The sun. [volume], October 16, 1915, SPECIAL LITERARY SECTION, Image 9

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

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SPECIAL LITERARY
SECTION
REVIEWS AND NEWS
OF BOOKS
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1915. entrant, itn, ie printing and ntmm anwmnm,
THE AMERICAN NOVEL-ITS MERITS AND ITS DEFECTS
" -1 g vl W jmW ggSM a-mueL Vi(-.rwu
Dait M lulcheon gf wA lTgPiPW
rti iin tn but I II bTB5. . W .SSWpejfciSgf-gJ .. . .
do not to be fooled gf4 Lfl$J9H I
I rH vyi ,, r,n ner
m mm SJgLSJ ,. m mo.
(to a from the screen H j MSB ZWgJ the I of
BM PPJ ,,,e lli'l the
to mm mm m Jm mmm
K-oKd.it! . fmt mjWt their mediocre
grigl mtMmmt I "ol ""' ,,op'
us to what n T9mm mm '" "''
j among teemlnit millions, and 7 " won five lire! il while i
otir fore s 1 ; 7 end MaKiies, worl
H Mi K O tie 1 ' W not lint, survives, won
M mk&'' 'Times. They had their
gf gfg) Msm. Wfimmk - their far ln-
fif B ; J i to otir moving picture show. Iti
BM V 1 CUI I Miami's slnrious
SlLojJSBr - HEvilT rki5H great public has had Its own favorites.
OPfjlH MUM Wfg?s&'- It- irnVFKj.. Hannah .Mole m-sold Walter Scott;
BFv"tHM jE Jf-Sl: Jf fl Sijah two million copies of her Shepherd of
M8MK. W;:::K,7fc,V. fliJgUal V " w"' "u"' "
MANY SUCCESSFUL
AMERICAN AUTHORS
GIVE THEIR VIEWS
Mr. Meredith Nicholson, who recently wrote exhaustively in the
"Atlantic Monthly" on th; subject of the American novel, contributes
here some views which are used as a basis of comment. On this and
a succeeding page many prominent American authors express their
opinions m regard to our contemporary fiction.
THE MAGAZINES;
THE MOVIES; LACK
OF "BACKGROUND"
P HIII.MIV.
M t It I HI ' II
v is not 90 bad as Its i ovcls.
nor. for hat matter. Is a cnnslitutloiial
sionarehv. The taste of many an Amer
ican his been dsbaaed by Kngllsh 5c
Don At the risk of appearing ungraeloua
1 n.ng .n Mr. Uarnett's teeth an armful
0 the writing ol Hull Cain. Mrs Bar
sit .i ; Marie Corelll. The slightest
reard for the literary standards of a
yomi and struggling republic should
rpxi.nt the mother country to K.ee
trash at home It is our moat grievous
s n thai we have merel) begun to manu
h lure our own ruhhwh. In a eomniend
,' .. tp Ml of btl Idlni UP home indus
tries In my youth I was prone to in
ilu".e In pirated reprint: of most en
r m g t..:. adorable curatea' n e.es
who wen forever playing Cinderella at
aunt hails ami breaking all the hearts
In 'he county. Tn" were duke's daugh
t'.. resllr. changed In 'he cradle i Tiol-
Inps, with a d.ish of hitlvrs. hut
.ft. el UDon nie 1 helieve to havu
fcaniful
Hur slow advance In artist!" achieve
Men) baa been defended 0:1 the plea Hint
we h v no background, no uerapecttve
at"l thai our abaorptlon in bualnaaa af
falrr leavea "o time for that serene eon
ten-plat on of life that is essential to the
h irh. st attainment To pass me dbvioaa
hi "..laureate bromide that we are In
heritor! of 'he lore of all the ages. It
may he suggested thit our daVekmciaa
ti, the real arte are nverbalancM oy I dividual
the nrwltgloua lat.ors of a people who 1 n,r,. ,
the r
bean
01 an auoriiu circle; another wlio "never
revises" aroue even more poignant de- !
pair. The laborious Balaoc tearing hia I
prcMd'e to pieces seems only a tUnay and'
pitiahle figure. Nolwdy knows the d'.l-!
ference and what's a wet) turned sen-,
tence more or lesa'i I saw recently a
newspaper editorial commenting de
risively on a novelist's eonfession that I
lie was capable of only a thousand words!
a nay. the Hint Pemg taat the average
newspaper writer triples this output
without fatigue. Newcomers Into tne
Held can hardly fall to he Impressed ty
these rumors of novels knocked off In a
month or three months, for which
astonishing sums have lieen paid by
generous magazine editors We shall
have better Action as toon as ambitious
writers realise that novel writing Is a
h-xh calling and thai success Is to be
won only by those who are willing to
serve seven and yet seven other veara
in the hope of winning "the crown of
time."
In his happy characterisation of
Tuigenieff and his relation to the
younger French school of realists. Mr.
lames speaks of the "gTeat hack garden
the croakers at home would have
I think as to what we do and feel and
: believe. Bur the realists must play the
1 irame straight They must paint the
1 wart on the sitter's nose even though
' he refuse to pay for the portrait ' Half
I hearted dallying and sidling and com
prom. sing are not getting us anywhere.
The flimsiest POtnanos 'a preferable to
dLshonost realism. It is the meretricious
tuff In the guise of realism that we aie
all anxious to pepper with blrdshot.
Having thus, I hope, appeased the
realists, w! are .'-n exact. ne phalanx,
difficult to satisfy. I feel that It Is only
' right. Just and proper to rally for a
!' moment the scampering hosts of the
( romanticists. It is deplorable th.it
1 tt sail am should he no roused to tdood
thlrstlness by any Intrusion ujkui the
1 landscape of Komantlaiam's dainty
j frocks and flutteilng ribbon llefore
Realism was. Romance ruled In many
kingdoms. If Komaiue had not been,
Realism would not he. Iet the Cos-
sa.-ks keep to their s de of the river antl
i behave like gentlennen! Others have ',
Isald it who spoke with authority, and
1 I shall not scruple to repeat, that the
I stnrv for the storv's sake Is a nerfectlv I
deoenti honorable and praiseworthy
. thing It is as old as human nature,
j and the deelre Yor It will not iierlsh un
; til man has been recreated. Neither
much nrgunn-nt about It. nor the I mn
Ing against the gray Russian sk line of
the august figures of I 'ostoyefsky. To!
Slov and TurgenietT will ChSnCS the
it his glav imagination and no
n.anlc culture, into which the door con
stantly stood open, ami the grandsons 1
of Baltac werv not, I think, particularly
tree to accompany him."' I am futtner
indebted to Mr. James for certain words '
uttered by M. Reuan of the big Russian :
"His conscience was no' that of an In- j
to whom nature had been
l.-ss uenerous it was in some
live lived 1 treat drama In founding ,.,,,( the conscience of a people. Before!
s-1 g a l ew sn lal and potltl- j he wa, b,,rn he had lived Cor thouaanda I
with '..tt!e more than a con- f years, infinite successions of reverie
tury ! had amassed themselves in the diptti
P phera Intent up n determining I of his heart. No man h is been as much
the iusea f our failure io oontrlbut aH ie t ho Incarnation of a whole race; 1
nton po tantly to all 'he arts have, sansratlons of aituaston lost in the:
tttffesti 1 :ii.". our creative, genius has gjaep ,.f oenturloa, speeohleaa, .amej
been dlverteil Into commercial and In- 1 through hint to life and utterance."
dustl il "iiim "els. that Hell and Kdison j maK, no aKlogy for thrusting my
gave atolen and Imprisoned the Prom tig dipper again Into Mr. James's huh-!
thear ti .-. while tin altars of the arts i.iing well for an aneodota of Plattbarti
b'-ve 1,. left cold Instead of sanding darlvad from BSdmond da tlonoourt.
atanl I whl ' -- over hill and dale at Flaubert w as mltsed "ne tine afternoon I
prici within the reach of all. Henry I n a house where lie ami He Ooncourt
T-1 mlghi hava hem our snlauralltd I m, and wa found to have ;
T ii kersi .f only he had been horn be- j ... , .scd anil gone to bed to think.
Ing si ir Instead of under, gk.ii ,. iv comfort to the enemy j
by uny admission that our iiovellst.s
lack culture hi ih- sense that TurganleR
md 'he great Ktenc.h masters iosesel ,
be reprehensible, but it is not 1 , . ,.i,h-li 1 mav com- 1
plain with more propriety Is their lack
of 'information" land I hope tMa term
Is sulllcientlv delicate) touching the
tanks anil .urns of America We have
leluged with "big" novels that
are "big" only In the publishers ailver
tUMMMMA New York hits lately hem)
Hie evens of many novels, but the New
Vorli d umbr tJ In niost of them is
nntv il.. metlSMlolls as cviiosed to the
I awed gaze of provincial tourists from
the rubbernsck wagon. Hex. lately dls-
oovared tor exploitation, haa I'asnUlad
I only In "ariangomenui" iC garbage In
pink and yellow lightly spring leu witn
I faith of the man' who
cheer and recreation
seek In fiction
By SAMUEL MERWIN
Ir. ( r Mr. ) ;Hrne: t Bt'.rrod up ft
honift?' tint ThHt In Itlaiu.
But the !ior;iein instead -f ptirpiun:
our British critic ar frantically tinK
infj otM n.thor. M these itmrtlui MeO
m ;hs wv ht- nil tofn Haying ft cat n
for him that Amp; Iran Action writing h
In a T'.ul way. It Hermit to RM tliat
I rtcall laying p-miethirK likr that my
41 1 In the Tmr JuVt a few W0kl fcgO.
i nly Maredlth Nlcholimi) and. I Mlik,
Klorrrce Krnh Kidly have paused i
thoir innulrien Into our lir-rary 111
hen 1th to remind the pentleman that th
wall of hla HtiTiwh h-ue hitv
riouftly vitrouft Appearance to nur oyn
( wn V!ter got fto diftiirbfd as he
thought i.bout all ouv bad novel that h
rnd-'d by oondatnnlng our hablti and
tradition a our iii.-r py. aimor our
a fresh on
le cornfortAbla
life Kur .t wouldn't
It wouldn't aafe
It wouM.'.'t (vcn te in p t.i I'
' would, tf our tnindl and he.Lt ts wei e:i t
too nearly dead, fthake our h-u':.h
' But I, like Nicholson, am demanding
a roat nlus tor ui And gentuaeft of
i that calibre don't happen In any rountry
i-vimv cent tn y. w n ! tiwv mo nappon
. Ulft KKr devfls p
r
1 1
For
I fled
I
ROBERT W. CHAMFERS
Vou :uk'd 111" to rr. 1 what Teen. ck
and Harry aay about the Anierkmn
m.vel I didn't w.mt to. but 1 did. be-
iuII. I rwiiaa you ikcd me
tiea'h a itanclna stir Instead of under;
th" ti,c , wheels of Baakltl'l vision
Tl'e preaehtneaa of our novate, of
wl pitl cnmnlaln sith some bitter-
rip-.- may ba reprehensible, but It Is not i
'.next!! ible We are a people bre,1
nfioii the Itible; It a the only hook
earr,i into the wilderness ; It still has j
a considerable folloadnt among us. and
irtl Of OUr depravit. ,,ie greatl t
i iL'e-- i',"i c are inurcii m inner,
aeaachlna tolerati where we do i
net ariiii rs Mr Bryan becauss he is the'
of the elteult riders, a tireless as-1
as'ltnl of th devil and all his i
n Ifjtp,
Perhaps the
Nicholson thinks w-e would be all rlgiit
If we would only writ. more about
America. He itnagires a Mrs. Wharton
c;ed exclusively in PlttabUTg f"i lor
literal y cruises, a Henry .lames fed on
nothing but Chicago Impreanlone, a Mr
Ilowells moored for life to the banks
of the Ohio, far away.
It doesn't, seem to me that geograph)
has much to do with it ; or that de
mocracy is to be blamed, excepting as it
'.las widened the literate market and
made more books -bad ami good
T . 1
end it all. I
. II i Co
aware that
others do .i
can I
have
wh it
tli, Ir
way of earn lag a living -and
,i w.iv us in;i anyway, uny
demand on the part of
' :!' in inn' colleges to be laughl to
M" short stories, novels and dramas
and th den .md is insistent- h is oh-
cursd 'he importance of mastering a
ound pi -e before any attempt is made i
to smplo) 1: creatively. It certainly
cinrnt he compl lined that the literary
lm;.u se . lacking, when publishers,
sditan id ihaatrieal producers are m-1
v -I n inspect thouaanda of manu
crlpts , ry ear. The editor of a I
BBpular niagsglna declares that there!
re only fifteen American writers ho
ipsble of producing a "good'" short
inrj md .In-, ton. at a time wheni
ih n tb on is in greater dnnd than;
t .,'.... and at price that would
I P . in. I lie Maupassant to turn ,
hi their grave A publisher snld re
aently r h hid examined twenty I
r. fr in one arlteri nol one of winch
k lonaidered arorth publishing.
Ti . r, v h iwever, little consolation to
a derived from this hypothesis, for
l,r- oil) writes! Many, indeed, ar
rs . i it f,-w ;,re , hoaan. and some
Naann must be found f"r the low level
e' fen fiction where the ou'put la so
:' il 'I .' fault I.- not due to unfavor
Ibls "atmospheric" conditions, but to
Ihnldll) ie; the pail of writers in seiz
il ufioi) the . lo-iouH American material.
gliinej Lanier remarked of po tii.it he
J -i Ureal poati but th:it he did not
it "a enough- moaning lhai Ufa In Ui
broad sapoeti had not nioMd him. A
ch gf "information.' of understanding
and v; ion t i .jiou'.d say, the iunda
il aeakni is of tit American novel.
To i,:,. , ,r, whole Ik a large
0 '!"' :.i 1 .i naopls prone, as we are,
I" skim ! n' t hearti lly the bright sur
nt'M no saslli to i,e persii;itlil to
tftsji ... .j,,. rough sdgei and pear into
nihil
ifortunntely, sines the passing of
i: u d filvmnians. Ilteratura as
a VOi ition has Im.l little real ilienltv
'i- us, we have had Blnatularly few
rnnsk
At this point 1 must bemoan the 111
luck lhat has carried so many Ameri
can fifth.n writers to foreign shote. If
Hawthorn hail never teen Italy, but
bad cluti to Salem. I am d,sKX-ed to
thmk Amerlaan Ilteratura a'ould be ths
rioher, if fate had not catried Mr,
II .wells to Venice, but had held hlln
close to the Ohio during the mighty
struggle of the '10a, and if Mr. Jam
had been stationed at Chicago, dose ia
th deep Durrani of national feeling,
wh it a monumental library of vital Ite
i Hi. v would have given us' If Mr
I necessary, what we need i
j is a Man or two. a Woman 01
! will nee straight and writ.
Then are to-day CM ly a few even partly
cloar honest thinkers writing In Amer
ica lively one else, Including all our
ntOBl popular and some of our most re
nowned, is Just arranging and rear
ranging the old stuff And thee, ,.f
OOUfSe, a few. not ovcreompetent or
i overequipped, are making a desperate
1 pose of Truth, when ad wc need la truth,
Nicholson says one good tiling
"What the American novel really needs
( Is a Walt Whitman to proclaim a bar-
. baric yawp "
I Hut wh.it that Walt Whitman comes
i Nichols n very likely won t get around
lo read him Wlster. to Judge f f .111 his
amusing sclf-revelat Ion regarding ilals
, worthy's most delicately honest oh
serration of lite, will stab hlni lo death
' wdtli a fountain pen. i Mir libraries will
! undoubtedly snap shut at tin faintest
Th-se est!lo line
And now lhat
remember what
hhIiI I mer.dy ii'ii
they rav aboul what
peculiar
as g 1
nil yon ohooa to say it.
1 don't know much about American '
novels, not nearly as much a those who
write about them. 1 merely writs them.
Concerning creative work n general.
all I know !s lies 'hat ts,ple will go
nn creating as long as lh.y eriloy iloltn;
no ty ,it Ives
America what inclination
two. who i tin-in I" do
gtralghl ! And ai lone, a" anything of 'be hoy
remains i" the man be will continue to
create and to (In, l pleasure In II . hot
when. Ill any man. the boy dies, then
the necessity,
to croata do
done.
1 am quit
lie interested
the
deslri
II,
and the ab Illy
i day's m oi k ie
sure our readers will not
in what 1 hive said; nor
am I myself any longer Put you asked
me to say sotnethlnc. and I've told you
all I Know and u little more
By BOOTH TARK1NGT0.N
ii-i ..'.., .i ,i o-ifin li.i.i I it-en r w in r-r nr 111 ri.tim-
sscruted to the larvtos of PlttabtlPff lady wrii.rs who have built dignified
rather than to that of New Yoik and I fonu"cs out of orphan Ellis and freckled I
niwhi no otir nut noneai nine uoru ..no worn uui
I awaatii bhllosophlcal washwoman
I perfectly, oh perfectly safe, liitle paste
, . ., li'aid kWa .irT.iirs will chant their melo
An ai-loinslilng number of short stories . Borrow over the grave of Litem
I 'ari.'-debt
bow much greaier
11 her '
tli-
L'tlflirtlinutAtv klmu lha ttfluiilii of
t '.
an.
nvsiisi wha havs settled themaalvat I and "The Octopua
' Ins islncss of writing with any high respect from the
ei linn aim. Hawthorne as a hrood
jha 1 1 1 s had no lucoagaor among
'II ' inlaU "in work has been
r ' ' "' lei 1 . and all loll often the
";" ' III hav -iii.de witn an
11.
1. ie,
rl-e.
A r
lie iubllshe1 barometer,
- Ip is heavy w th reports of
' iking rsplOlt) of composition.
Who can dictate is th envy
hav shown a grasp of the movement,
energy and color of American life, but j
writers who have succeeded In this field
have seemed Incapable of longer IKghls.
And the originality pOMS8d by a great
number of short story writers si is lo
bs shared only meagrely by those who!
MMrlminl with the novel When Mu-
eautay'l New Zealander or some ven-
tursotna Martian mvuges the Library
of Congress, It Is In the short story di
vision that he will find the surest key
to what American life has been There
are few American novels of any period
thai ran tip tile scale against the ten
best American short stories, chosen for
sincerity and workmanship, II would
seem that our creative talent Is facile
and true In miniature studies, but
shrinks from an ampler canvas and a
broader linmh. Mr. Pooto'l ri ll novel
'The Harbor" is a striking exception
to the rule; Krnnk Norrls's "The Pit"
' continue to , iinimiiun
fact thai he bad a
panoramic sense that led lllm lo exer
cise Ills line talents upon a great and
Important theme
When our writers cease their futile
experimenting and Imitating and wake
up to the possibilities "f A ineiloan ma
terial wc shall have fewer complaints
tit the Impotence of the American novel.
W are Juat a little Impatient of the
alia
for
Sim
sIll
dream
lure. Tub Si n. I'm afraid, will i
upon him as a gorgeous new mark
rldlcull BSOeclslI) if he has an uni
inoiinlace nam,. The rTl'ClMND I'oat
certainly not know lhat he Is there.
And the preOOCSOUl hill really brilliant
voum men of Ml Veil MMtttHC will cut
hlni a shade too haughtily and
nalelv again of Harvard and
Jems.
Kor that man (a woman) will write
about men and women not at all In th
terms of as-epled literary and social
oonvantlon. but an they dlatr savingly,
grorloualy are And sex why of
course! (till not Sex; Just sex There
for bis work will not be passed hv the
National Board of Owiiorahlp. croh-
ably, even In thhs day of enrly easy
reputations, he will starve to death.
Km Dial matter, perhaps he Is willing:
now. And starving. Who known "
It will be Just a fresh eye on lire, that
Is all. Hut that Is enough Cause for
one moment, try lo ho honest, consider
how negrlV. "fter (ill. your own pel
discovery the Skkiii Illver Anthology,
Kineet PaoU'a good novel, or what you
will - Is nierel.v a ftx-sb stalement or a
new arrangement of the old material
and I lie old. subconscious, tribal points
of view, with Just a little new MtutT
added, and vou will begin to sense ths
profoundlmiillcatloiis of that definition I arts has not been
Mr. MIchfllaon'B article is rather pus
Ming It his the ail of a defence, ycl
s ems Inclined t't iiecopl all the old
fault findings ("charges against meri
can Ri'ttnn"! as trUS searchlngs and Wis
revelations liul l may he mistaken; i
have read th article earm-slU. only to
hud lav self ii nth d
M .. VI.. ..II.,. .Hub. ,.f ".Mr ,Uu
audi . .; ... ,..., . ! . ;..., ..,.',. .., '
I no, .,0, e , mi , . , ,-
dently believing that our advance his
I been slov.- Who have l i en faster? I'
' may Ik- necesi-my to remind Mr Vieh.d-
i son that the sculptural symbols .md llg
! ures aboul the lower pari of the soldi, is
anil s.iiiors .Monnmcni in innianitpuiia
are Teuton work, and mils! nol be at
tributed to any native Mr Nicholson
sits writing novels In a building upon a
spot where pioneers avni n bunting
Henry ! In bis own grandfather's time; but 011
1 Mr. Nlcnoliions way lo 11111,11 every 1l.1v
be lias to pass t lose patriotic nrlllptul
jnga- and I think tlil dall) vvalk ,d' bis
may account for Ins despondency about
our ''slow advance." I'r diablv he vorote
that article In the earlv afternoon
He goes on to say thai "II mav he
suggested thai our deficiencies in the
creative ait- are overbalance I by the
prodlfflnUB I ib.-rs of a people who h ,vo
lived 11 gieat drama in founding and
maintaining 1 new social and pollllcul
order In little more than a century "
This is one of the tilings thai puiaki
me. He says It may he BUVgClted, but
how are we to know whether he meant
to lUggOBl It 01- not" And does lie be
lieve it'.' He doesn't suv. The Prench
seem lo have lived a similar dr. una in
about the same length of time: tne pos
sible suggestion made by Mr Nicholson
does not appear to cover the French
case. However, since the eighteen! - i cen
tury the French advance in the creative
mparaibls la our.'-',
for the Prneh certa nly bad something
"to go on" before their dram 1 began.
We had only th backwoods
He spi.ct. of the "preachlngas of our
novels, and. assuming thin "prchl"
n.-ss ' 1 a characterlatlc of Amerltun
novels, ace nits for it by stating that
lha American people read the lithle Of
i-jiiis.- in., explanation must rot upon
III supposition that American novelists
-. il ih. Ri lie. His supposing a thing
o this kind is a great surprise to me.
bei tuse lis .md I have the same circle
of pioft eyUinally literary frlomls, itml 1
ran'l see whrs he got the notion
H goes on glonmlt; lo aaj lhai "sine,
the panging of ths New England 'Jlym
plans literature as .1 vocation has had
little real dignity among U." and lhat,
Hawthorne as a , ling spirit has had
no successor among our Bctlonlata." lie
,ints tn ,1 this di , adeni s it- In gre it part
de result of Amnrlcan writers' writing
t.'ip dl.v. and he makes the historloul ill
lueion to Helsac's proofs Mi Nlcliolsoit
thinks thai if American writers would
write more gloWly and revise their w ilk
more carefully Ihej would stand Iwt
t, eh nice to be considered really dig
nlfled and posslhly one ,,f thorn might
turn out to lie Hawthorn' sucosagor
as a bro 'ding spll it.
Her., is mors bamemeni for the reader
of Mi. Ni taon's grtlclc gurely we
have read I hill Hawthorne produced his
moefs notable 1 k witn a rapidity "f
composition th it broke prev ious records,
And Bnisac left a record on two ..r !iis
own, didn't be Hlcvcnaon dlotgted
"W.-ir of Hormlston" prose is nearly
perfect ne uny lie compassed ns If be
were residing m Invisible book nlrends
written and punctuated "Well of Hei-
mlston" 1 led 11" revision, coining fr on
Stevenson's litis as perfect -is he or ativ
other could 1 vi-r moke H foi at last he
had attained to that accuracy of "flrsi
stroke "
Finally, upon this Important point I
am goltrt to minis -in eminent American
essay lal, novelist and writer of short
storica I iUotii hint t no Incinsldemte
risk to my own life and limb When next
we meet His elii.it stories are fluonl
and lack dignity in no respect, There is
tm hastiness about them: mo one could
Hitaieal revision Hevergl vear ngu I
asked him le W long t' look him to
write, n shorl story "Oh, about three
ii v. uaimltv." replied Mr. Klcbolsun
llglllh', ind did nol even turn his head
to see wi'ere I Ml
Aristophanes was not the most pop
ular writer of comedies In Athens He
won five llret prises only, while CratlnUS
won nine, and Magnes. of whose work
not a line survives, won eleven.
In Sh. kes pea re'l day throngs packed
cheap murder melodramas based on re
cent sensational crimes. They had their
bear pits and their vaudeville far In
ferior to our moving picture show. In
all of Kt gland's glorious periods the
great public has had lis own favorites
Hannah More outsold Waller Scott ;
two million copies of her "Shepherd of
Ballsbury Plain" w-ere sold In a year.
Tl,... la nn BdM or time here to
make a list of these people, but one I
has only to know or look up a little
hlstorv to get the truth esiannsn.o
once for all In Ills brain that the
populace wants popular Stuff, And one
doe not need much philosophy to real
lie that a large part of the charm of
what we call artist., and unusual is
simply the fact that its authors atudlcd
ih.- uaual ami commonplace ami departed
from them.
Another fact generally ignored Is that
Willie genius was in Its most brilliant
. aummers. anu tne nomeij wc-,..-, -.-I
outflourlshlng the ros, the contemp
tuous critics ami whlnars and re viler
of their own day were nourisning. ioo.
Tlie satire of Ih world Is one unceas
ing repetition of denunciations of
mm it's owti day and neighbor
in contrast with an earlier day or a
remoter neighborhood. The people who
an- now lambasting our popular au
thors and ignoring or sneering at our
more artlstli writers at of the same
tribe that could not see Shakespeare
in Milton. I'hitterton or I'oliins. Field
ing 01 Sterne. UlckSllS or Thicker a) .
c Iliwthorne or Bnwraon or
Whitman Flft) yesr from now thise
Incurable s-iffer will be Using the
names of BOms of our immediate con
temporaries . classic bludgeons to
whack over the lie.ids of the artists of
then. Th. pooh-pooher we liave al
wavs witn us
Moredlth Nicholson writes in a
mntUi nlrll than Mr v Ister. but w th
w our own voting oiif of ti,. . -t
for the sake of the cuckoo fledgling!
We ought not to feel that there is not
rim enough In our souis for th .iie.it
Rutalan, iSnglish. Franch. Boandlna
vian. German, Italian- -and for our ow n
too
The.-e assailant f our Ilteratura
have much to say of editorial vices ns
well as of authorial weaknessea My
stperlenc has been ih.it editors as a
iss .ue man minueu gentlemen wim
an eye nCagarlly and sanely kept -ai
their market, hut with every deslrt to
give the market the h..-- It will take
And w.th ail readiness t' admit any
.vidua) ea 1 pis of mistake 01 t 1 ! irs
of wrotigheade.lt, ess 1 am nrmly l' :,
vinced lhat We are now living in a
period n American literature that Inter
period" aid r.c gn se s golden, Neatly
.very phase of the vast and complicated
Ufa f tins tremendous people ,,f ours
has Us writer of pros or poetry sill'
ing it and giving it re ird
I believe that novelists, story writets
ivofts. humorlata. have never is-en more 1
, ager t speak the iruin passionately,
I ballov tiiat Nteratut has never beei
more earnestly, learnedly, gracefully
anything '0U like practlatd and pub
lished tli in in America to-day. It a
th I great dg) to be aliv e In. and I for one
1 1 am proud to be here. I see ail al. ill
me men and wo i n who are giving
themselves with consecration to the art
and the el iqUl nee of life, and I fed like
apologising for nobody but the spolo
gists. f Bv GEORGE BARR McCL RHEON )
s J
certain
provide
sell ordered s-ns- of de-
tlie only real dltlnCtl(M
tin- doWl lo t-.e lltial ,in-
a!v So when we depict the bold. Un.
hampered progress of love in tin- open
We are called realist! when we resort
10 the clean ami beautiful ami . haste in
,ve We are , tiled romanticists.
Joy r;d.ng : romance until il sndi up
in the newspapers, Then ;t becomgg
realism.
A policeman, ri-ktng bis life, stops a
runaway in Central Park, saving
1 young attractive rider from death
or Injury, He is commended for
1 ravel y and because he is a policeman
and no doubt already safely and happily
married his act resolves itself Into a
purely realistic Item of fact a writer
putting the incident Into a h ol, would
i,.- devoting himself to ths sain.- son of
teallam that would obtain in the news
paper , mts. While if he wee to at
I'ltl -ut' tlii, - .in bit ..f heroism to his
A 1
Unlei
Willi
one
the
title!
m 1 k.
. : Itet undertakes a ch ir
s a. has been too long
another form of flctlol
.idmittr.i tentatively n
lass of authors sigiuii
as rullta He is 110
a s.
1, lie is
il b asl
antly Id
.bilged
Ud)
ated
s at
eb
t ,
the
.1
Bv RI PKRT Hl'GHRS
Th rhlef trouble i-iay with Amar I
Iran literature, H aeama lo ma, in th i
I rrltloteni f it Amertra Hk- other mt
tlons. naa allermue Kpretnn of Hwugg.'rl
ami altntt The Vankee hra pIm-k way'
I now thon ,n lha Vankee unlvel Wa
m-ein to ! undarffolni ' ti i 1 1
PMward 1 Jh met I eold buckel of
water wjim followeil Owen WUtar'n
itunkH of lee, autl now by Merefllth ;
, NienolHin'ti lukewurni Haloa;y
Mr Qarnett'ti artlele mruek me i (
perfect example "f 'in- good olrt favh-
, ioneil haw-haw aehool f HSnvllah ''"'i
tempt that uaad lo madden Ma vlttma!
,ir.i l.itnii thrm i tne real beauty, aweet
, ueaa and llffh! of the Wnglteh aoul
Kavar have I read ; mora ipi
cent lndltmenl agalnat ib's nation haaeil
on more ahamelaaa auperlorlty or prouder
mid franker lanoranoe.
i fwen vVlater then run amuck through
; u erowd of fellow authora, oraeklng
erowna with fl'"' frengyi Many f till
vletlma might havi t'lalmed h foul or
i returned the bVow with Interest and
I with lnataneei )u t 1 j do voted bis chief
I vtoleuee to nue Boor author who hopnena
1 to hu vi a n afp;i lllngly k re;o k;i It for
Mils worka f anjoyrii ihf hindy im
' menaelyi f couraei PO there Hit fw
perhapa more niimaglog elxeei, we
graetuua nnd appe U ng, but h i.'olo.
isee. Also u-.- triei t 'ii.tn why
we ire not doing bo well aa wa did aud
why then- i iiopn for ua
He uijiku that a peed Hint eareleaa
naaa have aomcthlng to do with it !!
ih horrlMt .ti one author who rum
poaea hla wrk on i typewriter and
I q rely ehangea .1 wont Thla Ik am.ia
ng t' m fr 1 eannot compoae on a
typewriter uml I 'bang nearly every
wurd, Hut the other man'a uaatneaa
and deaiuitrh do not prove that he is a
poor writ r gjhakeepeare told Ban
Jo neon :htt hp nevor blotted a line ami
tti told liitn th.it hi wishM he had
Mm 1 nt a thouaand Tat ihakeapear
waa a pretty nood writer for hi lime.
ih as for upeed, Saniuel Johnaon
notoi loualy w rota "Itaaa las" iti hc en
... 1 tn f tu an undertaker's tiii And
1 : iMetaa" in prett) aoil work. Th"
iliatftetpleeci that have been written
in almost no tinii at all have n
more numerous than ma ny rt .-'h seem
tit imaglnt
In the name issue of t he AtUititif
tfottfal IWhleh his none into th-
buatnesa of atlrrlng up ths lltfrory p''
is 11 regrettable article by Mrs Kath-
I I ne Pullartou Ueroutd. who v
through a Cassandra mask tbnt ait
out wonderful American cultura in auf-
ferlUg rflpld ext.' pat ion. It was .tl
w a) s thus Wa a srs never told that
we had ever had cultuis till ws were
toii tti.it wa had Just lout it
lucldentaliy Mi s 1 lerould makes the
aatounfllug discovery (bat the familiar
Hue "All 1 1 ri u oreated free and
equal' l nol true Mr JefT-rson him-
s. if did not deem it true iii the senses
dhe employ Si but it would take more
limn Mis i lerould or the number!
others who hnvt" iieTi!ii it to prove
that that saoied dictum I" OOt true in
he sublime nnd Inalienable meaning it
had for Jefferson and Washington and
LMncoln and Walt W it man and Km.r-
siti ami countless other aotdtsrs of lib
rrt y
Mra (Jerould should bs the inst one
tn rail at American 'uiture, for her
luillluni storlea have had an Immediate
ii ud 1 esoundlng sip'-'ean.
, In foci 1 think that an author Bhoilld
I tit- tin lesl to make gwsenlnj denuncla
I ttona of inn contemporaries The he.
jiiBtltlcatlon for the Immemorial follies
f erltMem bualngas for non
. era itlva writers is t he violent and Icioui
1 tantrums of artlsti when they turn
crliloa paint en talking aboul paintsrs,
i eomioaers slatut 1 'ompossrs( itoats uImmii
noetS, a 1 w ays seem t ShOW ISSB Ctttho
lU'ltj nr enthuslaam or insi;iit than
1 profeaslonal orltlei of the most destruc
j tiva sort.
i Vmerlcan literature snffeis from a
habit of mind that authors ars lareiv
t. blame f r They are deprecatoy in
their tn. timer ami RMlogetlti for their
oa'n country Consequantly ail tilings
foreign have a prestlKe here. A story in
cockney dialect, or In a ITrenoh provln
t i ii manner, or i" the Russian psa
BOhOOli lias a w . tnde r a rut a charm
about 't that a Mory about a New York
iniitfh or .1 Western firmer tnuht net
along w ithout.
Itilt we oiijfht t take ovne!veH n hlv.
Athena the Athenian WU -his hlht.-st '
theme. Florence to thi Florentine. RotUS
to the R0nSn. i'Vuii-e to the Krenoh,
liOtldon tn the Londoner. And no Amei- 1
lean can afford t t rent hiti eity, his ;
State, or hi" thmie wth apology,
Ws 'in well to ho hospitabia to the ,
Rreat Of Otftsr COUntrtag, The lM-Ht 1
Ml
his chara ler recognisai
general public: it is only rcquln
ht -ii that he m ike this character, -r
the rt.-tK attrtimted tn him, something
th it the discerning student of uteratun
may feet aecure tn describing as .1 cr -t
":i ,,f tne mind and not of the imagina
tion distinction without u difference,
The author plojuren to himself a cem
d It Ion tii it no doubt exists Me develbpa
thai condition Into the ha: is or founda
t!on on whio'i nt.n k.f the materials ,,f
tne Imagination Then he bullda a re
allstlc novel Sn will say thai he baa
reported 10 hie lm igtnstlon In painting
what is eu obvlouslj a sordid, cruel ami
frequent!) dull picture 'f society its
worst, bo, therefore, he is not a roman
tidal tf he confines himself tn t!ie
Uglv .nJ unph iirriiue he removes him-
fls-'f
nllst
tif the
bonny
d Mn
fi
Ure, aha
looking
lorgnou,
m nice. He becomes a r. -
If on the ..titer hand he write
Bay end the sprightly and the
things of life, he romances, 1
doeen! bi em lo he eomprehei aime tn
the ,-iveraee lntetlleme that all lh
beautiful Jolly adventurei of life, uahtn
related m prose or versSi can bs any
thine but lm tglnary,
Wh will dars contend that the gay
little Un e Btorr of two perfectly he Ithv
vnuna neoule is not pore r it-
imh" Why Bhould II bs relcgateo tn touchln
to romance and dented Ihe right the Amerl
m realism wnlls tha huso, un
wholesomfi even maudlin end de
basing affair of a pan t moral rlegen
erstes he granted that distinction?
.', writer will davots p:iges( even chap
tere. to the eharaeterist i.s ol . man
who in the first sen tenet may rsog
ntaed s a drunkard he wui take great
palna 1,1 teii you hovn many drinks bs
awalloa'B m a day how ha awalloaa
them ami Just what it thai ha swat
lowe . lie will tell you I hat his onos
hsi.dsome face Is now distorted by ea
cSSSSS, and lie will Kit to tixtieme lengtlia
to ht you know tliat he has mad a
elope and profound study of the ho bit a
1.1 etde Vou will at once nay that this
Writer t 1 master of realism, a nd yet
ileorge Ade, ths king of raallets, would
give It all lo you In a slns;is Una and
you Would know quite as ntUOh about
Ihe hara 'ter as you would after wading
throupn pagaa ttf analysts. Ade might
present him to you in sometnlng like
tills: "He had a red nose nnd a breath
ynu coildnl fsce," and you Would SOS
that character aa plainly as II hs wsrei
standing "1 fronl of you,
I toman e is rsgltam dresssd up in Ita
rout attractive garments, white realism
is romance '-tripped t. tha skin
We co to the lower Rliat Ulde of New
Y'irk in quest of pns phase 1 a aallam
.Hoi wa find it In the ugly, uulnaplrins
bomei and haunts of lha people who 1
there. We eome Upon a pair of VOUUg
lovers. If ww have courage w dascrlba
the manner a and actions of ths una
bashed pan It would not tie fair t tbs
young lovers of upper I'Mfth aveoua to
lay lhai love In the tower Baal Hide is
an element of romance, ho we desorlbs
it as a toeffsarv evil end fud as :i
. I natural lymptom of youth. Conse-
1 in ...
.( Mi ll nero, M'ttn possiiiuities or
marrtogt staring him the faca 11 the
result ol hla act the whole thing would
become imptobablc romance.
Keallsm and romanca . hand in
hand tn Spite of the authors A story g
Ktor) ami the manner of Its unfolding
doefl nol deprive It of the two elements
'.at go to moke It effective Romanofj
must seem real or- :t is "i ro value
while realism deprived of romanca
lacka the one thing that makea II humas),
It is Impossible for the socslled r alist
to till hi- tale without pluctng ii.tueeif
und-i obligations lo romanct it is as
Inevitable aa th" beginning and end of
his story H. succeed In obscuring
it with what he profeeaea to '-all utera
ture, bul the fact remains that it la tic-
tlon after all,
Th" rfunantlciat la frankly grateful to
his Imagination The. realist deceives
hlmsi If It 10 thinking thai ImsglnatUm lg
not 1 ttlna at bin elbow, nudg a him all
th wl le hf instructing Ihe profound
thing he lls a novsl
By JULIAN STREET
Three times I have read Mr. Nichol
sons article .11 lite Atlantic VoNfata
In an sftori 10 111 1 .1 piece hanging looag
upon which 1 might take hold But aa
1 thing 10 '' one's handa on nils ar
ilole Is nlii Iti I) Inf. rlor to Meivlll
piivlasi 1 I'osi h fulmlnat'on of Iggl vear.
lit ahich ii, "prnveil" lhai the detertlvg
story aas the highenl form of literary
fi, or something of lhai sort. That
1 of icon.ii had Ihe advantage of a
lilanrre pattern, and ravslllnga of
Ihoughl stuck oul vvllilly nil over It.
Mi Nli h ilson's sample, while made of
the same grade i.f cotton. Is woven tine,
and with n pattern so dull tliat ona
can hardl) si it ; si. thill Mr Nicholson
is aic from all charges av. the on
lhat, apparently, he has no point of view
at all:
Hamantlrtam'a la Ihe sir.
Aad real ant's also titers,
Itni (Ivs Itis n inies
I.Iks Henry Jamea
Ann llestelevsky an, I F'isnhsri.
In the mme nuinher ,,f Ihi I'Mnfl
m which Mr Nicholson's article ap
nea r
prcor 111 em ciiiiine 11- inai iriirv nr
them have found their first and Kreat-t
rsoegnltlon here. Hut we ought lint
nientlv the lint volllia BlOOfl Of the bivvcr !
1:1st sbie f"r lack of propsr screening
grants us a ngked truth of piigglons lhai
are more carefully slothed in upper
Plfth vnu and w nil ggreg that ti-l
young lovers down there raprsssnl real
ism, while thoas who are more comfort
ably snseonood uptown give us romanca,
Deairs among ih repreggntgtlv of tbe
lower classes Is sraphlc. amonpr the up
per classes it is 11 sickly refinement- or
lit least so wo are led U RSllVg. The
icw,i. amorous thoughts of the young
isntleman of the powery. w might say.
have nothing in PomgTOn with the emo
tivns of the normal anil healthy youna
animal uptown, anil yet enviioum nt
1 leroulil ruins nni- h nes rsr
ihe rooi of tiiis mgttgr of
n nov.i when she mad i
ilie classh'al education, Tn ho
did it with the air of n lady
contemptuously through her
, an. I siiyins w ho are all tbee
Impossllile people crowding one so""
Nevertheless she did It-and those who
hav,- their hose in th air may iia.-h
u sogieihtug it wc can only managg
in conquer the Irritation which the ss
Bumpilon nf superiority hy another per
son always arouses in us because 11 con
Htcta wiih our nvvn bciiss of superlorltF.
Wlinl Mh 1 lerould snl.l was thai h
cause nf foreign Immigration, n uri th
consenueul lowering nf achool stand
arda ami also hecause nf the Bscendsney
nf "niMci ical" eilueatlnn. nticiency,
science, a- . ,,i tin nn. re abstract
tiebls i.f learnlt u "culture" a being un
demilned Tiiis is van Irue. bolli as It ,prlies
m th,, reader and 'be writer It is a
truth reflected in nut newspaper, on
magaslnea, our novels, The general aver
age nf mggaslm writing lo-day is not
s-i veiv tal ali'-vc Ihe level nf ilailv
journalism, the t Ipal dlfferencai hc-
liiE- perhanr, lhai lha average person
writing fnr Ihe magagln tai.es mora
tunc ti ins work and consequently doag
it 1., -tier ihtm 'in' average dally inurnni
rtoes ins (iilthnug this is put In-i-rtriahl)
niici. ami also, that lie maa
Sim a'rltcr haa, perhaps, more expert
ence n' talent i bul ths dlfTsrsne, on
lm whole k nc so great, I think, as
i- gem rail) supposed This Is less a
compllinenl m ,1.1 1 Journals lhan a re
proacli m mngagiuea.
Precisely llis a.ids live on snihroilg,
as iluqs e n ilog bi - ult ailil is other
nnimal ral 'hs t I hast tilled i. them,
sn ii i magnslns renders read the mag,
lines And. for nosi part, m.iBa-
sines are inaniifai "ii ,1 fin precisely th
reason Hun iie-j biscuit is manufactured
tn till a commercial ""' 1 Thug 'ha
Atlantic Uonthlp and other mggaglneg
of similar characici i Her In the 1 1 tea
of Intellectuals land pseudo-lntelet
uals). pointing mit soma things Ih i' ne.i
to he pointed "Hi ami smne other 'I IngH
that do nnt psd '" t,r pointed oul such,
f.,r . xaniple. as the evict valui of novell
bv Harold Bell Wrlghl flene stratton
ivrter. Klo-eii e I,. Barclay and eiin'lir
writer Othsr magaginei ,d widsr elr
PUlallon keep prellt well i, nt ef the in
tiiliertual rla i, endeavoring to cover
Continued on t rggrlgggf rajs.