New-York tribune., 1884-10-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
up CABLE'S LATEST STORY.

I'll ,,nost pnoualied approval. Ii possess ssed thc
rho,p,S of novelty and freshness 1t was the OPEN
;nU of a new field: the revelation OF hitherto uh-
describcd phases of LIE. The style OF tHe "ri'e'
600 was very smooth and pleasant. ana ms power
of a. hsoYvation and description considerable so tna'
the pictures he drew of a qua n picturesque ou'
fosbioned " orld in and about New-Oreans were at
,ractiye and interesting Presently there arose GER
taip criticisms directed against the fidelity OF MS
concentrations II even sald tia' VIZ
did not resemble his descriptions oil th'Ih' an" ,"''
he had rather created a new class Oh Po'pio '
Dainted the portraits of living pers"ns' p"t ~ 10
very difficult to he inst in matter o. 'ls h""' W.
cause no mans view of any phenomenon Is eN'C'lN
,he same rs any other mans view. Inc noNeis'
narrower NAV urc0nsciously cxaggerate some 'ra"
in a character. and in doing render II unrecog-
pizable Or for reasons connected with his art, ne
,,o,. deliberately choose to make Such ;@cnauee
And in such a case provided that the story as
whole fulfls the purpose of the artist ana sa'SHVs
the reader as good piece OF art woih, cIi'oH"i :"
rected against mere closcness of resemblance j. ho'
necessarily sound or effective.
/, was often said of Dickens that his characters
were extravagant and unreal Bu' one oi the scc'o'
of his rowcr consisted in the fact hat though HIS
reader, might never have met such persons u.s. say
Rogue Riderhood or Joe Gargery, yet th'S "eio
male to feel the entire possibility Of the existence
n
,ions of Dickens's imagination were real to MN.
I'll were not mere puppets but Twin men and
women. whose dispositions were known to nun,
whose habits and idiosyncrases he studied, ana OF
whom he wrote a. writes of matters passing oe-
fore ones eyes. But while tins snbte sense ol an
ortho,'s conviction of the reality OF his characters
will rc-oc upon the reader. nothing less than tins
perception can compensate for the detects OF eN-
travagance and untathiulneSs to NE. IL hoecu
bappeus sometimes that writer conc'lVes piol 50
noverful and interesting that the public ignore the
lifelcssnc>s of his characters, though TINS is not
common. and even popular approval cannot III, %e
GOOD art of such work Iut there must be either
yerisimltude and life III the characters, or rare
force and skill in the plot TO warrant success III
cases OF this kind.
IL has been Justly observed that one has night
to quarrel with an authors choice Of subject pro
yided il be not immoral but that every one has
right to crticse the manner in which the subject Is
treated There are 10 doubt many who do not be-
lieye i'm what is called the novel with purpose,
but II is difficult to understand what Kind OF a
novel that would he which should be written with
ont a purpose The fact is that al novels have
purpose but that whereas the purpose OF the sue
ccssfu novels is at once perceived by tlc public the
purpose Of the unsuccessful ones remains dark TO
The reader Mr.. Cable has given SO much pleas
urc in the past that 1T is not agreeable to have ID
classify Dr. SEWER" with the moves whose puI-
pose remains unapprehended Yet IT IS necessary SO
10 classify it. Unfortunately. also. II must h' said
of # that lis characters fail. not IN lack OF fidelity
toa New Orleans type or types for on that head we
are not qualified To pass Judgment, bat In want ol
resemblance to humanity. IheN mcltd'' h" ""uoI'
many of Mr. Cables favorte lay Figures, such as the
Creole youth who Is very beautiful and very silly,
the Creole ladies' who gentle and 1csticuatoN.
and so forth But these are merely auxiliary 10 tie
main siorX and il the main story which D., ursat-
isfactorv unnatural and martStic Incne,i onaDly
Mr. Cable had definite purpose ~ hi7 NINA Whch
he planned Dr. SEWER but hc has lot succeeded
in carving il out He certainly could not have de-
liberatc;y intended TO write story which rs com
petod seems to intimate at the 81 me- time thc ncces-
eitv and the futility of ting IN Providence;
winch Furnishes virtue ard merit with suffering ana
irrcparable disaster and having brouehtc'cythng
to a thoroughly unpleasant end. seem, 10 conclude
with puzzled and plainly dubious suggestion that
after all there may bc balm in Glcad yet
No doubt such story is possible, hu. ID Was NOT
good art to write such story. and while iit pot is
so uns sfiotory the characters ar not capable of
Iclfessing the balance. In scarcely any oi them has
NJ Cable succeeded In clearly expires. ing bis idea.
TIE result il iieuucnt observations intended to bc
ilustratiyc but which are really only bcNih,ermH
And the defect of ind Gncncss run, all ihroueh the
Iicrcncc There is really no adequate reason given
ior the absurd self imnolation of RithlinE aud HI
wife Neither IN any adequate reason gwen iot Che
implacnblc hostility of Richlugs parents to The
Young people Neither is the Coul of lr SEWER
innle to nppcut natural or consistent lho best
.lminclet IN the book H. "Natcis,o.' and hc ls %
foot destitute Of moral acusc. lho Ch1tnc'r ot
Mnry AZ meant tn he honutilul one. but IT inilH
Airnl Mpty vould NOT livc lcit hrt husband az
this one does and one Hike Tina would mot hn,c
,nkcn u much ,tonhle 10 get hn,k lo him npnin
l,rt,wlut. tbs Kind of inrohcrcn,c Hrd m,ou''
oueilrp ia aenronntctrl nud n uul hr ul npiiu
tmt nll lh.sr nir ptuuia 0i hid uit, haste nnl in
tnnlrlpni ah.ripiiun in hs subject h} hu uullur
1he merits oi ~ sr,iri' ntc. u pleasant sit &c.
dpsttiutiyp puuti 0i hrh uidDi ns applied toes
ttinal mature. AMI irliritous frrr rn'iirn oi iIt
,ui ~ dinlr.i rhninrtrf embodied in "Nuri.sr,'
aoi whith vlnihrt ttnr ~ aus actual itrr 49, mot
is t,tiini, h,iphl anl anusinr lui Nt 'nhl.
tas nui ~ THE siWt lulr hd iit reiu.. iaiiuns
,tblth rtirt u.iliars nui niurrtlfi iueilt, has.l
um,n his ta,iipi tnh u nat lp ihii ihr nHtrit.
pl his enhiris ~ nisi uiN,UN twiHn nrhti'
Nhlph pp,p rafi ~ h's Statute u "tf hr llai 'hr
sulrbs, uf niiuAi dulanap aunlrNl li,l aihH ilN j.
pnrcrpinn,, sni truptri ium iu ifpprui san ut
.ue hasio. ih,s iaitei 10 q tnnnnn iHi ais1 Rata
errur ia Anung authuis. iatpud lA ti.on ie,'tiinD
they lnsr then s,nao oi ndohtnu,sh o. ltrn ait.
and taking au excessive estimate oi then anl,li,s
imap zine that the public dO NOT demand patlent and
seluiou, WORT At thrir hands When Ma tapie nr,t
appearei There seemed 10 bo IA him prom 0i
better things aud it was more for hls put,ntlaib
than for his actual achievements that he was wei
coined 80 cordially. But Dr Sry,et' shows tina
he has at least partly mistaken a kindly hope am
expectation for the enforced tribute due TO trnA-
phant genius, and such mistakes are apt to be
deadly If not promptly atoncd for. For when all is
said that can fairly be said its behalf when It's
many graphic pictures, its occasional sweet and