4 Wednesday, January 22, 1992 - North Shore News Atsuko and the Aussie, by Couglas H. Mancktelow, DMA Press, 1991, 157 pp., $15, softcover R ETIRED AND“now living in North Vancouver, Australian expatriate author Douglas H. Man- cktelow fought in New Guinea in the Second World War and was then posted to Japan as part of the army of occupation. A career soldier, Mancktelow later saw ferocious action in Korea, notably as a stretcher-bearer. Slightly more than half of his memoir Atsuko and the Aussie covers this phase of his military career. Maybe the prose isn’t always polished to a professional sheen, and maybe some of his cverheated courtship/marital passages smack faintly of Harlequin, but ‘‘Dan- ny” Mancktelow writes of a life full of variety, danger, adventure . and frustration. His teal wars were fought against military and civilian” bureaucracies — Aussie, Japanese and Canadian — after he met his future wife, Atsuko, in 1952. Many young Japanese women took up with members of the oc- An engaging contemplation of the senses A Natural History of the Senses, by Diane Ackerman, Publ. by Vintage Books 315 pp., $15 scftcover IT 1S nc wonder that this beautiful- ly written book has been occupy- ing the best-seller’s list. Diane Ackerman breathes poetic. life into the world of smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision, taking the reader on a fantastic journey through the natural history of our own bodies and the social con- ventions and inventions to ac- commodate, assuage and assault our (and other people's} senses. The senses, says the author, “don’t just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.” This juicy description sets the tone for the entire book, which | could quote almost in full! In the first chapter, Ackerman introduces us to the plethora of odors, scents, stenches and aromas that constitute smell. Did you know that, thanks to pheromones, babies can tell when their mother enters a toom? And that there really is the smell of fear? Ackerman Seads us to the mysterious IFF or international Flavors and Fragrance Inc. where we meet with the sphinxlike Sophia, a Russian ‘‘nose’ who creates famous perfumes and scents for men and women. In the “touch” chapter readers visit a Monarch butterfly project in California, a hospital where they massage preemies to stimulate growth, and a “‘touch dome” in San Francisco where one enters “a three dimensional maze through which one watks, climbs, crawls, and slithers in a marmoreal darkness....the darkness pours its manic marbles under your feet.” in Taste we fearn about food and sex, the alluring flavors of things aphrodisiacal, eating delicious leaf-cutter ants, and the truffle-sniffing sow who thinks she smells “the sexiest boar she ever encountered in her life, only tor some reason he seems to be un- derground.”’ A Natural History of the Senses would be an engaging read tor people of all aves and interests. The book is in itself.a sensual in- dulgence. —- By Barbara Black, assistant cap editor tor the Narth Shore News. cupying armies, but a lot of these relationships were foredoomed. National policies toward inter- racial marriages were either un- formulated or antagonistic, to wit the so-called ‘“‘White Australian’ policy. Marriages were d iscouraged, but liaisons were winked at. But what was to foilow when the warriors 1991 HOLLYBURN In Review LOOKS AT BOOKS were rotated back home? Other obstacles arose due to the patriarchal nature of Japanese society. For example, secret police called the Kemple Tie were on the streets, officially sanctioned to return errant young women to their families. And then, for Man- cktelow, there was the Mama-san HYUNDAI EXCEL CX 3-DOOR Power brakes - 5-speed manual transmission - 5-year 100,000km warranty » 1.5 litre fuel injected engine «4 speaker AM/FM cassette stereo Michelin all-season Features: radials - Rear defroster $10,450 DRIVEAWAY THIS IS NOT A LEASE AND THEREARE ABSOLUTELY NO ADDED CHARGES 1991 HOLLYBURN HYUNDAI SONATA GL Features: Standard 114 RP 2.4 litre engine or optionat V6 - Tilt steering - Sixavay adjustable driver's seat - Qual remote mirrors - PremiumAM/FM stereo cassette with 4 speakers + Remote trunk and filler doorrelease. $15,599 prveaway Tis uctALsE OTHEARE FBSOLUTILY NO ADDED CHARG! 5069 WORTH OF rien “WITH EVERY: _CAR PURCHASED. _ Limited tine otter. \ aa PRCTTIWH Is ONLY AVAILABLE AT HOLLYBURN HYUNDAI. o | me | o | me | INCLUDES ALUTAXES, FREIGHT AND POL Photos for itlustration only. “Financing CAC to win over who had lost two brothers in the war and whose home and business were bombed by the “foreigners.” Star-crossed lovers in the land of Nippon. Despite these roadblocks, the author brought gritty determina- tion to the romantic chase. He seems to have done nothing by half-measure — a hard-drinking party animal, brave soldier, superb athlete, and a vigorous swain in pursuit of the fair Atsuko, a 19- year-old apprentice hairdresser when he first met her. Mancktelow even switched ar- mies, joining the Canadian forces (a somewhat expedient move) when it seemed that Canada would provide a more hospitable climate for an interracial marriage than would his native Oz. But eventually amor vincit om- nia, and in 1954 the pair were sec retly married. ‘‘Happily ever after” came much later after many more enforced separations due to Mancktelow’s various postings and governmental inaction in recognizing his marriage. The author is an entertaining raconteur, but he is especially good at limning the hardships fac- ed by post-war Japanese women and the men, heroes and villains whe either exploited them or who, lixe this Aussie, stayed the course and faced a world which in the 1950s was not yet a global village ready to accept maritally-mixed doubles. Romantic stuff indeed. -- By Blair Thompson, Collections Librarian, North Vancouver Distzict Library. 1992 HOLLYBURN seatre HYUNDAI SCOUPE L 15 tre OHCmutipcintiuelinjecton rine + ndependent Suspension with sable bars « Ventilated frontdise brakes: Standard ETR AM/FM stereo cassette with4 speakers + Michelin all-season radial ures. PRIGEDOWN rrow $10,595 Eee ee THIS ry NOTA LEASE, FREIGH1 ANO PO? INCLUDED ABSOLUTELY NO EXTRA CHARGES * TOTAL PRICE $14,364 CO a Features: 1992 HOLLYBURN HYUNDAI ELANTRA GL. New stoce for's21 16 litre 16-valve dual OC enrne- Power assixted steering * independent front suspension with stabilizer bars Michelin all-season radial tres Remote fuel filer and trunk release « Flush halogen headlamps - 5-speed transmission. ES From $10,995 O% a THIS 1S NOT A LEASE FREIGHT AND PDt INCLUDED ABSOLUTELY WO EXTRA CHARGES * OTA, PRICE $15 084 00 i OLLYBURN ED HYUNDAI PD Ft) The Smart Money Goes. 700 MARINE DRIVE NORTH VANCOUVER Telephone: 984-7044 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!