17 DECEMBER 1983, Page 53

John Stewart Collis

I would choose Bernard Shaw and Lord Alfred Douglas: A Correspondence (Mur- ray) as the best recent book. There is such a parade of character in it — the always riveting Frank Harris, and the great Oscar Wilde, ruined by a thing of beauty that was a curse for ever. And, above all, there is Bernard Shaw, whose main characteristic which will ensure his immortality was his character.

Yet Being Someone Other by Colonel Van der Post (Hogarth) is an inevitable choice. He can describe certain kinds of scenes with a clarity that also conveys spiritual power. He is not a born writer and he often falters; nor is he really a sage, but he is one of the greatest and strangest men of action of our time.

As for the 'worst' book, I'd rather leave bad alone.