23 SEPTEMBER 1966, page 22

The Larkin Tone

The North Ship. By Philip Larkin. (Faber, 15s.) I SUPPOSE that, as a general rule, few first volumes of verse stand up in their own right, self-assertive, valuable, memorable.......

Meeting Point

Squalltalk and mizzle-talk. We dissolve in a weather of words: remaining, our Parchment and deadwood. Talkative Weather of the window writes More musical music, And its cool......

The Twenty Years War

Vietnam Witness 1953-1966. By Bernard B. Fall. (Pall Mall Press, 50s.) Vietnam Between Two Truces. By Jean Lacouture. (Secker and Warburg, 35s;) Reporting South-East Asia. By......