\s mYevtew ELECTRONIC ADDITION - University of British Columbia

BOOKS IN REVIEWwas seven). The protagonists have immigratedmore or less recently; some of theprotagonists know Holland mainly fromthe stories told by parents and grandparents.Two of the four stories with animmigration theme belong to the lesssuccessful tales in the collection: "Exodus"and "White Rabbit." In these, Cookrelies too much on the basic immigrationtheme to carry significance. The actionof the stories is too obvious and ratherthin; the characters and their portrayalare partly in black and white, and thusof minimal interest. In "First Snow" theplot turns on the — mechanically rendered—• question of why a particularmember of a Dutch congregation inAlberta has not turned up for churchone Sunday; the denouement consists ofthe information that Tjepkema simplymixed up Sunday and Monday.But the title story is a fine story, andfive others are skilfully done. In theseCook shows himself adept at characterizationand plot construction (the endingsand the subtle preparations for themare effective). In "Easter Lily," the onlystory in the collection not previouslyprinted, Cook experiments successfullywith a multiple point of view, one ofthem that of a mentally retarded youngman who is instigated to violence throughthe silly behaviour of vain girls (thefemale sex altogether does not fare verywell in Cook's collection). "Pisces" includesan experience reminiscent of Surfacing;"Clown" impresses through itshaunting characters and the clever deviceof its ending. "Cracked Wheat" (insome ways similar to Choyce's "ThePaper Route," but with significantly differentbehaviour on the part of theyoung males) is a moving story about astudent in a conflict between his stronglyreligious, moralistic background and thehuman requirements of everyday lifeoften at odds with rigid principles;characteristically for this collection, religionand morals seem to keep the upperhand, even if rather primly and at timesridiculously. All in all, Cook presentssome fine stories. But in order to reallyget through to them don't start the collectionwith "Exodus" — start it with thetitle story.REINGARD M. NISCHIKPSYCHOLOGICALDRAMAFREDERICK CANDELARIA, Poems New andSelected. Goose Lane Editions, $7.95.JOHN STEFFLER, The Grey Islands. McClelland& Stewart, $9.95.FREDERICK CANDELARIA is a likeable poet;the personality reflected in his writing isbright and engaging. His carefully-aimedwork is modest in scope. The intellectualbalance that enables Candelaria to maintaina wry distance must derive at leastpartially from his early training for thepriesthood, a training he abandonedfirmly, as we learn in many of the poems :and Christfor all his mercyis deadthe Lordsof lifeare ghostsCandelaria uses Latin phrases from theMass in many places. His strong interestin wordplay and insidious rhyme ironicallyremind one of the work of the greatCatholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.In Hopkins' case the turning to formalquestions, the experimentation with assonanceand "sprung rhythm" came fromthe religious faith that answered for himmany of the questions that provided richground for other writers. In Candelaria'scase the faith clearly is not there andyou begin to suspect other limitations. Infact, despite the occasionally close paral-175