The Raft and Socrates Asks Why. By Eric Linklater. (Macmillan
4s. 6d.)
Two more conversations in the style of The Cornerstones. The first is carried on in mid-Atlantic by six survivors from a torpedoed ship: the conclusion they reach, that the British are still sound, active and enterprising, is rather spoiled by their high-flown language, which embellishes rather thin thinking In the second,
Socrates in Elysium cross-examines two late arrivals (in the presence of Voltaire, Johnson and Lincoln) on the war and peace aims of the Allies ; and Beethoven intervenes with a reminder of the peace that can be found in the heart of the conflict. Mr. Linklater has a good ear for the style of his different talkers, and he allows his American Sergeant of Marines and Scottish Piper their natural voices ; but again this conclusion seems more hoped-for than fully realised.
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