New-York tribune., 1884-11-14
LETTERS From THE PEOPLE,
REALISM IN NOVEL WRITING.

To the Edifor Of Thc 1rfb"nc'
SIN. 4 recent editorial in TIE TRIBUNE Oh
.rhe Art of Fiction" seems To nc to snow WIN ""'
bic pcrspcuIty the principal falling ot oh'. "'' =, -
the realistic school headed by MI "en'' ' -,
nrcc.elv because the art OF the novelist Is 80 nro
,,,a as I, does the whole range OF human lie ana
horoc,er-,hat any analysis which makes use ol '"o
microscope only will fail to present 10 'ne 'n'""
coherent whole, or aught. In fact pu' oo''o W
biehlv magnincd and distorted oharacterlSucS' D." '
bc that our great Hawthorne is responsive ior mum :"
Tho psychological subtlcty in which Mr. James ana MS
school indulge; II So his nfaliibe t"S'o 'o'"'''''
r,o,,ed MIN from straining leading canons o' ''' W
,hc way with which we have now become a'cus'o"'"
TO couple the idea OF realism ,.,,,,o
The following extract taken from "Tho Bhthc"''cf
Homancc" shows the dis,rust with whi'n """' 49,,
ro,o,1ca ,hc extreme use of what was his most u's
tincuishcd powcr-psy theological analysis V"',,
becar.c the sense seems almost Identical VIII" '""'
expressed In your EDITORIAL ,,
II is not. apprehcnd, healthy KIND OF nen1n, m 'hn
occupation devote ourselves TOO cheisNn ,n ncrs"n
stnGv nf individual men ana women. III the Pcr,,",
under examination he ones self the result - pi,,S
certain be diseased action OF the nr"r n lax" the
freedom 10 put u friend under our microscope, We
hereby insuate him ftom many OF his true RELATIONS
nachify his pccuarcs. inevitably tear him into parts
and of course patch him very clnnsly t1scnr az as' w.
Nhat wonder then, should be frightened 10y the
aspect of "A monster, which after although we can
point To every feature Of his dcformty III thc rr"
isonage-inay be said TO have been created NANNY u!
v~lselvcs
l. Is wccstabshcd philosophical fact that many o
IL. moral qualities which men call virtues Will not
stau1 the test of Inspections actions ana motives
which appear at sight be disintcrcsed are "nh
on closer examination be prompted 10y more or less
selfish interests hence 1t is that the fang' OF mhnS'ho
always seem to occupy the attention of the realistic
novelist while the virtues receive but scanty justice
Tha, this should give pessmistic coorng to work
otherwise bright and vyacous is not to be wondered a
But IL is not my purpose TO quarrel With thai; auhos
are certainly privileged take whatever view OF ie
they please Is the bad effect which TINS oneslueo
criticism produces the reader which Is important
In reading book by Mr. James or Ir. Howells the
first impression which this subjective acutcness pro
duccs is kind Of mental eXaltatlon. not altogether
unpleasing but productive OF sefconsciousness whlch
prevents the reader losing himself In his book
AS the phrase goes. he reads further, the continued
tone satire and rallcTy hardly fail 10 appear hal
sneering and cOnempuous. ana ne may even eAclalIW Va
himself. What excessively dsagrceablc HIlenprI'i
man the author must he At last the truth forces llsrii
upon his mind the writer il not doing justice 10 MS
character particular TO the class which ne repre-
sents, in general. The result Is disastrous; lor tne
reader is forced to he his guard against the author
To qualify his assertions and contradict II p0sslDc ms
conclusions-a state OF affairs utterly destructive Oi an
svmpathy between tine writer and his aulencei ana
novelist should cndeaver gain from his readers That
the school OF fiction fails In This most Important
regard proved by the feeling or dissatisfaction,
amounting almost to grievance. with when so many
question Truth, perhaps some critic OF the luure
rejecting the folly of men. will smile a. he writes IL
down that there lived toward the end of the nineteenth
century school of writers calling themselves reast',
who produced characters OF ali III the history vi HVoh
tlIe most unreal. ELS.
Nelc York, Nov. = lssi