`Gems from the Third'

FROM THE THIRD PROGRAMME.A TEN-YEAR ANTHOLOGY, edited by John Morris (Nonesuch Press, II Is.).
THIS is the time of year when
many of us have book tokens to spare and are rather bewildered by the choice of hooks on Which to spend them, This selection of pieces which have been heard in the Third Programme may help.
There 'is a wide selection of subjects. I was particularly intrigued by Laura Boliannan's amusing " Miching Mailecho,which descr:bes a European trying to tell the story of " Hamlet" to an African tribe. 1 liked, too Arthur Waley's " Some Far Eastern Dreams," with its curious information that dreams could be bought
and sold. Maxim Corky's hitherto unpublished essay about Totgoy's wife moved me very much.
The only fault I found with this collection was that it had not included some of the lyrics, at least, from Henry Reed's masterpieces. " A Very Great Man Indeed" and "Through a Hedge Backwards." This is a strictly personal grouse because the editor has included Reed's more serious " Antigone " in this anthology.
At any rate, whatever our individual taste. the book is worth buying if only for the unscripted discussion between Bertrand Russell and Fr. Coplestone on the Existence of God. This is magnificent.
Joan Newton