11 JANUARY 1963, page 21

When Is A Novel?

Afterthought : Pieces about Writing. By Elizabeth Bowen. (Longmans, 30s.) SEARCHING, in Aspects of the Novel, for Some all-embracing definition of the form, the nearest thing E.......

Man Under Stress

They Survived. By Wilfrid Noyce. (Heine- mann, 25s.) MAN'S capacity for endurance is a subject found in all kinds of literature; it is, I suppose, the real theme of all stories......