Letters + Bits

From Rananim June 1995, Vol 3, No 2

Letters: May I congratulate you on the sharp interest and engaging presentation of the current issue of Rananim. Like Lawrence himself the articles were highly thought provoking. I was for instance moved to go back to Michael Cathcart's Defending the National Tuckshop. He seems to accept the Darroch thesis unreservedly- but fails as far as I could judge to come up with any corroborative evidence of his own. What a stirrer Lawrence was! More than seventy years on he still agitates the phlegmatic Australian psyche or some Australians at least. I have lent this issue to one very interested reader (our son Axel Clark) and photocopied it in toto for another. - Dymphna Clark ''Thank you very much for your great kindness...I corresponded with Miss Helen Corke for twenty years until her death...on the 8th of March I gave the last lecture upon a Nippon steamer which DHL saw in the port of Sydney to many a teacher and student. They listened to me with much interest. I have not known the two different kinds of Kangaroo because I have been reading it in the Heiemann edition. When was the CUP Kangaroo published? Why did Dr Steele omit any mention of the ill- fated Yoshiro mare from his text? I should like to compare the two editions if I can get the CUP. As for Kangaroo I think that it is an important novel. I regard it as a sort of political novel and yet I can't find a way to his darkness and dark god..I want to join your society,so I will send $ A50 to you before the end of this month... Tajii Okada l have only today, 29 March l 995, seen copies of your journal where you refer to the article I published in 24 Hours in rebuttal of Pierre Ryckman's article on Kangaroo. The first mention in the June 1994 issue was puzzling because it described my piece as a ' vitriolic anti-Lawrence riposte' which it had never crossed my mind to pen. Not until I read the second mention did I decide to set the record straight. In the October 1994 issue, your gossip columnist wrote: (Apparently the McQueen/Ryckmans enmity goes back some way, they having crossed swords over the nature of the regime in Enmity is again an inappropriate word since I have no recollection of ever having met Ryckmans though I had seen him in Canberra in the early 1 970s. I visited his Canberra house while it was occupied by an in-law of his who is a friend of mine and so it is possible we were introduced but if so that would have been a formal occasion and not one for disputation. So far as l recall, we have never spoken and until his Lawrence article we had not crossed swords in print or orally. From what I understand to be Ryckman's view we would have disagreed about the Beijing regime for the same reason as I find his wish to exclude most existing students at Australian universities to be offensive. But we have not crossed swords over China if only because I have never read any of his books. That omission might be a fault but it is a fact. Given the propensity of your contributors to balance kangaroos on the point of RSL pins, I send this letter because if the record is not set straight one of your kind in the year 2065 will be using your slovenliness as proof of Mao knows what about either Ryckmans or myself. One important point does need to be made. The assumption behind your par is that my motive in rebutting Ryckmans was other than indignation at his ignorance of and insult to Australian intellectual life. However, if your reduction of such a dispute to personal squabbling is widespread in this country, I might yet owe Ryckmans an apology. - Humphrey McQueen (See ''A Literary Stoush'' p 1 6) Many thanks for sending Volume 3 No. 1 of Rananim. I've just read it from cover to cover with the greatest of interest. One or two points first of all. On page 9 you mention Joan King. She is Lawrence's younger niece (not his sisters) who visited Wyewurk the year she retired and took some stunning photographs. She and I put on a programme for the (UK) DHL Society of her slides and commentary plus my readings a few years ago...she sent a contribution to the '' Friends of Wyewurk'' at the beginning of the battle for Wyewurk and then heard no more. Do you think you could send a copy to Professor Okada? ....lt. was quite fascinating to realise that I had to look up the reference in my old Penguin edition, realising that it was not in the CUP one. Actually I wrote to Bruce saying how much I enjoyed the character of ''Norbett'' in the alternative ending and Bruce said he was sorry not to be able to print it in the text..Another literary visitor to Wyewurk whose name would have gone in the Visitors' Book if there had been one is Toby Foxlee Australian Dambuster...who accompanied me to Wyewurk in March 1978 ...He was a gunner in Mick Martin's all-Australian crew. I feel very glad that the debate about Rosenthal and company is now being fully conducted as I always thought that there was too much credence given to the Darroch thesis. - Rosemary Howard Thank you very much for sending me the copy of your journal Rananim. at the request of Rosemary, which I have found very interesting and so well produced. I wish I could have joined your party on the cruise around the Harbour on the steam- powered yacht, it sounded idyllic and I trust it was successful. Of course I was most interested in the article on Wyewurk and the Visitors' Book. At the time of my visit to Wyewurk in October 1981 the Visitors' Book would be long since gone and I didn't gain access to the house. I had been on an 11 week holiday in Australia with a Sydney friend and she and I went by train to Thirroul and more or less by accident went up the little path from the beach to find ourselves actually in Wyewurk's garden, which was a great thrill. Everything was so exactly as described by my Uncle- the train journey, the station, the football field, the coast, rocks and especially the House ,Garden and the View. lt. seemed magical that so little had changed from his descriptions. I took some beautiful slides which were remarkable in their similarity with 1922 pictures. It was a most beautiful and memorable day. l only wish that a satisfactory conclusion could be found to the Wyewurk problem in order that its many pilgrims need not be "uninvited''. - Joan King ..Although I cannot attend the functions of the Society due to the vagaries of being a full time University student in Adelaide I appreciate contact through Rananim.. The journal is an interesting and informative one which deepens my understanding of the life and work of D.H.Lawrence- a great writer...- Darriel Jeffree I neither particularly desire nor expect the publication of this letter as CD-ROMS, floppy/hard disks, indeed that whole caboodle, are quite beyond me (I shall not dwell on the irony of a society purportedly dedicated to our century's chief enemy of standardization apparently succumbing to the present time's chief example of standardisation). I simply thought that a few comments on each of a couple of currently popular topics might conceivably be of some help, however small. The topics are: I ) " Political Correctness" used as a weapon against DHL 2 ) Phallic symbolism. 1) I am surprised at Rananim's apparently high level of concern expressed in all sorts of both significant and less significant ways, about a '" politically correct'' backlash against DHL. I simply fail to see any significance in " politically correct'' literature or literary criticism which are not properly speaking literature or criticism at all. On the other hand among independently-minded writers (ie. the only writers who matter) I am constantly bumping into appreciative comments concerning DHL, without even particularly looking for such appreciation as my tastes are reasonably ''eclectic'' and by no means confined to DHL. The Society will surely be well aware of the appreciation expressed by such independent luminaries as Judith Wright, Patrick White and Manning Clark, so I shall not dwell on these. Rather I shall deal below with a notable exception from out of these sages of the past. I would simply like for now to mention two current examples of people from various walks of life who, because of their respective independent outlooks have been able to appreciate DHL. The first is Andrew Reimer, the critic, and the second Philip Drew, the architectural historian. Andrew Reimer's book Inside Outside: life between Two Worlds (1992) mentions DHL'S Kangaroo albeit briefly as a prime example of the consideration of the intrinsically insuperable difficulties involved in a European's adjustment to the realities of the continent of Australia. As it happens, I am in the same boat in this regard. I hope that the Society is aware of Philip Drew's work, most specifically Veranda: Embracing Place ( l 992), and now The Coast Dwellers: A Radical Reappraisal of Australian Identity (1994). In his own way Drew contrasts European " inwardness'' and Australian '' outwardness'' and en route has a great deal to say about DHL. His work is especially worthy of the consideration of the Society. I would be interested to discover whether the Tim Winton, who was capable of the heightened " sense of place" ( yes I adhere roughly to Joseph Davis' interpretation of Kangaroo) which is so characteristic of his West Australian " travel" book, Land's Edge ( 1993) was in any way influenced by the same quality as it appears in DHL. So far I have failed to discover any direct evidence of such an influence. 2) My first theme is not wholly unconnected with this second, as I mentioned above that I would deal with a certain " exception", who happens to be himself capable of vivid phallic symbolism. I refer to A.D.Hope. Hope is indeed the " black sheep" in the aforementioned category of truly independent writers. To some extent it is incomprehensible that he apparently took such a violent dislike to DHL, as mentioned in Dr Davis' book. Since DHL's phallic aspect and Lady C have loomed large again of late, I take the opportunity to suggest, as an outsider seeking to adjust to antipodean life and culture, that Hope has traveled furthest in providing a parallel to Lady C. I refer to Hope's recent Orpheus collection ( 1991), and in particular to the poem " Teaser rams". I find it hard to believe that Hope could have written poems like this without some prior contact with lady C. I like to think, therefore, that maybe the ageing Hope mellowed in his attitude towards DHL. Certainly such poems immediately " rang bells " with me. I admit that I have not even begun to to scratch the surface in my quest for detailed parallels between these two writers in their phallic aspect. For the moment I can only draw the most superficially general parallels-both writers undertook an early apprenticeship involving sexual symbolism ( Sons and Lovers, and Hope's collection The Wandering Islands 1955); both attained a final phallic maturity in the ( late) evening of their respective lives ( although one is virtually twice the age of the other); finally, both happened to relish to an extreme degree the role of the polemical pamphleteer, even though Hope directed some small portion of his ire against DHL himself. I return in closing to the question: why did Hope take such a bitter dislike to Kangaroo? Perhaps, if my contention of a similarity between these two writers has any grain of truth in it, this is a classic case of warfare between two forceful personalities which were akin temperament. - Mark ( " Jack") Southwell [ See " Bits" p23] Memories of 1922 In 1922 I was only eleven, in my first year at Fort Street Boys High so any " political memories" of 1921-1922 could not be genuine memory...but I do remember clearly " the big picture" so to speak at the time of my leaving Camperdown Primary School to start high school further up Parramatta Rd at Taverner's Hill, Petersham...And I certainly retain the clearest of recollections of regularly reading The Bulletin ( my father always brought it home on a Wednesday) and the Sun and Herald; and in those days the May Day procession and the Eight Hour Day precession ( October) were big events that left impressions. And the RSSIL sure commanded attention on April 25. In my mind's eye I can still see the stickers on the lampposts in the streets of Camperdown, Newtown and along Parramatta Road " Free the IWW". The names of Donald Grant and Jock Garden got embodied in the mind. Later in the '20's I'd hear them, as well as the loquacious AD Kay in the Domain on a Sunday afternoon. Years later my path would cross all three... As to my letter I sent to the Australian, I don't think there is much I can add; remember, we're trying to pinpoint what were just passing events of over 60 years ago, in the early thirties, and I mulled them over with Joe Davis when I called on him at Thirroul and walked with him around the " Lawrence House" and along the beach below. Everything I could recall about what a cheeky young 21-22 year old impecunious weekend bush walker did without any thought of recording his trampings and intellectual curiosity for posterity. The bare facts are that in the 30's there was near Thirroul station a roadside hoarding or billboard which proclaimed " JACK CALCOTT ESTATE AGENT ". I saw it , at dusk on a Sunday evening, tired and cranky through having taken a wrong track and getting back to the railway line at Thirroul instead of Lilyvale. I dozed ( as usual) in the crowded uncomfortable railway carriage. The name Callcott for some obscure reason kept intruding upon my youthful reverie. I was a young public servant who over the years 1927, 1928, 1929 1930 performed " the impossible'' and completed the full 4 year degree course for my B.Ec in competition with the full time day students and graduated with honours and first place. Pardon the boasting but it explains a lot. l was the youngest ever graduate, still only 1 9 in my fourth year, but as an evening student always in the company of those, mostly, 5-1 0 years my senior in years. But being at the top and getting '' distinction'' each year was accepted as one of the "oldies''.... So, to resume, at Mockbell's coffee den next to the old Theatre Royal, in Castlereagh Street (downstairs) I was by the onset of the Depression, ''IN" so to speak with the collection of intellectuals, artists, political activists, " characters'' (and cranks) who came for their coffee and wheatmeal biscuits and cheese for four pence; and games of dominoes and chess on the marble top tables; and endless talk, talk, talk about anything... rubbing shoulders with the harsh wide world and growing political awareness because of the depression news and the fact that my public service duties touched closely upon them... all this widened my reading....Bertrand Russell, Shaw, Wells, Aldous Huxley, Steinbeck etc etc, and of course D.H. Lawrence. I've recounted [in the Australian letters] how curiosity led to another visit to Thirroul (the Sherlock Holmes reflections that Mullumbimby 500 milks norm didn't add up with the train ride described in Kangaroo and the mention of Como en route, then the thought that the name Callcott might be more than just coincidence; and that the imaginary novelist might well have looked at a map of NSW, glanced in the opposite direction to where he'd travelled and hit upon a nice satisfying ''Aussie'' looking name; and not knowing a thing about north coast geography more than likely jumped to the erroneous assumption that Mullumbimby was on the coast. Think about it. A small scale map would easily deceive, with the name, being a long one, running over the line of the coast. DHL probably thought that he was being very clever. The young 21 year old AD thought he'd be clever too. Another trip to Thirroul with a copy of Kangaroo, with slips of paper at various pages, notes and queries etc. and cross references. Then tramping from the station seawards and up and down the beach. Remember that in l 932 it was mostly bush and scrub. And THE HOUSE stood out like a sore finger. And I knew I'd " struck gold " when I saw the word WYEWURK on the top rail of the gate. The house was locked up. I had to get back to the train. Later I confided my convictions to a close friend. We made another trip, not on a Sunday this time but a Saturday. We were very secretive! We asked a woman in Callcott's was there any chance that the house by the beach called Wyewurk might be available for rent, how much and so on. No. It was let. She did not seem impressed by two young men with hiking packs. Could we look inside? Go and ask. We did. A fairly elderly lady, who seemed at the time to be on her own was not very co-operative. A few probing questions convinced me that the name Lawrence meant nothing to her. I concocted a " whopper'' that an uncle of mine had written ''that a friend of his had told him about having stayed years ago at the house and for some legal reason he'd like to be absolutely sure; and could I check not just the outside, but a few things inside that only someone who'd actually been inside would know and be able to describe. I doubt whether we spent more than a few minutes looking out of windows on to the beach and peeping from the doorways into a couple of rooms. But as by this time we knew almost by heart the relevant passages in Kangaroo that we'd marked, we were certain of our conclusions. The lady was obviously nervous. We were polite young men. The rest is in my published letter. Of course after the publication of Frieda Lawrence's memoir (''Not I But the wind'') later in the thirties, the " Thirroul secret'' became if not "general knowledge'', at least known to the literati. I can honestly say I never gave much thought thereafter to my 1932 brush with Wyewurk. Joe Davis's little book seems to me to cover all that can or need be said. One REAL coincidence may interest you. At page 160 in Davis' book, he reproduces the post card Lawrence sent to Mrs Forester at "Khartoum," 206 Australia St Camperdown. Would you believe it? From 191 4 to 1922 Mr and Mrs Date and their seven children (the youngest one AlbertDate 191 1- ) resided at Number 198 Australia Street, just four doors away from the Foresters. I knew the house called Khartoum quite well and played often in its grounds. It was a much grander house than ours standing in its own spacious block. Our old house is still there .- Albert Date ...Your mention of Leavis prompts me to express a little of my own ambivalent attitude towards him ( a not uncommon sort of attitude I suspect). I am grateful chiefly for his work on C20 writing- more specifically, for highlighting Lawrence ( I encountered Lawrence originally through Leavis), as well as the obscure writer T.F.Powys, and for exposing the impoverishment of most other C20 writing. On the other hand I now find his debunking of Spencer, Milton and certain other writers most short- sighted. Moreover I regard the criticism of Tennyson by Australia's own unjustly neglected poet, Charles Harpur, as being far more sensible and level-headed than the equivalent criticism on the part of Leavis. How can today's teenagers possibly be expected to leapfrog straight to Lawrence over the void left by a romantic body of literature which formerly provided a crucial first step, but is now frowned upon by Leavis and subsequent critics? Leavis may unwittingly even have driven more people in despair into our zombie age. l am not really a phallocrat. Indeed the phallus-obsessed make an error remarkably similar to that of the wowsers. Tne former make the phallus in effect the source of all good, the latter the source of all evil. I would go so far as to say that in my view C20 literature has been wrecked by this polarization. in large part. Rather I intend to ask questions which we tend to shirk: what is this Australia? Is it just more than highways, high-rise, and mobile phones? What has Lawrence's own stumbling on something outward and objective at last ( even if elusive at the same time, like Melville's whale), namely the "continent of the kangaroo'', to contribute towards this debate? Surely we do not want to leave this son of question to the journalists even to the Donald Homes alone. Maybe what we currently hear are the rumblings of a " sleeping giant'', a phrase more commonly applied to China. Or are we inextricably caught up in the global (pseudo) problems of the '90's? I suggest that by reading Thoreau in particular we can immediately sense what has been lost in the past century. and what added to the lumber of that which complicates life. Both Lawrence and Thoreau would understand Jeremiah's criticism of a certain self-seeking individualism, which has culminated supremely in our Anglo-saxon philistinism: " Do you seek Great things for yourself ? Seek them not.'' - Mark (" Jack") Southwell

Bits: British heartthrob Hugh Grant (''Four Weddings and a Funeral'') was thought by his fellow students at Oxford - according to biographer Judy Tressider - to be gay, but he did manage, she says, to seduce some girls by reading them poetry and D.H. Lawrence. DHL has achieved another first. He is the first author to cross theEnglish Channel underground. Yes, one of the first locomotives to go through the Chunnel was named ''D H Lawrence'' (to the delight of our resident ferro- equinologist, Editor John Lacey). Could Lawrence have ever dreamt, as he made one of his last, bitter farewells to ''the dead grey cliffs'' of England, that one day he would be pulling a trainload of cross-channel travellers under the sea to France? Writing in the Australian about sartorial correctness feminist columnist Beatrice Faust ( eloquent name!) gave what she described as DHL'S view on male attire, as expressed in Lady Chatterley's Lover. Ms Faust wrote: ''DHL preached that if men could only wear tight red trou- sers, they would enjoy subsistence wages and quell women's desire for orgasm.'' A refreshing vïcw of LCL, though one questions whether Connie would really have been satisfied with a glimpse of Mellors in crimson tights. In our expanded Letters section Mark Southwell wonders why A.D. Hope had such a thing about Lawrence (the subject of a virulent Hope essay ''Kangaroo - How it Seems to an Australian ''). Well, there is an answer. Our John Ruffels mentioned this to Hope in a letter, to be told that Hope conceded he had perhaps gone too far in the famous essay, which he'd actually written because he didn 't like F.R. Leavis, and was annoyed with Leavis's adulation of Lawrence. In our '' A Literary Stoush '' feature on page 16 Humphrey McQueen says that initial Australian reviews of Kangaroo were not all that unfavourable. They weren 't that favourable, either. A 1924 review by A.G. Stephen described the novel as ''a failure ''. The same year Catherine McLaurin said it way ''a queer, neurotic book'' written by ''a fundamentally unhealthy mind". Yet to find a local reviewer who really did not take to Lawrence or his Australian novel-you have to wait till 1934 when a critic called J.M. Wood wrote: ''Lawrence is one of the most contemptible personalities to pass across the pages of literary history ... a nasty little egotist concerned with staring at his own navel ... He puts Old Country ideas, notions and propaganda into the mouth of an Aussie talking to dinkum Ausssies about purely Aussie matters ... Hast ever, gentle reader, seen a photo of Lawrence? Puny, insignificant, consumptive-ridden specimen of over-rated, undersized, red- haired, red-whiskered humanity, only wanting the black colour to pass for an Abo ... a sewer rat-''