Book Reviews

DOG WATCH: The 10th annual number of this little publication has its usual quota of stories, articles and photographs designed for all those interested in the sea and the ships that sail thereon.

Compiling the annual is the yearly job of the Shinlovers’ Society of Victoria, working on behalf of all the Shiplovers’

Societies of Australia—there is one in every State except Queensland. The first Dog Watch came out in 1943 and since has made many friends as well as record ing tales and lore of the sea that other wise would be lost.

The 11)53 Annual is priced at 4/6. All inquiries to Box 1169K, GPO, Melbourne, Victoria.

Beyond Blue Hills, By Gwen

Meredith. This author’s interminable radio serials called “Blue Hills” and “The Lawsons,” broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission twice daily, have become something of a sacred rite among thousands of Australians at home and in the Islands. When a large number of these episodes—they now run into thousands—are put into book form, one can scarcely be expected to regard it as a serious piece of writing, although if the daily ABC dose can be dismissed from mind entirely, the present book contain ing the Ternnaboolla story is FAQ enter tainment.

Meredith characterisation is excellent — hence the popularity of the serials—with the possible exception of the too, too, sweet Emmie and Jenny—and the scene is the Australian outback without any attempt to glamorise.

Mainly, it is the love story of Sally Howard and Anderson Roberts—the latter with a blot on his escutcheon in the shape of an Australian aborigine grandmother.

Most of the difficulties are ironed out satisfactorily in the end, but in a country sensitive on the point of colour, Anderson’s parentage gives rise to any number of “incidents.”

To sum up: It is much easier on the nervous system to absorb the Blue Hills marathon by medium of the printed word in a few hours than for it to be served up in snippets in 1,001 daily episodes.

Published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Australian Price, 15/6.