- TYROLEAlsr . JUNE'
By Nina Murdoch
Miss Nina Murdoch, who is an Australian journalist and writer- of travel books, here recounts a stuiuner holiday spent in the Austrian Tyrol. It was not an unusual holiday, and Tyrolean June (Harrap, 8s. 6d.) will be read mainly as a guide for visitors to the Tyrol. Miss Murdoch seems to have covered the ground thoroughly and the prospective tourist will find here all the information he needs for planning a comprehensive itinerary. She describes the principal towns —Innsbruck and Kitzbuhel (since the visit of the King the most fashionable centre)—and- the villages in the valleys of the Inn, the Ziller and the Stubai, and on the Achensee. History, legend, notes on peasant customs, and all the innu- merable scraps of information dear to the heart of the tourist are adequately supplied, and the excellent photographs by Dr. Adalbert Defner of Innsbruck should whet the appetite of potential visitors. The Thiersee Passion play, described in detail, will, no doubt, soon lose much of its simple charm when its commercial value is exploited, but at the moment it is one of the few examples of folk- drama in Europe unspoilt by commercialism.. It is ldnfor- tunate that Miss Murdoch has allowed her enthusiasm to run away with her pen. Her style is dreadfully ornate and gushing and she uses her adjectives with liberality rather than discretion, so that one is rushed breathlessly from scene to scene, wishing that a little more had been left - to the imagination.
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