on american writers american publishers and the american literary scene. Contrary to what some canadians would have us believe however this is not necessarily evil nor is it exclusive and one Hopes that future volumes will Range wider and include More articles that will give it a greater International flavor. What is contained in this vol ume is quite interesting and offers Many hours of pleasure. One of the main attractions of a Maga Zine is that it can be picked up and read for Short periods at a time and returned to again and again until All the contents have been gleaned. While pages can hardly be folded up and carried about in one s pocket it does have most of the other Good qualities of a mag Azine. Among the .13 articles Are a reminiscence of Erskine Caidwell and a profile of Joseph Keller a description of a Day at rotheby san account of How what authors write often ends up changed As edition succeeds edition adv a Fawn Larry Mcmutry and 8laisc a tidies dealing with f. Scott Fitz Gerald Hemingway Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Miller. There is also the first publication of ring Lardner s vernacular i Brello for Carmen which is Odd but amusing. Contributors include James Dickey John Gardner and Ray Bradbury. The volume itself is Large sturdy and beautifully produced if there is fault to be found with contents it is Only As mentioned before that they include More from Britain and Europe perhaps even Canada. Pages is Well Worth Reading and keeping. The Price is High but no higher than that charged for Many books these Days and there is More to be had Here than in Many of them. There is far too Little about the lives and the work of writers and the literary world available today to Ordinary readers. For people who love to read and for whom books and literature Are important pages could help to fill this Gap if the Quality of the first volume is maintained and improved in the volumes to come. Battle of wits Ransom run by Martin Dibner 255 pp., Toronto Doubleday s8.95. Or. Dibner lives in Maine and is an authority on that state. Not surprisingly he has Laid this exciting Chase novel in the Maine Woods. A psychopathic Young Man from Arizona with the help of a non too Bright local Maine Pilot. Kidnaps a Rich Man s son. The boy is intelligent self reliant in the Woods but has been kicked out of various schools for his rebellious attitude. The kidnapping goers off As planned in its initial stages but a plane crash leaves the boy and his captor stranded in the deep Woods the kidnapper s life now depends on i he boy s knowledge of the Woods and of survival. Events leading up in Tho Kidnap Ping and the Battle of wits in Tho Maine Woods make for a Good taut Story. M. Winnipeg free press saturday. Wauch 12, 1977 ;