Fiction

- LETTERS IN CANADA: 1947 265 j $2.00). McCan (0. W. S.), In such ·a night as this (New York, Harper; Toronto, Musson, x, 104 pp., $2.25). Macinnes (Tom), In the old of my age: a new hook of rhymes (Toronto, Ryerson, viii, 55 pp., $1.50). McNaughton (H. P.)·, Shadow lights of Shamshuipo': a rhyming picture of the yesteryears (Winnipeg, the author, 200 Nassau St., 1945, vi, 74 pp., $1.00). Mlddleton (Clara and J. E.), Green fields afar: memories of Alberta days (Toronto, Ryerson, vi, 61 pp., $1.50). Milli~an (J. L.), Siluria and other poems (Toronto, Ryerson for the ·author, 600 Bay St., vi, 24 pp., $1.00). Moody (I. H.), Always the bubbles break (Toronto, Macmillan, viii, 39 pp., $1.50). · Nichols (Ruby), Songs from then and now (Ryerson poetry chap-books; Toronto, Ryerson, 7 pp., SOc.). Nixon (J. E.), Selected poerr:is (Toronto, Crucible Press, 1-946, 46 pp., $1.00). Perry (M. E.),-Song in the silence, and other poems (Ryerson po~try chap-books; Toronto, Ryerson, 16 pp., 75c.). Pratt (E. J.), Behind the log; drawings by GRANT MAcDONALD (Toronto, Macmillan: xvi, 47 pp.,' $2.00); Ten selected poems, with notes (Toronto, Macmillan, xii, 149 pp., $1.25). Ralph (Nathan), Coffee and bitters (Toronto, Macmillan, x, 37 pp., $1.50). Saskatchewan Poetry Society, The Saskatchewan- poetry book, 1947.48 (Regina, the Society, c/o the Seer., Mrs. Dorothy Morrison, 2067'Rose St., 39 pp.). Saturday Night, Poems for the interim: a selection of twenty~four poems by nineteen Canadian authors published during 1945-46 in "Saturday Night" (Toronto, Satzerday Night, 1946, 12 1, 50c.). Souster (Raymond), Go to sleep, world: poems (Toronto, Ryerson, viii, 5_9 pp., $2.00). . Sutherland (John) ed., Other ' Canadians: anthology of the new poetry in Canada 1940-1946 (Montreal, First Statement, 4432 St. Denis St., ii, 113 pp., $1.75). Tooth (Arthur), Fli-ght's end (New .York, Exposition Press, 45 pp., $2.00). \Vl:lterman (G. V.), Work unfi.ni~hed (Ottawa, Tower Books, 34 pp.). Zemke (P. H.), .Privat-e reflections; with cartoons by LEN NoRRIS (Toronto, Classic Publishing Co., 1946, 44 pp., 25c.). II. FICTION CLAUDE T. "BISSELL Of the novels that appeared during 1947, five, it seems to me, are worthy .of special consideration: two-W'ho Has Seen the Wind by W. 0. Mitchell and In Due Season by Christine van der Mark-achieve a high degree of excellence; three-Music at the Close by Edward A. McCourt, The Sealed Verdict by Lionel Shapiro, and Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilsonare pleasant departures from the mediocre. TIP'ho Has Seen the Wind is, first of all, an unsentimental and convincing record of the development of a boy between the ages of four and eleven. Some of the incidents that mark his de~elopment are familiar ones that occur inevitably in any novel about childhood; such incidents are those that spring out of minor domestic crises or that reflect the painful adjust-: ment to the routine of school. But Mr. Mitchell is not concerned primarily with the commonplace tragedies and comedies of childhood. His hero, Brian Sean MacMurray O'Connal, is in _ many respects a normal boy with a normal boy's passions and instincts, but he is also endowed with a bold·and imaginative mind that does not long remain content with the surface of things. And Mr. Mitchell lays most stress on Brian's inner development, on how he gradually and painfully emerges from a highly personal world into the light of common day. The novel begins, for instance, with an I . 266 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY account of how Brian, with startliug literalness, explores the concept of God. His later attempts to fathom. the mystery of experience are ·of a less confident and grandiose character; still he has moments of .fleeting vision when the _ chain of darkness that binds him is broken. Although "the struggle of a ·boy to understand ... the ultimate meaning of the cycle of life" is the theme that runs most steadily throughout ·the novel and is specifically singled out for emphasis in the author's preface,·it may be that, for many readers) the...