ConradiananRoger Tennant: Joseph Conrad:nA Biography; Atheneum;nNew York.nFew writers have probed then”lightless depths” of human existencenmore sagaciously thannJoseph Conrad, that self-proclaimed—albeitnsomewhat ironically—“Pole,nCatholic, andnGentleman” who borrowed thenEnglish language and repaid hisndebt with a body of writing thatnany nation would be proud tonclaim. In such books as LordnJim, The Nigger of the Narcissusnand Under Western Eyes,nConrad altered man s awarenessnof the forces that surge beneathnthe veneer of rationality. Sondeeply have Conrad’s perceptionsnsunk into our consciousnessnthat the term “heart ofndarkness” has become almost ancliche as a metaphor for evil.nRoger Tennant explores thenconfiguration of Conrad’s life.nCOMMENDABLESnseeking to show how Conradnadapted specific aspects of hisnown experience to the needs ofnhis art. Tennant mercifully eschewsnthe chic psychologizingnthat has become de rigueurnamong biographers. Too often,nliterary biographers producenmassive tomes which cataloguenthe minutiae of a writer’s lifenwithout illuminating the delicatenintersection between lifenand art. knowledge of which enrichesnone’s understanding ofnthe literary craft; Joseph Blotner’sntedious two-volume worknon William Faulkner illustratesnthe disastrous consequences ofnthis approach. Tennant shunsnthe pack-rat school of scholarship,nopting instead for concisionnand skillful selection. Innthis respect, his Joseph Conradninvites favorable comparisonnwith V. S. Pritchett’s spare andnelegant studv of the life of IvannDnTun •genev.nNature’s Unfalsified GrandeurnPeter Matthiessen: Sand Rivers;nViking Press; New York.nWeariness possessed us as wenturned to Peter Matthiessen’snSand Rivers, an account of hisnjourney in 1979 into the SelousnGame Reserve in southern Tanzania.nAfter Matthiessen’s previousnbook. The Snow Leopard,nwe expected more of his excursionsninto the dreariness of ZennBuddhism. How Zen could benworked into ruminations on wallowingnhippopotami we did notnknow,butoncean American dipsnAZm^a^^mm^^nChronicles of Culturenhis toe into the turbid waters ofnZen he tends to plunge in headlong.nThis alone would quench thenstrongest of desires to learn aboutnthe Selous, but on top of that, wendreaded what Matthiessen wouldnprobably have to say about politicsnand society in contemporarynTanzania. Anyone who followsnthe doings of the political/literarynset knows that Julius Nyerere’snsocialist experiment dazzlesnAmerican leftists. For them, Nyerere’snblend of socialism andntraditional African wavs has il­nluminated the Heart of Darkness.n• Tanzania represents yetnanother attempt by the lefttofindnUtopia; visions of the masses discussingnMarx while weaving basketsndance through many a dizzynAmerican head. Could Matthiessennresist the temptation to pitnthe glories of Tanzanian socialismnagainst the iniquities of capitalisticnAmerica.’nPeter Matthiessen seems tonknow that hippopotami do notnlend themselves to Zen musingsnafter ail. He does not use thenSelous as a pretext to bore onenwith factitious meditations onnthe Big Questions, nor does henembarrass one with the gushynmaunderings that pass for nature-writingnamong lovers ofnsmall furry animals. He knowsnthat behind the often-prettifiednfacade of multicolored birds andnfriendly old elephants there liesna world red in tooth and claw.n”One night another hyena clannmade its own kill on the far sidenof the Luwegu, filling the nightnwith excited whoopings thatnturned to high eerie gigglingnand laughter. Out there in thendark where the hyenas were tearingnthe wide-eyed victim tonpieces, those crazy noises wouldnbe ringing in its ears. ” Naturenfreaks who derive their idea of anwild animal from outings to thenzoo and weekend camping tripsnhad best reread those twonnnIn the Mailnsentences.nOf the Tanzanian foray intonsocialism Matthiessen has littlento say, and most of that reflectsnpoorly on Nyerere’s regime.nMatthiessen’s eyes and ears arentoo sharp—and too honest—tonallow him to romanticize Tanzania.nFrom Brian Nicholson,nformer warden of the Selous Reserve.nMatthiessen learned ofnthe decline of the Game Departmentnunder an independent Tanzania.nBureaucrats and politicalnhacks who care not a whit for thennation’s wildlife have turned annefficient game-management programninto a shambles. Ineptitude,nlow morale and mandatory hostilitynto whites have nearly destroyednwhat Nicholson and otherndefenders of African wildlifenlabored so assiduously to maintain.nNicholson renders the verdictnon the Workers’ Committeesnthat displaced the old managementnof the game reserves: “Likenso many of these socialist ideas,nthe theory is all very well, but itnjust doesn’t work.”nSpared from Zen meditationsnand the usual mendacity aboutnTanzanian socialism, one cannsimply enjoy Matthiessen’s account—enhancednby Hugo vannLawick’s superlative photographs—ofnhis safari into thenmost remote and uncharted ofnthe African wildlife reserves.n(JJT) DnCreation, Science & Theology by W. A. Whitehouse; Wm. B.nEerdmans Publishing Co.; Grand Rapids, Michigan. An examinationnand refutation of Karl Barth’s doctrine of creation, and an explorationnof the relationship between theology and science.nCosmologies of Consciousness by E. C. Barksdale; SchankmannPublishing Co.; Cambridge, Massachusetts. A novel approach tonthe study of consciousness.n”Critical Issues: Easy Germany, Marxist Mission in Africa” bynJohn M. Starrels; The Heritage Foundation; Washington, D.C.nAn examination of possible East German participation in the turmoilnin Africa.n