The sun. [volume], April 17, 1915, SPRING LITERARY SECTION, Image 13

About The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916

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BOOK NEWS
AND REVIEWS
SPRING LITERARY
SECTION
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1915. t'niiyrlnht, 1!MB, hy the. Nun Printing nmt Publishing AssorAatlon,
DOES CHARACTER DRAWING OR PLOT COUNT MORE IN FICTION?
ARISTOTLE NAMED
AS PLOT CHAMPION
AUTHORS DISAGREE
NOTI- In rt recent article In the
".VuIhiMj ' iriiliij; Post" Mctvlllo
Vartsson Post Ingeniously rntlrrt Aris
totle tit hit ill'' In timer Hint iiof. mus.
trry mul nunpi nif mnkr for marr iiirrb
miens literature futn tin louchnlonu ,
,1,1,1 rhnrtirler rrriKliiH rnnf ttnt thai
this thoni' .Uric it (fi tiiitfff Ms tnl.
joUrr 7 ft ttrtUle prorokrtt murk rffs.
iMioii lor Mr. Post presents- lit
ifMi'i hi 1 I'omfrinr, form mul olhrr
tenters contribute their vnrylnu opinions,
Br MIll.VIM.K D.WISMIV POST.
. ,.... ,, .. ,. - . . .
in" ciun m,, .o .um oi an. i; cnuri me reader will not wult for ex
Is not n segment of human experience, i plana Hons. Kvcrythlng he must know
It Is a finished product of n certain ' ,r ought to know should bo given to him 1
sort of skilled latiorer, nnd It must he
lOlistructed according to established
lults As Aristotle pointed out In his
l'cetkf. the Mructure of nil plots falls
naturally Into two divisions the com
plication or building up, and the un
ravelling or denouement. Hy complica
tion he meant, and -we mean, nil that
extends from the beginning to the ac
tion and the part which marks the turn-la-
point of gou.1 or bad fortune. The
unravelling Is that which etends from
th beginning of the change to the
end.
Many poets, the Greeks said, tied the
l.not well, hut unr.ivellel It unskilfully.
Koth arts, however, they Insisted, should
to mastered. They advised one to make
a sketch or general outline first and
then fill In the Uetalls.
It ! not too much to say that before
the writer begins his stor.t he ought
to be able to make a geometrical dia
gram of It which would show the prop-r
proportions. Just as an architect is able
ti, nuke a diagram of the house he pro
loses to build, or the artist Is aide to
make a drawing of the picture he pro
w to palnl. It is fatal to begin be
fore that Is done.
In order to be of universal Interest
to the reader the plot of the story, as
the (ireeks pointed out. mu-t contain
surprise. It must be something to
tnr.nel, It must give the mind a piob
lem. It must moc from one Incident
rr event to another, the reader being In
lereslel In each of these movements un
til the whole conception of the story it
It 'or,' him. And as one tiling happens
nfttr another In life and wc do not
te.illzc the scoiie of an event as It b
p.ris to arrive, so In the cunstructio'i
of the story the reader must be led
from one step to another, and these
tejw must be in proper s, iuence.
Tor thti purpose of dcMlopIng the
fittiiitlnri, after constructing a plot that
l iiKitnemaiicaiiy coneci in proporuo, ,
the author must select character-' and
Incidents. The plot Is wholly an aibi
trJ V thlnz : he must make It a com
p:cle unity, though In life nothing is
,omi,'te. llavim; made the plot, he
way take character rro.n i lire ir he
'k,s, or he may modify thtm; but If
If would have the 1-est result he must
t ke the Incidents from life-for tin
frent .ireek said; !
lie objects of imitation are
idem" must be assembled trum '
life They must be precisely as they
cur In life. One cannot use any fabu
lous Incident. He may use a fabulous
iifslgn, but he must till It in with uatuial
1 Mrm one mat build any Kind of
house be likes, but he must build It or
material that Is real. He must get bis
t" e f-oui the Held and hi" wood from
t ie fo est
Tuo vital f.ictoi in the structuic of a
1 let Is to make It complete In Itself.
1' e its must speak for thenibclvcs. They
must ie,ulic no outside explanation.
T ie thing should be a piece of mechan.
' 11 so pMfe-t that by virtue of Its own
ru. ture It folds and unfolds Itself, fol
lowing the law of mechanics.
.Now it will be seen that the structure
.,uv 11 viiii oe seen iiiai ine siruciurn 1
of work and not am to 'un successfully!
"lone by any but skilled workmen. Kor
ih.s reason the Greek said that 11 poet
was pr.marily a maker of plots: and the
short story writer of to-day notwith
standing .ill pretensions to the contrary
- it primarily a maker of plots.
T is is what editors mean when they
tn iv .11,11 .,HW, lilt-til, .1 livil ,HW
Hie, are hiking for "a story" "stuff
that liiii a story In It"; for If llirre Is 1
' stoi Hint Is to any, no plot no
iiouiit of skill and workmanship will
n ,1 I However, when the plot is fin
V .si! one has riot yet produced a short
o-t
He 'i.is now only il diagram, a plan
o spe. .Ile.itlon. He must build this up
th eluracleis, properly assembled In-ule-'s
appioprlate dialogue and such
"'script ion as Is necessary to make 1
l"in iMblc. '
I' 1. im be leincnibered that the story'
t'll'r s not relating what Ii.ih happeuc I :
he Is relating what limy happen. He Is j
'It - itodlcing life; he Is using life
ic purpose of producing art. And
"r ii .itneinbleM all lils eli-menis from I
"Sine tl
V r ' . ".....' ...... "... : : muic c inpo-ml with the nrlmarv oblect Pot.
earn- in a nuiiier or a ioe, oi'e-ioi of t.tp, t.ilnlti-,- the listener. ,' easier to
. 'Pr"' .!:l'rm',ur.. .n,:'.,nl. .,.,",MV,ri:.. . Mr- Post says : "If KMl, , fict!onl en. I to build ;
, r .. ..I IiV.'...!; m.i.. ... " ..V" '.r.T ' tertalns. It also ennobles him the read. . t build
. ,.,f ui iii fiui'iiiii . oi.""" ""' erl this tlctlon becomes a work f nr. irt if
iiiliereuccs tt lollovts tnai wc must, rep-
csent men eltlier as better than In real
ism., men citncr an iituur mail ill n-.ti i ,.a .a,..iAW .
.,. ... i.. , i
life or as worse or as thev are. It Is i, .. . . miwii tiniim i.hic imere-i oi win nueierj aim i-uirnw , umiiiu niwi mere -are maiij would
"t same In pa nting Poivgno us tie" ! ""!" ? rmW?.mc1l " uit luit ' fl'-'facter. And It seems stranger that moved by more revision than the la
tc.-!e,l m.,. .. nohUr ih.-.. thuv ..r. I ' " K occomcs a worK tie lias not nottcen tn.u me reauer no :e,i writers sc-av willing to civ., them
.uison J( ic, nbl,.f lil.,nvlim itrw I .. A . ""l tMH ' ,hf '""' longer gets his surprise and mystery , Let us hate Ntorles real slorie.. itie
. . ..... Kenerous inings ever written, ami if con. from th nlot of tin, .nitlioi. hut from tnore fie merrier! i .!.. rri,...i.. . ..
mem till
The in
" t may uud'rtak bomethlng better1 H'-ally Aristotle didn't quite mean this
'"n iidiure produces. , foll ke -,taH only complaining of some
In onstrui'tlng his plot one had bet-, Phi.vwrlghi.s, who In the struggle
" ' k.- the basic Incldenls from life, as f"' character wcro making their parts
I. '.reeits 10 their triigisllch took liieui. ' "'no liilky" Instead of expressing rhar
' 0111 th' experiences of certain gieat 1 acter at times by action. In his Irrl
' niiln" It should he remembered, how- , tatlon he went so far as to say that a
etr that s,, f,,r as the story as a work ' tragedy can be made without char
' nri s concerned It Is of no Intrinsic 1 acter: and so tt can for a manager,
lortnin-e whether the events uto true 1 "Novices ln the art." Aristotle added,
false The false arc as good as any If I to strengthen Mr. Post's nolnt. "at-
i'ie an be made to conform to what Ihe
a billed the order of nature or, as
' ' 'dit sat. if they are convincing.
It nere that the tragic plot of un-I-
' wrteis fail. It Is not. In any
,.......-. . t.. i. ... i
," HiiKW lHHIHn Hill w Milll-
u th.it tiVhe vevsotiH fjiil to iiiako
, .......
PPi'ii in a necesaty or incvitanie
the) happen In life. And for
ej-on .t : hotter for even the most
Wii'ei to take Ills germinal ln
s from actual happenings, since
' w l then, of themselves, glvu an
i pr inability
i rj turning on tragic incidents
affe t the mind with greater In
'.'- e r the events In It seem to move
" I" brs Willi some ulnNter do-
H i old aiuhotitles said about
i'uti i equal;.' uppllc-Me now.
i an i ITcct Is brst produced when
) sT'-vts eonie on us by surprise; and
' ffr i i. heightened when, at the
" ie 1 itti". Ihev follow as cause and ef
'' 1 !' t agn wnnner will then be
r e e th it Hie liMppeued of them
'' 1 i lo accident, fm even coin-
an. st striking when they
s- s.i jf denmi Wo ma instance
'' s n u of Mt, at Argos, which fell
' oii'dccer while he -was a specta-
- fe i vai anil killed Illlll hltich
f ' i ii not to be due to meie
chance. Plots, therefore, constructed on
these piinolpl's are necessarily tho
hem."
A well constructed plot should bs
t ltln It, II.. I .
. """"
' i " ".ccnl ln lw complctH unity.
; folds Itself or builds Itself up l,y a rial-
;r.".. . i mat 'i "
ur.u una oniony moving of events.
I.tery event should follow the preceding
otic In Inevitable sequence and the ex.
plaiatlon should appear suddenl). 1
The elviiicnt of surprise must come
Mtlftlv .ii tii u-,....
, : . ....... iT.it.ii iiitj biwi) is
utMirr wio explanation. The compile.!.
Hons must be cleared In u few words.
nils Ih the great age of the short
story. It Is to the American people to-1
mini me orama was to ins ureoits.
Wc seek the same element" of Inteicst
In It, and If we would reach the whole
people we must combine those elements
of Interest that the (.reeks found to lie
universal. If we would Interest every
body In our publications, as they under
took to Interest everybody In their open
rorunis, we must give them a work of
art fnl.ifi-li,. otrl.tltt. ,1... .1 1
pointed out.
We must work It out with characters
agreeable to Its Intent; with sustained
dialogue; with incidents assembled from
life, and such descriptions as will nuke
It n succession of vlild pictures. And
wo must do alt this without a single line
or wnnl of Idea or suggestion th.it l not
organlcaly ;cntl.il to the whole design.
By HOOT.. T.IIKIttTO.V.
.Mr. .Melville Davlsson Tost, In what
seems to me a curious and Ingenious
article, demonstrates to his satisfaction
that the purpose of tlctlon Is to enter
tain and that It should entertain by
devices of n.ystery and surprise in the
Idol. He leaves out In the cold all read
ers whom those devices do rot enter
tain, and nlo suggests to his own In
terested reader several questions.
Mr. Tost makes this statement: "The
primary object of all HctKMi Is to enter
tain the reader." We may omit consid
eration of the story of the Prodigal Son
and the story ,f the Oood Samaritan,
which are generally undcrstoixl to have
lit en created" for objects primarily
other than entertainment; Instead, wc
tn.i quote from Macaulay and the Cen
tury Dictionary: "He Hunynn saw
that in emplo.vlng fiction to make truth
ilear and goodness attractive he wus
, f)owi. K the exarntde which even-
'lirNtliin oiu'lit to propose to himself."
I.Mr, l'ot says thnt the primary ob
ject of all fiction Is to entertain the
leader.)
le Ke Ar, among the acrobats
,. , j.m ' . "i .... ,
M P ! ."i ,
, ', '".u'"1 '"c.
i ,', , ;: :
Post of lttln.' long to hear,
.Mr. Pot does not say how profoundly I
:;r'ZT,uJ!:
or art for Miss l.iura .lean I.lbboy al
most as freely as It does for Zola. , . ,,.. ..,.
.Mr Post s.ys later. "It has also! .MI'HIH,VI.N.
haiipenol that the m.vstery or prtblem' I am glad tint romeUnly has had the
stoiy ,as been the vehicle courage to throw a large turnip at those
;Ve,'slal:p;,e1;n:d, S Zry Potent, grave and teverend selgiilors who
be quit.- frank, but it doe not seem so. 1,:,x" 1,scn telling us for a long Mine that
Isn't there, piobahly, a reason nil) "the anything that Is Interesting must, ln the
most unskilful - writers have u-ually nature of things, bo Had Art. Mr. Mel
Wiosen the 'iiLvstery or problem ..tory"?, vllle Post's essay. "The Wight." dealing
is It lK-cause that Is the kind of story . with tlctlon freshly and understanding-,
the must unskilful' ike best-; t. it 1 ,. . . . ,..i .,,, ., ,i,.,i 1
possinie that It is the kind of storv
usually chosen by the most unskilful
leader also? And can It bo that th
"mystery or ntoblem storv'' la th WnH
of slory easiest to write, requiring tht
jCH pp
.T . 1 0,1 . ,lla' "' Greek
polnted out that a work of art In litera
ture could not be merely a representa
tion of life; bin we are permitted to
question his evident Interpretation of
their meaning. He Appears to take It
that they were objecting to what we
till "realism." uhcieas In the tins-
lt.,.. .... ... ... . !
1 'K? 'l"tes . carefully explained
"mr "IK."'r.y 1,l"JUl1 "' narrated In
! verse. This meant that noetrv should
not conlst of statistics as some of Ho
mer's did, though th statistics were
legendary.
.Mr. Port goes on with a bit of loose
thinking from Aristotle, thus: "Char
acter determines men's qualities, but
it Is by their actions that they are
happy or tho reter.se." This Is to say
(as part of a demonstration of the
precedence of "plot" over "character")
that the ;u tlons of a man do not do
peinl upon his character, and Hurt con
sequently h is happy or unhappy, not
.icioiiliiig 10 hw disposition, but only
iih a consequence of acts of his which
hate not resulted from Ills character.
tain finish of diction nnd precision
of portraiture before they can con
struct the plot." How things have
changed slncn then' And Mr. Post
;cd since then ' And Mr. Post
Nothing count nave, so nstonlshed I
says
-i... ii
UIU illUIIIir IIIVII hi mill UK llfl HUH
Idcii of oup own th.it tlm hlirhcst form
... . . - - " .
or literary siruciuro - - may tie ,
merely a fragment of life or the rie
lincatlon of character." Almost a gen
eration has passed since It was clearly
pointed out that It was about time for
Aristotle, to bo astonished.
M.vnlery and surprise In the plot
tli.it 1s, n problem to he unravelled In
wnv that suiprlses this Is the "qual-
Itv." Mr Post declares, which causes a
t eider to follow a slnry through to the
-ml and an auditor tn sit through a play
and be mined by It. Then we read
"Huckleberry l-'inn" not only the first
but the eighth time on account of th
in.vslery and surprise of the plot? And J
after seelu, l-.dwln Hooth lu "Hamlet"
w sat tluough and were moved by
I llenrv Irving and Mounel Sully In that
same pia.v lu-iu ami moven py tne inys.
lerv and surpiise In the plot? Wasn't
II -wonderful how long the plot of "Itlp
Van Winkle" kept Joseph Jefferson s;o -
lug! And -when ho departed from every
singe and ceased to play "Rip Van
Winkle," the plot with Its problem to
WALTER PR1CHARP EATON MONTAGUE GLASS
be unravelled and Its surtrlses, kept
the play Just as dellghtfullv before the
public as ever, so that t c s.im imc ic
go to see It, year after ear, as they al
wa.vs did because If was the plot that
brought them and not at all the char
acter that .Icfferon built of "Itlp.
M'. 1'ost observes that "a work of art
cannot be a mere segment of either tin-
turn or life," and that Is obvious. Hut
perhaps an Interpretation. In paint or
marble or wolds, of a seginei t of nature
or life may be a work of art. The
"Pstehe" n the .Museum at N'aples Is
extremely segmentary. :ct it l generally
understood to he a work of art - and It
has been said, somewhere, that the
"Venus of Mllo" Is another. It seems
to me thnt t have read chapters which
w-re works of art In book that were
not. Then there Is "Hamlet's Solilo
quy" It 1 a work and It appears to be
art. It has no "plot," however, and
Mr. Post would probably ho compelled
to deny that It Is a work of art unlet,
he remembered his former concession.
under which. If nnyhody read the so-
"'!' t" miss
m.,i I, o,il.i ,h.n .... tn h. .
,
, numim ...in i 'l'""'1" "' '
and I do offer them it Is .ilwas
throw- bricks, -like th s-than ,
and he has been at tne patni
an IngculuUh theory and to sup-
inanfiillv. Hut It seems strange
that he does not perceive the profounder
:hat of th rcvlfwcr'
once called the attention of all mv
friends to It. In particular, I brought
It to th notice of a number of young
stera who honor me with their confidence
and who are eager to arrive somewhere
In literature. The aspirant who ponders
that Hrtlele carefully wlU be saved a
vast amount of unhapplneas. The Idea
that only the psychological novel or a
narrative of bald realism can be "good."
that Is, approach the highest literary
standard, Is absurd, Kven Henry James
hss said In an old eBsay on the novel
that Its essential function Is o enter
tain. People of different degrees of cul
ture and experience never will agree of
course as to what is entertaining Hut It
seems to me that .Mr. Pott Is quite right
III all that ho fiuyt of the universal ap
peal, A greater number of people will
llnd pleasure In a story that Ib a story
than In one that Is a tract or a string of
dialogue. We ate preached at from a
good many sides these days , the maga
zines and newspapers are full of sermons
of one kind and another. Now and
then a "purpose" novel, like Mr. Church
Ill's "The Inside of the Cup," really does
some good : but generally speaking I'm
opposed to the breed.
Mr. Post speaka of the affinity be
tween tho short. story and the play, and
most of us who watch tho American
theatre with any nort of interest know
that the reason so many ploys fall Is
that the stories they tell are too feeble j
to hold the attention. Thfy do not pique
our curiosity as to the outcome, or they I
present hackneyed plots that are per- I
fectly transparent from the moment the I
curtain rises. And herein lies the great 1
dltllculty of those who attempt story tell. ,
Ing In any form, Plots are hard to get.
There are. It Is often said, only a few
basic: plots the rest are all variations,)
i aiiii no n-.M noon aim no iriwu-r iu sup-
I nlv imagination tn tho tyro. A character ,
,,k(.,ch. r.o matter how sound or how ,
iv,. n. ,ti,,i,r,in
.
tx.tUirv th iw i.tt inr im l i ohiA 4n ti
L"...iw rV " .1 V" ' '
nuirii hu ti hi Ml. "ll i IIV.HUII iviiii'ir
i c..Ur,t constantly to characters who
would work up splendidly Into llction.
Kvery community has such "subjects" ;
In my own town there nre dozens of them
thnt 1 have known all tny life, Hut
clearly more descriptions of these per
sons would not make good stories. A
story, as Mr. Post says, must have a
beginning and an end, and between the
(list and the last line soine'lilng must
luippon. If we sit in a window and look !
out upon a crowded tlioioughf.ue we
observe a rnntlntilng procession of peo
ple. They are all ical people, striving,
straining to get somewhere; but a tie
scrlptlon of the street tralllc doeH not
inako n story. There mil't be Incidents;
something unusual must happen, or wo
yawn and find hotter oeeupnllon.
' am hprnklng as n lavnuan, but I
wight erhais be quoted againHt intself.
' Mr II W Ho.vulon rccenllv reviewed
' all my novels wllh certain, phnirc.i In
nny essay of nrlue (The. Confessions of
I a Heat Holler) nn his text, He, proved
1 pretty fairly, I think that when I
' " "
ttemptcd to be a realist 1 failed for tin
i n t i.it I 1. 1 torn it, e hit t'c bettn
oi nit I thank Mil for iiomtit.g thl it
i mo St 1 I evci ,tt 11,11, I rii in
i the iiiste ,-t of the bulioioiv t dellni
it Wn.it I tried tn do u "A ,,os
t 'ironii le, ' foi eainple. was to reii
, I certain phases of Indiana life an,
1 depict characters that appeared to b,
within the range of u..v , ii.prehenxu,
i- l.-iltlifulh us knew how, and Mi
W- (.trill-- the whole Uon a plot It wa
a rWiful sort of tale. I th Ilk, and Hem,.,
inlliet i.iiiuilllie In Its tone as to tilt
Sate of iiiankli.d, failed t-i qu.ilifv a a
tcillvn with thine who hug the notio'i
tint rtutitn to be leallstic must be as
bleak as a Siberian waste. Kven it
this Is the worst of world", widch I don t
billevc. there's not much use ill trj m
to tllch hope from tlioe stupid souls w i
.He trjlug to make the best of It
Hut after all a writer has jot to nrlte
what's in him to write. If he seeks In
spliatUn In the academic authorities or
tries to "write like" this or that Itussiati
or l'reich novelist he Is bound to pleas,.
'n luemuire from the precit
' . ' "l. rV""" !""'
III mailt k In. U of u-rltlna v., I ..
think ,,f ,.i ..r...i i, ..,. ,. ".
Mr. ow.llss Keneu.l .'.lill.tv . ,."a
..mniier ,11' f IllMI.U It ..II t . .1 (...
,,illtv to writ,, uoii i. ..., ... .....i
,,,n,t i i,.,r i, r .. . .
n e rt storlrn wm .o fr.'., i.
hur-
miv be. anil mvstet t- ami j,u-i,inrn
Moiics with a thrill In them, and honest m.- right nt to tb,- last m'nute It s golie,
stories icllectlng American alms and . to turn out to In. tlie slilftt eved sun of
i.inures .inn nopes. hut there Is no rea-
;s. 11 11I1.1 their literary quallt Mhouliln't
"c mien 10 .1 lusher plane,
Mj II Milt V I.IIOX WII.siin.
Mr. Post writes stories better than he
.-un tell how to write them A piece .ike
this arouses all that Is evil In my n.Hure.
W hat I win from his to many words
we should nil write "mystery" storlos.
If not thnt. then we should pay more
iifentlon to plot than to character. In
elthor case. od forbid!
To a sometimes guilty byatar.der it
veritably appears that our fiction Is al
ready plotted t) death: ;ood plots
deftly fashioned, nicely seamed, with
an abundance of what Mr. Post calls
virile. Incident" I take a dozen
monthly mngazlnes rather desperately
because I live in the country the first
dozen ou would name, somcchttip. some
costly, and all, with ono new ami Im
pudent exception, quite uniformly bad
In their llction . viften "correct" eiiough
but gcr.eially lifeless 1 count It a lucky
month when I find four r.adahlo short
stories In the twelve say four stories
out of seventy-two! Plots evenly good,
but oh' the dreadful aridity of their dis
closures their appalling dead enliven
Hunalness of "chaiacler "
Anil Post saying we should give still
more, attention to plot ! ijuotcs Aristotle
too saying he was "one who knew"
to this effect : 'The plot. then. Is the tirst
principle, and lis It nete the soul of s
tr:iBc,l ; chaiacler holds u -second place "
Maybe Aristotle "knew," hut did he'
Why neeetsarlly? Knim this one susl
poets, not. (if ,-ouise wn shall never
kiiiiiv ,-criHiniy until
wo mul .(im. n
Ills own tragedies or some of hi. .!,,
stories as good as Mr Post's. Onlv the
man who can do It "know. '.i i..
can't tell, it's a secret. "A slmllnr f-in
Is seen In painting," continues this suing
old Athenian with a quite modern ef.
frontery, because, he hits stated no f ic,
- and what lie now says more plnuslblv
pioves him wrong than light "The
most beautiful colors laid on confusedly
will not give us as much pleasure as the
cuiiiK outline or a portrait " Pxactlv
what wo wish in .. -m. . ''. .
.-xactly not what ris oth thoi 'i 7.
mm- nMuiK. i lit? mat itontiiiriiiic in.
.!... ...i... . I...
" . 1 '..A""".""10 npH nil a
hut-
i. .11 iv rnii-i iiiurorr in a Mirny sewer
by the pastor of the Second Hnptlit
Church, who was hjimotlzed to this 1r.
THE CHANT OF
By KIIWI.V
RK ','rli"(l. al'Ut ot Pxr
YY I' Wil on is tlie hrll of iAf
J'f iri'l We in ii'rn Aerriie vhrn
Yrl fight, for the ileail trill hne triors n ilrnlli-rluhh of iimf in the rutin.
Ye hate pit en lis honqurt, O fanu'. nnrf uttll ilo ue rlninor for mote
I'dsf, last (s our hunutt, im tnt n fir ent-hungrr vnntilng the uhote.
O king, lie hnve (nlrrril tn ttiltiirr hme ehnorn tit fr'tl in, fortonlh,
The jog of the trnrW mirf her glory, the hopr of tht uoihl nnd her yotith
O king', tie oie rfiii;ii( fm-Aeiyi ue Uurel uout iiiie iri(i mi pinfse,
h'vr tie hi e the mtiff of out font foil, for jc oe the sfi rno'A " ovr ini
Then spur on the hont tn the tirnehe to tine up the ektl at n ulrohr.
We tell all the trMn of thtir vforv nr pulill, their fame iri'A o eronk'
Krotn "Tlie Hkoes of llsppiness" (liouhlcilny. Ia
nv.ii-rwirTHKyTV?H.wi.'i f i
HARRY LEON WILSON,
TAff&V AT ffi BOtt&fAN
CLl3 GFOV V CALh
FORMA
lie ineldonr bt the war derlr.c toct from
li.,l .1 r i,,i' ,,.:.& iiiinl..
tn- killed m ill, who had
sound r-a-on one mat Inv
c ry -.mo,
rm killing
hi- rather why. that wu-t of plllle wil'
nut glte the pleasure tint one human
eh inn-tor will. et,-n though lie achiete
ti. iihlni: moie virile than to lute Into an
i- i-iisn. ill . s.ior at file Kven l'-e third
b:r irie-s man knows thi- He r, .ids the
plot sU'r.t and forg -ts It . He reads the
i iiaiaet-r stot.t and lere uls It. and te
members It. VrMotlr, Indeed ' I a'
ready know more about the mechanics of
llction building than Aristotle did. So
docs Harold Hell Wright. Aristotle hnd
s mind, innybe, but not the kind Mr.
Wright and 1 havo. He was even HJ
little knowing In our trade as to say
that novices learn "portraiture and dic
tion" before, they larn to make a plot
An hour's expert study of a twelve-year-old
child, hud Im boon capablo of It.
would hnve taught him that wn Instinc
tively mnke plots almost from our ear
liest consciousness . the "portraiture."
tho charii'tertzatlon. we must learn, if
we ever learn It. thtough fasting and
piayer anil agonized travail. Thnt will
be aUmt all for Aristotle.
Not only are plots enslly made; they
ate not worth "making." Has Mr Post
ever asked himself how people recall
the stories they like? Is It not almost
Invariably b-.- ceitaln characters that
touched them" And almost never by
plot? To take bis own piactlce as dis
tinguished from his pleaching, Mr. Poit
deliberately specializes In plot, and now
and then one foigetu hlH people In the
nrnl whirring of his wheels. Then he
Iibb written a fallur. I'sually. I mn
glad to say. be atones for this excess
of plot (whether h knows It or not)
bj a ratlior unusunl excellence of chili--.icterliatloti.
If he built not hotter
than he seems to know Ills stories
would In no way excel the average
"m.vstery" story of coniiii'rclnllzed
magazine vice, where the plots aro as
tiOod as his but where the characteriza
tion ceiild all bo done up nicely with
four rubber stamps.
Mr. Post somewhere- to prove or ills
piuve something that probably didn't
peril Ii lugs In Pr. Johnson! A line
pint ho was! Suiely we agree there,
ir. Poit that he was the absolute zno
of plot. Yet along came a man with
n gift for chnractorlzatlon- and nothing
else and made a best seller of one who
otherwise would long since have had
the forgetting he wns In for
Our tlctlon Is truly In n bad way,
Mr Post, but for no lark of good plots,
as you, tho arch plotmaker, seem to
think Has "Huckleberry Finn" a
THE VULTURES
M Ml K 1111.
buttle vr joy fit the sm' n fAc moA
treni - hru trr piifinA tioiir nniiles irilh n r'rii'i, '
the aimnf hlaua cold on the iriirriim, until
ol"" I do re,-all rh nljt of Da d
I llarum," but only because it was so lino i the mine i ii-liment.il iilnt, the
l I iqiiely bad and yet Hi.it story aVlti- 1 'i ' 'in n- le i If, hial and ft
lanlly found fie t,pul.ii it jou would t thet ev iliiiioi, tor c upri'liTislon
guide us to. lnen.I a Ao'ide fill I -I1- sum cine won. of art a - a general
r.ful ailvetitme m sU'-h th'tms go with rule .inlv lecoims poiuiljr long after It
tin. ln characterization. j was crcati'd, when the opinion of an
To elt one .To-" ph Conrad: he is no I evolved minority has h.nl time to spread
more to be trusted with a plot than I among an unevolved ni.ijonty.
I hah with f.ithei s now Kfen-kut As an Instam e of how char.ute-nkes
azor lie dos the most weirdly dread- plot we could not have a better c.vunplc
till, trying. Inexpert things with bis
bints. I sincerely wish that o excel
I nt n workman as .Mr. Post could help
1 is art st there. Yet despite his turn-
mess, our best critical authorities as-
. it. and I myself dev. utlv believe. Con-
tail to lie the one present sup! cine
nater of prose tlctlon. lo be une lie
would W more widely anpiecl ited, and I
m.vself would read him with less dlfll
i iilty If he were more sensitive to plot;
but I for one would hesitate to tench
I hint any of my undeniably superior plot
l'rc, fearing he might lose soinethli.-'
more precious while h sat nt inv feet.
And what I say holds as well with
writers who are popular. W. W. Jacobs
has seldom shown hlmelf master of
more than four plots, and for stw years '
las used not i-iore than two, hut .1
hit of us would still tiauip a long trail
t r a in w Ja.-ul.s stort
m Mr I 'ost now of course gracefully
i.r-es that 0111 trouble is not a lack .f
good plots. I'm going to toll him what
11 a, -mailt Is Itather, I II let one of our.
pub! slieii tell him. This one dies me
'1 honor to ask mo ri- .1 story Me
-,tvs he would consider 11 a privilege to,
s,e one atnl tint needless to t.,y he
would pay a "good price" for It. And
then "We would prefer that It b- a
romance with a strong love Interest
and a charming girl heroine, so to say,
with a di.iniatlc ending that will ur-
i p'iso lh reader
I I here. Ml Pnst ion hiil-e 1ho sole
trouble Willi what, speaking technically,
wo must ill "American lltr,ttur," If
we are still at th" dlapeinus stage It s
hf-allse tin- iiuhlis.iei s have kept us
there ltollg!ll. speaking thev ale nit
about rqilallv guiltt The proof of it
is that scare oil'- "f then wi'I s,.p am
thing cheap or funny or l-npei-tlnent In
the above nrescrliit on -or. alas' inoro
dreadful still, anything Hlgnltlcatit
Publishers git to be like that fbsl
knows I do truly rate my own writings us
but of moderate worth, but I hate never
known a publisher who was ns me"k us
lie should have een, oven In tny poor
presence. 1 know hardly one of them
that wouldn't feel competent to tell me
tho sort of thing I ought to write. And
they are doing It nnd we nre doing It
too many of us.
Hut hold ' I've Just caught Mr. Post
In something that nukes me sorry I took
hlni even ;n seriously as I did
"Meredith, when he was dying,
lamented that tho Kngllsh people did
not lead his bonks It was his own
'iiilt. He chose an involved nnd un
natural style In which things were
purpose! made dltll-ult to under
stand" And that will be about all
for Post' Hcte.ifter, my child, when
ton speak of this ntl't doff your little
.all nnd pipe low. for sou speak of one
who, fioni the Internal evidence, wioio
as clearly as (!od would let him, and
whose strugglo to glte a Just fabric tu
his vision must have ben one
I......
1.1 e u.i.it Th.,l IV,. ,.1.1 Inn ,M
something you and I will never stirrer
It la only we small fry who can "choose
methods or tAlk alsiut plots for that
mutter. Now. to bed with jou, and no
supper.
Hy A "VI 111. IF. IIIVH1 I Pit I N ('!;
THOt'IH'.T.ltlM ).
Mr Post's article "The Wight" re
minds me of th assertion of some poo
p!o who say that they "lovo mitlc "
t times I havo been drawn to people
who have declared that they loved mu
sic. Then 1 found that the music they
loved was not music tn ine, although far
more popular, having a more "universal
appeal " than that which I love There
Is no doubt that both here and alu.iad
the "Men- Widow Waltz" was more
isipuhir than Heethoveu's Ninth Scni-
phony, but I hniilly think thai fact I highest typ of man does not want to
proves that tho "Mnrrv Widow Waltz" I be -i detective, bemuse he scorns rile oc
Is superior to the Sjmphony. i iii,itlon In precisely the same way
Those people and I. with the same i the highest type of liter it-v mind scorns
words expressed a very different on- "i" "tery story. It seems to mn that
vlctloii, mid now It seems to me that ""' "'lest pie we i t are tho-e who
Mr. Post nlso use. Hie s.im. words lh.it COIOP' eheild their fi How men most
I should use. to express a ve v dirr. - i -
cut opinion. Tor 1 too feel thai prol.
lent and mister should be the vital i
elements In every woik of art but vvh.le '
Mr. Post applies these tuo ilellniiions
to such facts, as Plot nnd linidenl, I
appl ihciu to ;he Inner forces in In
illvlduals, which pieced,, plot and Inci
dent, from whh h Indeed, Plot and lu-,
clilent iiIw.i.vh hiolng. I
To give lo plot a greater Importance
than to character, Is. II seems to me, to!
start from iho conseipienei. lnslc.ii! ,,r
irotn ine cause troni ine suri.-ice liisieai
of fioni the son no This l.iltcr nn iliml
will. I am sine, milie tlie Rrr itint ap
peal to the gie.itet nunibei of i-e.ulei-s
since the will mole eaull iiuderMand
an ciiisiiioii oi conciein i.icih man one
of moie sublle psjchologlcal problems.
Tho a e titt u bnrvv,i lwavsarre
than th, play of "Htln llo.' Suppose that
a u-iMin of. s.iy Mr. IJ,Mee!f ch.irac
ter had lieen th" protagonist of that
ilr.itnn : Imm would have hoen promptly
disposed of In some niatcrl,i in.'inne.-
on his first iinpiident Inmien'lo and
there would hate ben no iday.
I quite tigiee with Mr. Post In consid
ering that the supreme worl. of art in
,'IIIIK III. II III," ? lll'I ,-ll- HUI h li .,11 III"
eto.les Im.I1, ehonielnr :..! firnblem. tint 1
think that Mr. Post will probably agree
with me when I s,y that such works
hate been created by the masters of nil
times. t beyaus,- they wished to make
a "universal appeal." hut becauso their
books were the Inevitably result of their
genius.
Ill .1 1 1. 1 S.TIII.IVP.
I lead Mr Melt ll'e lavl-"on Post's
.iltieli, "The lll.ul't' When '! "ppeared
m tho Snlitiitii i I i,ii 11 Po-t , and It
st lit U 1110 at the tl-ne as be.ng ono of
Hi', most pritr-tli plausible bits of
1 sophist!- I bad ever seen advanced It
, was bad be.-ansc it w 1 good, beeail1-'
It belltiled the biggest qualities of
modern II tion a-id glorified inferiority
Mr. Post Informs us In effect th.it
'"what tho iniblb; wants" to renl Is tho
b, st llterntilie. nnd that be, ause "tho
human m'li.l even-where Is rug iged al
most ex. hisii oli with problems" It
tborefoie follows that the m.vstery story
rank" above i' others artistically, pro
vided It be .lime as well as any other
gnen life ..f sum
line obtl'iUu teplv to th's Is that the
master storv will neter be done lis well
as ,ert.iln otbei tipe- ,.f stor, because
the form d"cs en. r ill'- appeal to
the highest tip,- of 1 to ary mind I do
not mean the "buhb-ow 1 mean the
'm list
, One nsisoi
whi the m-story story
does not genet till appeal to tho artist
1s becaiiso Its etnictuie is merel a trick,
and a rather chenp one It consists In
setting up n bathing circumstance, keep
ing the reader mizzled and letting him
In on the secret at the eqd. In this It
Is compilable with "pigs In clover," the
cut out picture puzzle or any other silly
game which merely require a kind of
stm.d patience in the player.
I remember once se'lng nn idiot t
play. She would throw burned matches
over her shoulder, then turn around and
hunt for them. That was her "tnvstery
stor ' It was as far as she could go.
Itelng an Idiot she h.nl absolutely no com-
piehrns' if ,-h.ira. 'er H.nl she not
been nu Mint hill ine el niy stupid
she might have been Interested a little,
bit in peopl, She might h iv o noticed
that tits person had ted h ilr or that
person w, pi on slight provocation.
Had she been a little less stunld she
might b iv.- ilo, lu, e. I i-eitam things about
these pisiple Iruin lb,- fn-is she knew
concerning them She might, for evain-
p!, have observed that tne red headed
person lias i-iiiii I leiiiprreo fion nun um
Il-.llllll I'fl'Oll ll.is Itll-s.Miir " l'f -HI-
I I""' "!" ""l ,,h
ive boemi In
linple way lo i.italigue Individuals
When she niot some one el o li,e one
of these two she might recognize in the
newcomer certain ti alts slmllnr to ihose
she had reongnlycd befoio in ono of tho
tli-s two chnracii-i s And as she onmo
better to uinbrstand people she Mould
beg'u to note the i ITect of one indi
viduality upon another. Tho tiresome,
teal fill person would prrhaps imtate
the hot tempered person with red hair,
mil when that had g..ne on fm a
time eel tain lesults would ensue. If she
noticed these r. suits she might tires
entl draw from them certain conclu
sions alsnit hum. in beings In their re
lation to each other, which la to suy,
about life.
Wli it Is the highest tjpn of man we
meet In leal Ufc" N he the detective,
tho unraveller of m.VHlines'1 No The
1 nulcklv. completely and aympathetlcilly
i Mid
III the samo wnv It sceius
Unit the author who has the
. le.-iirst , i Hi 1 1 1 1 elienslon iC vvha,t wc
..ill "ii1:1 iiiclcr" and who builds
his stories out of ch i '-i. let-, t honing the
ilit"'iel itioo of various pea and their
logical ill vi-lopllii n will, ive, thing I Iso
being equal, i, present Hie mote trill
than Hie in. in wlni iiuiiivclh the mvsteiy
of tlie missing will. Mho, I think the
-i rller who ebits lo woik from . lit' ac
ter rntlicr than from plot, thai is to i-ac,
n, ,,, wlioloispls
li 1 1 i , I , is build up
Ins idol for liliii is ii. .ii" iii life, In
Me. id i building up a pli, nisi and 111 --,ng
I'll, .pel:. In il I ih n, ihil wilter
lilvch to be i, in n nt luehei- oil, III.
Keii. e, liner pen epl ion. i e il. i sensitlt e-
pess, mure artistic feeling.
I Character seems to nie to be th' first
MUST FICTION
PRIMARILY
ENTERTAIN?
essential, One remembers people longer
than ono remembers what they do. Tint
Ih true In life and in llctlou. "tiavlil
llarum," tor example, was a book almost
without plot II would. PitliMPs. have
been a better book for more Interplay of
I character, more plot, but the. central fig
ure In tho slot- wiih a character mini
tlently striking to carry the book to sue
ce: s Almost every book we tenictnber
vividly Ih leinemhereil llrst of nil for
chatai'ter. Select at random the great
booliM oii have read, beginning with
Shake.s.f,iro and Don Quixote, and kcr
which Impressed .ton most, which 3011
remember best, the plot of tho story or
the qualities of Its central figures.
Mr Post demands a "system." lie
wants mica by nhluh Immortal stories
may be made lie quotes Aristotle's
rules, In any tioM: store to-day lie may
tl ii I text boolj) lajltig down rules as dell
nlte as thueic or Aristotle, and 111 use.
less ftoin a cre.illto standpoint. Unlet
may h of some use to the raw amateur,
but the bigger the writer ths muro he
s a ruin unto himself. Holes mako
li.ick Hacks make "nustery plots."
M sterv plots nia.i, as Mr. Pott says,
icil.e "circulation." Certainly they do
not strain the intelligence of tho tired
I usiness man and the sweet girl gradu
ate a", for Installer, ileorge Meredith
1 deplored b .Mr. Post) would he llkclj
lo do.
Hut does that prove that Conati Do.vl
is gti.iler than Heorge Meredith?
To me It would luirdlv appear so.
t itj wi,n:it piticiMiin Rvrn.N.
Arlstotln's "Poetics" has been fruitful
of more critical tlis,ry than njiy woik
,e er written, and at one perlcd of tin
world's history h.id a far greater effect
upon the ilr.inrt ,,f ICuropc thsn any
other single force. Hut now it remained
for .Melville Davlsson Post to make the
great peripatetic tho arehai'ologlst for
tho xntitnlitti Hrenlnn Poit and tho Cos
nmimlltnn. Mr. Post s.i.vs there should
bo a surprlso In ovcry short ntoi ,v , he
also sftns to believe th-re should' he a
surprlso In even pln o of crltlcbm.
1 hive no Intention, however, of de
bating Aristotle with Mr Post. That
ht,uM h leaching on A. II. Walklcj's
p. -.serve... Aristotle, as a plain matte,
or common sense, lias so little to do with
tho modern sh .rt story that I -am sur
prised Mr. Post should Invoke him
Isn't this rather "dilettante," rather
"highbrow"?
What Mr. Post seems to be getting
at in his a -tide, briefly stated, it tins
The magazine which Ills a circulation of
a million, which It g.ilus bf nrlntlne
I ... .., . . ,
I o.OTies f m.VSttry. plot. Illlll Sill
' " " h- s Proved that the great short
. ,tn.U!,t 'ontaln .rim:irlly tnvstery.
I J" 'l .a"'' ""rPrlse. The other magazines
'"f l"0,',,',rp, il rlrol":'t!ou. don't,
I ',rlnt ,",orl" fu" of pi'tery. plot ami
I f"rlr se. Iheti-fore I ol.ert W. Cham-
. i.-i m Kfr.urr arnsi xnan 1 nonnis
t Hardy.
I don't wish to bo unfair to Mi- jvs
but upon tny word that Is tho impression
I g't f-oni his irtn-li
Nuw. n ., m.iltci of f.-i-t, Im t.
Aw.iro that an.vl-i.l, uoith listen pg ,,i
ha.- eter mid- the claim that u pin-
st.ity tor i I nc one, for that matte
doesn't have to be a s'ory. doesn t nave
to have nie sort of u beginning, mid
die, and end in olhor words-, a plot
The iitst duty of a sto-v of ,iurt
10 entortnui. by ,innilnr: Intern. t lu a
llctlonai charo-tei or eh.n.icters and m
tho ston- of thoir les Hut 1 do ruost
htretiu. ust object to Mr Poll's assuni
Hon, so blithely made, that what will
immeitintelv eniertiin a million maga
zine readers is rhen-foro rhs best and
most I'lidii'.ng litor. ure SometuneN t
Is Very often it Isn't Neither M
Post nor all tie ruvriads who read Hie
Hntvrtlny lit 'nlnn PoM and the ro.iiiio.
pofifuii cm tell what Is going in endur,
T'm hHS t, d- tint And I' K hard
possihlo that Minetbiiig fi nm tat .11.
luHffc Monthly ma i cndin'e as buu
the mo-t sj,iula- Il lion of tlie hour
"An lla1ilt.it ion Knfoni-d" 'vs printed
tn tho rendu-j, The "old Chester Talcs"
wei-o printed In llarprr.t .loafMt b-dh
magazines with tho s,v,nid "fvv hm
dresl tliouand" circulation.
Truth to tell, this blatnnt appeal t"
numbers Is rather sickening, and eonie
would say only too typically American
Klther a story Is literature, or it Is not,
uccordlng to it perfect fusion of v.l
humanity, truth and emotional appeal
Kmotlonal nppetil may come prlmarll
from plot, from melodrama, as In so
much of Toe, or It may come from chat
neter almos' exclusively. ,yen from, th
much scorned "atmosphere," as i,
fr.iwford l'oe would hardly 'iidu
without his st)le which was a bail' '
lug part or the man ronan Po Ic, we
venture to predict, will not end. ire he
cause of his Inch of st . le Db ki is I id
riot anient), hut t'-ere are some he
flighted souls who "enjo.v" Jane Mis'- .
also, and she. we f.mcv. could li.it H
sells a serial to the r '. iixip"! '' " tt e
even tenturc lo asseil, ttislotle a l
Mr. Post to the contritv tiutw It .stai .1
Itlg, that Tolst0's "Powers of I ai ktiess "
or even liorkv's "Night P.efuge.' is i
greater piece of liieiatiiio than "Kn '.
In" Ml Mr Post is icallv doing is ip
plting th Hro.itltt.il iniinageis stm "
11 rd of dramatic i box ottlee) appeal lo
our printed liter.ituie, though ho ici
try to bolster un his case with tho il
nity of tho "Poeiics." Personally, I n "i-ul
tills It Is an attitude which has l
ready done great h.iim to many a prom
ising young American writer.
There Is onlv one way to create real
literature, ami that is to write etactli
what toil f.el lo be the truth, In cxaitl
the It .It thit von feel It. If lour in i .'
Is a nn rathe mind, If your Interest is
prlmarili in spinning the yarn. )ouil ho
a Stevenson or i Poo provlibd i.-u
have their slle' If your Inteicst ..
more ln character study, you will tln vv
iiiili- emphasis there And so u g.
Utiles are Impossible nnd silly. The .lell
nltlon of a short t-t.ni has got to .11, I.i-Ik
"The Murders of tin Hue Moigue ' ,i i I
"They, I'he (Jrr.it Stone l-'nee" anil '
Piece of String, I'he Iliad id Po1,,
ilulch" and "An Habitation Knforer i
Any less exclusive ilellnlllnti would l
riillculous, and oten one lucbidlng these
would still bo far too narrow.
To sa that an of these stories ,r.
without plot would be. of course, lolli
Hut to a,t that thev all depend for tlie r
greatness on tie elements of nnsl,
and Htirprisr. wmhl lie inoie foolish st,''
ii.e.v depend te tin. greatness prlui.n
Hi on Hull- pi rr.'ieii .11 , 1 1 ii mn li 1 ,i t i I .
life combiueil wiih linn- prrfd I op i.'
stile How iii.iiiv oi tliein , oili .
accepted lo-d.ii In ,it,i magazine mi
a clrtuluti'iu of a i i , 1 1 1 , -1 . I an i n.i i
a position lo t.ii I'erliaiis all ot fheot
could: I icitilnli Hope so, i',,e I i
iclliahis. Iioweici' that those u1 IV i.
which ,'it luoilern happtmil to ,pp
In uiaga.ipi h of ,t
i hi
ilist, iliul ion
V In n e gel in i I... i
i ul.il ion atei hi-gi hi
about hours! ,i lei In i nl -we
shall have a l-ii, i
America,
,1 i '
'il 1.
1