The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-02-23


the physiological facts which materialst
might esteem Indispensable TO just sentence
upon his conduct. We are told about his parents
and his grandparents; we know what passions.
proclivlties, scnsiblitics he brought with him,
into the world how far theso congenital ten
denotes have been encouraged. luled, or sup
planted by his,surroundings. until. when he il
launched into n given medium. we can almost
prophecy his behavior. As with each now
volume new problem In human life is laid be-
fore us. we approach it's solution with COM
vcton that at least tho statement OF t'
terms has been exhaustive. that mono OF the
springs OF motive. 30 far as these are physical
or social, have escaped tho authors scrutiny
You are impressed also by tho ICY impartialiiy'
Of tho narrative. IA il the worst exromcs of ain
and suffering and the divinest soArngs OF self
sacrifice and virtue were alike referred to tho,
incxorable workings Of natural law In Zola's,
Indifference. however. there is nothing CALLING
thero is no trace of malicious satisfaction us
In Flauborts cynicism-it RECALLS rather thei
profound far-gazing serenity Of an Assyranl
statue the inaexible. inscrutable tranquility Of
n sphinx. 1t is not to be supposed. however,
that because lola never blames or applauds his
characters. that the readers sympathies arci
equally unstlrrcd. Such Is the power OF his
trenchant strokes such the vitality Of his 0g-
concerned impassiyc temper. and tx your eyes
with an eager. poignant intentness on the can
vas. Curiously. too. this man who handles like
n surgeon tho most delicate flores OF the hui
man heart. discovers the elusive tenderness OF
n poet when he turns to outward nature. 1t "
as n the matcrialist were blended with the pan
theist in his philosophy; as II the God whom
he had lost in the labyrinth Of physiology. were
found again in the play OF light and motion.
the inGnite beauty and suggestion Of the mani
mate world.
1t is truo that M. Zoln eschows psychological
analysis. that he is satisfied with an outward
portrayal of people. and that for this reason
their soul escapes him. We say Of his crea-
tions, Yes. they arc most lifelike. VIC might
have passed them but now in the street: on the
other hand. we know no more Of them than If
we had passed them in the street We
may con II we choose n catalogue OF tho physio-
logical causes for their feelings and actions.
But in real lifc we never use such data; we
see thcm transformed in sentiment and mo-
tive. and il Is tho transformations which kin
die interest and constitute originality. To which
~ lola might reply that II the soul has escaped
him. perhaps it was not there. That he knows
very well what judges. and jurcs. and law
makers and for that matter. novcsts. havc
been wont TO look at; that it is n question. how
ever. not of what We are accustomed to
study. but of what we ought to study.
II we seem TO know less intimately
the men and women to whom lola has
introduced us. than We know tho impress
sivc or exquisite types created by other masters
Of fiction. the author OF LAsSonmoir would
probably remind MS that types do not exist in
nature. that what We call our knowledge Of such
pigments is a delusion. that nothing IL known
but physiology and that tho traLsmutation Of
food into thought Is still a mystery. Moreover
1t is not quito fair to compare Zola's characters
TO the stranger that brushes rs in the street we
understand them quite as thoroughly. after
all. as we understand our acquaintances
or. indeed. our personal friends. for we
can foretell their conduct with rather more
precision. Woshall never probably In this world
know so much OF any human being as We know
OF certain personages in the works OF Fielding
Thackeray. or George Eliot. Now. is II the
business OF novelist to draw figures OF which
We shall say. these are men and women. ordin-
| AIRY. everyday folk neither better nor worse or
in which You shall recognize winning and no.
Bile types sufficiently indvdualiGed for you to
caress the dream OF their possible incarnation
That is the question at issue between the realist
aHd the idealist. and Iola for his part. does not
hesitate to endorse the former answer.
| word as TO the cruditios and vulgarities
which nro alleged 10 disngure Zola's pages.
| Those who have read only L'AsSommoir or lie
Venle de Paris and who are accustomed to
the carefully pruned dition OF Octave Feuil-
let are naturally shocked TO stumble
upon words belonging 10 tho imprinted
vocabulary which exists In every language.
The truth is that when this thorough
going reaist undertakes TO describen particular
stratum OF society. he does not propose to put
,rft hut 70,
it precisely as It is. and let you form
impressions for yourself. Il IL plain that II
this principle Is anything but n pretence. il the
truth is really to be shown in it's native
rawness and squaor, then the author
must reproduce without sQucamishness or
euphuism the idiom of the class aud call
ing no has elected to depict; otherwise
we miss the master key to It's intellectual
and moral attitude. or course those who do
| not care TO study at first hand the factory and
| the grog shop need not read l. AssOntmoir. but
they should not go tho lengths OF supposing
the same language is employed to photograph
very different phases OF society. When for
example the author sketches the home cir
Gle Of the Tuileries or the Ministerial vicssi-
tudes Of the second empire. we can assure
the reader that NJ. Zola's style is quite equal to
the occasion, although his pen il not Us any
means that OF n courtier. In n word. Zola'f
novels are like the world. II your ears can.
not boar the coarse and brutal phrase by which
vulgar folk are wont TO drive an idea home. YOU
must pick your company. There will be scope
enough for dainty discrimination in thesl
twenty volumes.
There Ia something almost colossal in thu
proportions OF Zola's undertaking. yet II is al
ready well nigh half completed He proposes
as we have said, to leave behind him a complete
panorama OF French civilization under IN,
social and political conditions Of the secont
empire. In La Fortune de Rougon he hal
unfolded tho circumstances Of provincial lih
and the characteristic features Of the mercantile
calling in the petty commerce Of rural town
La Falde de PALL5 MOret is n study Of tn,
Church. and especially of tho privations, com
pensations. experiences. and temptations Incl
dent to tho clerical vocation. In lie TItii
de Pdris the author ransacks tho depths o
metropolitan crime While in IAssOntmOh HI
photographs tho burdens, blunders. vices. anC
the redeeming virtues. the shabby. the revolt
ing, and the honorable sides Of n Workman
life in the Faubourg st. Antoine In Son Er
cellence Eugene H0ug0H. we have n portrait o
"a init 81 81