When Hitler Rides Again

The co-operative effort of Dymphna Cusack and Florence James in Come in Spinner produced, certainly, the best war novel of Australia and, probably, the best novel of Sydney life, ever. But it set a standard that Miss Cusack, in going it alone, has never equalled since.

WHAT happened to Florence James after that successful literary partnership is not generally known, and while Ellen Dymphna Cusack rates about 2 inches in the Australian Who’s Who, of James there is not a line.

Dymphna Cusack began writing in the 1930’s and her effort with Florence James was not her only joint literary enterprise; twice pre viously she had collaborated with another famous Australian woman writer, Miles Franklin—a pretty difficult feat for both, one should imagine, although there was un doubtedly the bond of shared fun damental beliefs.

Miss Cusack’s first novel, Jung frau, was published in 1936. Since then she has produced about seven other novels, a similar number of plays and, a couple of years ago, a non-fiction work called Chinese Women Speak.

This was based on personal inter views Miss Cusack had with women in Communist China and although she tried very hard to maintain a facade of being herself uncommitted, the whole thing was so obviously knocked out on a rose-coloured type

writer, it becomes merely tedious.

The singular thing about this par ticular book was its total lack of humour—the sum total of which would be to persuade the average reader that it is far better to be reactionary and happy than politi cally-aware and miserable.

Dymphna Cusack is a direct de scendant of early Australian writers vyho traditionally believed that the literary art was inescapably linked with left-wing politics. Most of her novels and plays have a “message” of some sort, and Heatwave in Ber lin, just published, is based on neo- Nazism as it exists—or she thinks it exists—in Berlin and Germany to day.

This is the story of Joy, a young Australian who married a German migrant and persuaded him to take her to West Berlin to visit his family.

The von Muhlers she finds living in patriarchial splendour; later she learns that they had backed Hitler and that her brother-in-law was a convicted war criminal, released by the misguided Americans after he had served only a few years of his 25 years sentence.

But worse than this discovery of

the past is the realisation that the von Muhlers have regained all the power and influence they had durinc the Third Reich and have preservee intact all the arrogance, racial be liefs and Prussian habits inbuilt ove generations.

Taken into smoke-filled cellan she finds shaven-headed youthl clinking glasses over Nazi toasts; am in the poor, weed-grown bombee portion of the Western zone, learm at first hand of what went on in tlx concentration camps with their ga ovens; and the war-time workshop; with their slave labour.

And, as a revelation, she learn too, that forked tails and horns an not regulation in the Eastern Zone and that much of what she has be lieved about the East is just re actionary propaganda.

It takes a considerable time fee all these things to penetrate her Aus tralian naivety, but when it does she does the only sensible thing—cok lects husband and child and beat it back to Sydney.

Apart from taking the story at it face value—as a theme for a nove —it is doubtful what we can dl about Dymphna Cusack’s message that Hitlerism is not dead. As i would be a major miracle if the fun damentals that produced the Nazi changed in a generation, there prob) ably is much in what she says. Non© theless, we are pretty sure that, i she really gave her mind to the tasW she could produce just as vivid 1 novel about the horrors of Corm munism and the perils of banishmem to the Siberian salt mines. (HEATWAVE IN BERLIN. Publishes by Wm. Heinemann Ltd. 18/9.)

Better Look—Your

Population's Showing!

To the ever-growing amount oc Pacific literature, the Geography De> partment of Victoria University r Wellington, NZ, has added another journal. It is called “Pacific View t point”, but its editorial board intends to concern itself with the “significant problems” of Asian areas as muck as with those of Australasia and thi Pacific Islands.

THE issue that has been sent foe our notice is Number 2 oo Volume 1, datelined September 1960. This was received in Max 1961. We don’t, therefore, knovr whether it is running seven monthri behind schedule or whether it jus came on that old Slow Boat from China. In any event, some of thtr articles are that much out of date

; by R. F. Watters called Fiji: Blueprint for Development, dis ;es at some length the Burns Re (or officially, Report of the amission of Enquiry into the ural Resources and Population ids of the Colony of Fiji, 1959). e this article was written, the is plan has been all but sunk out a trace although as a blue t it no doubt is occupying some on-hole, somewhere, milarly, the figures quoted in an le on the economic development Netherlands New Guinea, by lan , seem to be years out of date )t that there has been any great ge in the economy of that terri which is kept afloat by the ts given by the Netherlands le of the main articles in this is by H. Belshaw, Emeritus essor of Economics at Victoria ;ersity, whose writings on the ic are well known to readers of led journals. Professor Bel ’s survey is called Some Pacific d Problems and here he con himself almost entirely to those :onomic development and popu i growth. (The equally impor problem of political develop is outside the scope of a geo lical journal anyway, and he ics on it only briefly.) ie editorial board feels that this :he most important article on subject that has yet appeared”. maybe—although journalists, ess executives, Members of lative Councils and Assemblies, everyone, brown, white or He, in any of the Pacific terri >, who is capable of banging thoughts together has been pro ig noises on the subject for some time. Most of them have ge, vested interest in getting a on to these allied problems— o far without success, a nutshell, the position is that ; people in the islands continue 2ed at current (and prospective) they are going to be mighty put to it to feed themselves, less to export in order to ice income to continue to live • manner to which some of them become accustomed.

Tessor Belshaw has a few sug ns to make, but in the overall e he appears to take a dim of prospects. ific Viewpoint has two issues year. Annual subscription is ; or 10/-NZ, per copy, posted, spondence should be addressed icific Viewpoint, PO Box 196, igton, NZ.