BOOKS

Doris Lessing's short novels

bring African s

_- DORIS LESSING is a fine writ-
er whose adherence to the pro-

gressive cause must be a source
of pleasure to all who care about
decent literature.

It is from Rhodesia, where she
grew up, that the bulk of Doris
LeSsing’s literary material has so
far emanated.

No one has written better of
the life and attitudes of the Euro-
pean settlers in Africa and the

_ first—and_ slightest—of her Five
Short Novels is. a bitter, ironic

cymedy about these people. Wit-

ty, compassionate..and incisive, it
has the quality of a short story
rather than the more solid sig-
nificance of a short novel.

“The other four short novels
‘are more ambitious. Two of them
seem to me magnificently suc-
cessful—“The Antheap,” the tale
‘of the growing friendship of a
white boy and a half-caste, and
' “Hunger,” about a young African
from the Reserve faced with the
excitement and the horror of the
white man’s city.

__What is perhaps most remark-
able about “The Antheap” is its
restraint. It ends at the moment
when the two boys achieve their
first great victory against the
powers that be. But the profound-
est, hardest struggles lie ahead,

See uh

Coming to Canada

Elizabeth Chavdar (above) of
Kiev State Academy of Opera, is
one of the Soviet artists reported
to be coming to this country when
Ottawa grants visas.

and the sense one has of the
perilousness of their future and
of their ability to face the perils
is most moving and invigorating.

As for “Hunger,” it has behind
it a realistic compassion, a humor

NEW PAMPHLET ON SOVIET BALLET

Why are Soviet dancers good?

Ulanova's writings give answer

‘THE BRILLIANT success’ ‘of
‘ the Soviet ballet and folk dancers
who have visited Britain and oth-
er countries over the past year
has posed the question: Why are
‘Soviet dancers so good?

A great deal of the answer is
given by the great- ballerina
-Ulanova herself in a pamphlet
just published in Britain’ by the
‘Society for Cultural Relations,

fs HUB HUMOR

“Sheriff, you've just got
to get glasses!”
That's just where your money
goes when you pay extra for

credit. At THE HUB its abso-
lutely free. Spring suits and
furnishings in ali the new styles
and’ shades. :

Ulanova on Soviet Ballet, edited
and with an introduction by Peter
Brinson.

In brief, one might sum up the
matter by saying: They are good
because they think.

And a prime example of this is
Ulanova herself. Writing of such

quality from -a dancer is some-.

thing new in Western experience.
Other contributors to the pam-
phlet are Igor Moiseyev, organ-

izer of the greatest folk-dancing:

ensemble in the world, and Rost-
islav Zakharov, of the Bolshoi
Theatre, Moscow. . ;
The high quality of their ar-
ticles is emphasized by A. H.
Franks, assistant editor of a Brit-
ish journal, the Dancing Times,
in a foreword. He describes them
and Ulanova as “brilliant and
deep-thinking” and the articles

as “the most important writings

of their kind to come out of post-
war Russia.”

The fact is, in the Soviet Union,
dancers and other workers in the

\ profession—choreographers, pro-

ducers, musicians—are interested
not only in their art but in
people.

In a criticism of the Bolshoi
ballet organization, Moiseyev says
of the choreographers:

“Instead of considering ballet

' from the point of view of life,

they have been considering life

from the point of view of bal-

let.”
Tf such a criticism can be made

“Everything in Flowers”
FROM...
EARL SYKES

56 E. Hastings St. PA. 3855
VANCOUVER, B.C.

cene fo life

and an ultimate human confi-
dence that make it a story not
easy fo forget. It seems to me
a great advance not only on the
sentimentality of Cry the Beloved
Country, but on Joyce Cary’s
Mister Johnson and Doris Less-
ing’s own earlier work.

The story “The Other Woman,”
set in working-class London, is a
new departure for Miss Lessing
and a very interesting one. It is
full of acute observations, and
captures a good deal of the tone
of working-class talk. But Doris
Lessing, though she is moving
toward socialist realism, has not
quite succeeded here in break-
ing through from honest, natural-
istic writing to a more fully typi-
cal revelation of working-class
life.

I recommend these short novels
most strongly. They are the work
of a real writer, of great per-
ception, intelligence and _ vigor,

whom one judges by the very
highest standards.

Doris Lessing has, I am con-
vinced, the power to make a con-
tribution of the highest order
to the literature of our day. —
ARNOLD KETTLE.

of the Bolshoi (Zakharov’s reply
is given), what could one say of
Sadler’s Wells?

The pamphlet has reportedly
been read with great interest by.
leading figures at Sadler’s Wells:
it can do them nothing but good
—whether they accept the main
argument or not. :

This argument is quite simple.
As Ulanova puts it: -

“*. . it is impossible to imag-
ine any creative work being done
without the artist participating
in the life of society, in the life
of his or her people.”

In one of her articles she urges
Soviet ballet companies to find
more themes based upon real
things that happen in life—extra-
ordinary things or day-to-day
things—things that have mean-
ing for a large popular audience.

This does not rule out the great
classics, such as Swan Lake. In-
deed, Ulanova writes a brilliant
analysis of a new Soviet produc-
tion.of this ballet in which much
discarded material has been re-
stored. From the purely artistic

point of view this is the finest

essay in the pamphlet.

One of Ulanova’s points: The
old snob view of a ballet was
that the less it could’ be under-
stood the more perfect it was.
Her view is that the more pro-
found and understandable the
ballet the better is it likely to be
both as regards form, or tech-
nique, and content.

These dancers and _ thinkers
have come down on the side of
the audience. Ballet is a popular,
not an exclusive art. In the So-
viet Union its growth has been
tremendous.

So too, it could be in Canada.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE — APRIL 9, 1954 — PAGE 8