THE CADRE, NOVEMBER‘S, 1974, PAGE 11

»

reviews...

the book worm

j

dove macro.

J

Aelook to the Left through; magazines

For this week's review I decided to look at three of the more important magazines on today's Canadian left scene, "This Magazine", "Canadian Dimension", and "Last Post".

\1

0f the three, "Last Post"

is probably the most well known and provides the most international view point. It provides a world wide objective rarely achieved by anyone in the Left or, for that-matter, elsewhere

on the Canadian snanew Emr:s .

example, this month's ed- ition contains articles on Guatamala, Greece and Jam- aica, among others, all of_ which show some advance or retreat of the international socialist cause, or merely a fresh viewpoint on some newsworthy happening. As well, there are always art- icles on Canada.

Two of the best articles in this month's issue incl-

ude one of Rhodesia which shows clearly and consisely the isolation of Rhodesian Whites in their little play. world and the frustration

of the blacks, desperate

to free themselves from opp- ression all in a style of now hidden, now vocal out- rage too rarely achieved without descending into the depths of rhetoric. The oth- er deals with reform city councils such as David Crom— bie's in Toronto or Dorthy

~3Wyatt$5uin St. John's. It

demonstrates what I suppose we already know but only instinctively that the ligh- tly touted "new looks" are merely another example of

a government‘which claims

.to be responsive and actu—

ally is (to the developers) Canadian Dimension, by contrast is more parochial, dealing mainly with the national scene, although the international is not

forgotten. Compared with Last Post it is probably less readable but without

a dOubt is better researched and backing its conclusions with more evidence. Any art- icle in Dimension is almost

certain to provide facets of a story that you'd never

thought of before. And it is not afraid to admit its mistakes., For example this month tears apart the NDP government in B.C. while

two years ago Dimension toutes it as the first truly socialistic government in North America. Whether that is favourable to the maga— zine, depends on your View point. ,

Its main malaise is its tendency to jump from one thing to another without definately,establishing any— thing of the relationship between the two.éven if the point is well taken this can prove frustrating to the reader and interrupts the generally smooth flowing style.

"This Magazine" by contr- ast, takes a different tack. While it can and does deal

ISLAND emu — Good place to go for lower prices

The Island Grill restaur— ant was selected for this .Week's review. This estab- lishment, situated on Queen Street between Grafton and Kent, serves both Canadian and Chinese food. The decor is agreeableg‘the walls are hung with lovely Chinese - Style tapestries, and there is an area partitioned off

chorlottoto'wn-

‘

‘ All} .

_)

with the major events of

the day it prefers to keep closg.to home and with, for example, a Newfoundland out— port or an Ontario prison.p At one time it was totally

_aboutaeducation4and still

is deeply involved with the education system and any of its articles on the topic can be guaranteed to pro— vide a fresh and thought provoking look. Its other major topic of concern is the closely related one of

."culture", whether defined

as a new Canadian film, comm- unity theatre group or the latest Arts Council'fiasco. In sum, each of these mag— azines provides something of interest. If a wide-rang— ing view is your bag, Last Post is the ticket. Canadian Dimension is probably ideal for an intelligent analysis of current Canadian problems, while This Magazine provides a fine insight into the com- mon, man's life and every day problems. Each should Provide a good introduction

\to leftist thought. Choose

one to suit your taste and look in to it.

number of Chinese staff.

The food was brought in ,only a few minutes. The por- tions, although not huge, were reasonable, and the food was fairly hot. Tasting it,_we decided that the fried rice was excellent, and the chop suey adequate. Unfortunately, our favorite dish, the pineapple chicken was slightly soggy. All in all, hOWever, the meal was

were brought. We chose Chicken_Fried Rice, Chicken Chop Suey and Pineapple Chicken. Inspecting the menu, forth. We found the prices compar— We went down Friday night iatively Speaking, to be after Ash Mountain. Although quite low. We looked around the place was quite crowded, and noted approvingly that the proprietor found us a this Chinese restaurant table in a very short time. apparently backed up its We sat dawn and Our menus ; imasebbysEHE~hiring of a

with metal grills and more lavishly appointed than the rest of the restaurant, for dinner dates and so

filling and quite good.

Over coffee, we discussed our impressions. We decided goverall, that the Island Grill was a good place to go for lower prices, excell— ent service and adequate food.

Wendy Sauer Albert MacDonald