Back to The Phasian Bird main page
Appendix I: Henry Williamson's notes for the writing of The Phasian Bird
Appendix II: The American edition
Critical reception:
Current Literature, 5 November 1948:
Eastern Daily Press ('Jonathan Mardle'), 10 November 1948 (a long review, only a photocopy exists in the archive):
This gave rise to a letter:
Daily Telegraph, 12 November 1948:
It is as well that Henry Williamson can write with affection and interest about animals: human beings disillusion him to the point of anger. “THE PHASIAN BIRD” is the story of a Norfolk farm during and just before the war. A hybrid golden pheasant is reared by a man who farms by old-fashioned methods, and commits suicide. It becomes a symbol to his successor, who adopts new methods only to be deviated by a neurosis and eventually murdered, his death coinciding with that of the beloved bird. It is an unusual study in natural history and psychology, full of bitterness against this urban civilisation – an extraordinary story, told with subtlety and style.
Evening Chronicle, 13 November 1948:
Reynolds News (Arthur Calder Marshall), 14 November 1948:
At the mention of “Tarka the Otter” and “Salar the Salmon” Henry Williamson's face does not light up with pleasure. Famous as a nature writer, he prides himself on his human stories, such as the Flax of Dream series. In THE PHASIAN BIRD he makes the best of both worlds. He tells the story of the last ten years from the point of view of a hybrid pheasant. I cannot say how true to wild life Chee-kai, this startling and lovely bird, may be. But I accept Mr. Williamson's presentation, because it is both beautiful and precise.
Farmer and Stock Breeder (B. T. Darby), 16 November 1948:
Manchester Evening News (Julian Symons), 17 November 1948:
The Sunday Times (J. W. Lambert), 21 November 1948:
Tatler, 24 November 1948 (the item covers more than just the book, but is, sadly, unattributed):
Isis (A. Felix Waley), 24 November 1948:
News Review, 25 November 1948:
Daily Mail (Peter Quennell), 27 November 1948 (after reviewing at length Concluding, by Henry Green, Quennell turns to The Phasian Bird):
For more conservative tastes there is The Phasian Bird. Provided you can stomach the literary convention by which wild animals bear romantic names – though in this instance they are not credited with almost animal thoughts and feelings – you will enjoy Henry Williamson's pheasants, partridges, geese and hares and gamecocks. For he has an enviable descriptive gift, and writes of English fields and woodlands with the sober passion of a working farmer.
Irish Independent, 29 November 1948 (photocopy only in archive):
The Scotsman, 9 December 1948:
Evening Standard (George Malcolm Thomson), 1 December 1948:
Mr. Williamson, as most people know, brings to the nature novel a rich vocabulary and a fine imagination. In The Phasian Bird, his birds and animals are, in fact, more interesting than his humans.
The life, struggles and death of the Phasian bird (a superb hybrid pheasant) enthrall the reader and become for Wilbo, a politically muddled farmer, a symbol of hope which he carries with him when he is imprisoned during the war as a suspected enemy of his country.
The Listener (George D. Painter), 16 December 1948 (note HW's markings here: this long review was almost certainly the first contact between these two men. HW turned to Painter for advice when he began to write – very soon after this – the first novel of his Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series. Painter worked in the manuscript department of the British Museum, and championed HW's work. He was the author of several prestigious biographies, including those of Marcel Proust and Chateaubriand.):
Punch, 29 December 1948:
Source not named (lost) (S. P. B. Mais); photocopy only in archive:
The Times Literary Supplement, 1 January 1949:
Sphere, 15 January 1949:
*************************
Readers should also consult Prof. W. J. Keith, The Rural Tradition: A Study of the Non-fiction Prose Writers of the English Countryside (University of Toronto Press, 1975), chapter 11, ‘Henry Williamson’ (this was reprinted in HWSJ 31, September 1995, pp. 90-101). Prof. Keith, as HW also, had been a President of the Richard Jefferies Society before leaving to take up a post in Toronto University. At the time of the reprint of his HW essay in the HWSJ he asked that it be pointed out that his essay had been written long before any biographical information about HW was available and therefore the occasional 'fact' is inaccurate – but that does not detract from his overall views. He writes of The Phasian Bird:
A book which, despite its title, is better interpreted as a modern parable than as an animal story. . . . The story of the golden pheasant, a symbol, like Lawrence's phoenix, of hope in a new world to be born out of the ashes of the past and to recreate the best features of that past – is counterpointed by the story of Wilbo, another of Williamson's masks, upon whose land the Phasian bird finds shelter. . . .
But the death of the symbolic bird, apparently without issue, represents a darker ending, and one which is emphasised by the impressive descriptions of a ruined countryside against which the closing events take place.
*************************
American edition: Little Brown & Company (The Atlantic Monthly Press), October 1950
Source not named (W. G. Rogers); photocopy only in archive:
Saturday Review of Literature, 28 October 1950 (with error in title):
New York Times, 15 October 1950:
HW's note reads: 'This was sent to me by an unknown American from the NEW YORK TIMES. The USA edition was cut, 20,000 words. By order of publishers, else I would not have had 1500 dollars to pay school bills.’
Christian Science Monitor, 4 November 1950:
Chicago Tribune, 5 November 1950:
Washington Post, 24 December 1950:
New York Herald Tribune, date not known (the end of the heading and the last two columns have been torn off, and follow after this scan:
*************************
The following item gives an interesting insight into how HW's writing was perceived by one critic. Anthony Gower reviewed several of the Chronicle volumes.
Books and Bookmen (Anthony Gower), October 1963:
*************************
First edition, Faber, 1948:
Little Brown and Company (Boston, US), An Atlantic Monthly Press Book, new edition,1950:
The Boydell Press, County Library Series,1984. Very unfortunately the cover illustration is NOT of a Reeves' pheasant but of an ordinary game pheasant (The HW Literary Estate were not consulted on the matter and were rather horrified at such cupidity!):
*************************
Back to The Phasian Bird main page
Appendix I: Henry Williamson's notes for the writing of The Phasian Bird
Appendix II: The American edition