19 JULY 1930, Page 39

REDHEAP. By Norman Lindsay. (Faber and Faber.

6d.)—This story of adolescence in a small Australian town is not for every reader. Many Will he repelled by certain of its details, if not by the author's premises. Mr. Lindsay is not yet sure of his new medium, especially in the early chapters. He is too anxious to score ; the writing is often flamboyant, over-emphatic, and facetious. Yet this is a very remarkable novel, alive with many kinds of beauty, and those who have strong stomachs are recommended not to miss it. Once he is fairly started Mr. Lindsay writes with admirable vigour and enjoyment. All his senses are active ; he views the human comedy with understanding, tolerance, and a ferocious good-humour. Many of the scenes and characters in Redheap are unforgettable. The old men, in particular, arc brilliantly drawn. The whole book is like a hot summer's night in the country near a town—with all which that comparison may suggest to the imagination. It will be violently liked and dis- liked, for it is an honest, vital, sensuous piece of work, informed throughout with a quality uncomfortably near to genius.