Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-10-02
DRIFT.


THR coming season promises to be as gen.
orally uneventful in the literary world as
was the past ono Not all the publishers
have even ss yet sent out their Z" fall au-
nouncements :" and OF those who have, only
two or three promise the publication OF any
works OF lasting Importance or wide interest
1t almost seems as il, since the Hood gates Of
Russian novels has been opened upon us,
there were no more fair chances for our
native authors still this Is only seeming.
The most advertised book Is not always the
book that Is read most But then 1t makes
me impatient, none the less at the real or
seeming craze for Russian stories that is
prevalent Just now. 1t seems to me another
proof of the correctness OF Maurice Thomp-
sons assertion that ''certain American critics
imagine that the farther from
America book Is written, the better the
book"
In fact that whole article of Mr. Thompson
in recent number of The Independent is
an unusually frank and refreshing one
lie deals without fear or favor with "The
Critics and Russian Novels" and says of the
former, for example, that "just rs the shift
less lsborer goes to dinner by the town clock,
be ii fast or slow, these critics keep their eyes
liked upon the RcUue dCs Dear MlHiCS,
ready TO sneeze whenever it gives the signal
he thinks, and very plsusibly too that this
whole Russian craze has been gotten up in
the interest of q few publishers and ot the
trenchy "analytical realist' school of fiction.
What he says on the subject is SO chsrmingly
outspoken and unconventional, and confess
expresses my own sentiments to such an
extent, that cannot forbear from quoting
his words at some length. They certainly
contain large measure OF truth, and are
well worth considering.
"To begin WITH" he says, "there is a ring
OF business in all this advertising and re-
advertising OF Tolstoi and Dustoevsky aud
Tchernuishevsky and Gogol and the rest, as
no American author ever was or ever will he,
aud everybody knows what it means, or
every body should know. \ perfectly frank
and sincere person would say 'Oho pretty
good this! Here's a corner in Russian these
publishers are shrewd, they know a thing or
TWO. Tolstoi and Dostolevsky's and the
other books they can afford to advertise, be-
cause Tolstoi and Dastoievsky and the others
are not clamoring for ten per cent of the
gross income from sales-don't you see
And then these keen publishers know that
whatever pleasss the great Psrislan journal
Ia sure OF hip and hurrah from a certain
coterie of American critics. It's all clear
prohl don't you see"
AFTER indulging in some Just satire at the
critics who go into ecstacies over Tolstoi's
"crude bu. powerful pictures of Russian
liie," speak admiringly OF Gogol's "bold
badness" and are ravished by Tchernui.
shevsky's "richness of local color" while
none of them have ever seen a mile OF
Russian scenery, know less than nothing OF
the Russian character and life, and could not
a 10Y TIM frfNun N III
or Italian, TO say nothing of their utter ignor.
ance OF the Russian language, so that they
can only have read the books in French
translation or more likely in an English
translation of the French version; Mr..
Thompson goes on thus, and who that has
read the books must not agree with him
"trankly speaking, l cannot read the
Russian language; in fact have met bu,
one person who could, and he was not 8
critic, nevertheless it has been suggested &c
| me in some way that, even in their naked
| Russian, such novels ~ Anna Karenina
| and A Vital Question are not much better
| than any other novel of intrigue and moral
obligations of a kindred sort The nastiness
of lola is diluted and somewhat sugar.
coated in Tolstoi, If the translation may be
relied upon. There is a difference,
suppose, but blunt and conscientious man
may fail to discover it; there appears to bt
critical snobbery in the case somewhere"
| tical school OF fiction in general is emineuuy
true and well put "The truth is, that the
analysts are fighting for life, and they mus
rake the whole world in order to find in
stances of what they call grand realism III
| fiction. Strange to say these instances turn
out to be, in nearly every case studies of the
shady, the seamy, the vulgar, the brutal, the
immoral side of life ! 1t appears that the
| pure, the joyous, the noble side of life i:
IsaI rel u1. yfv, I,r,,.
not a virtuous courtship and an honest mar
riage better subjects than intrigue and guilty
| lover
l HAVE read, outside of a few of Turgue
neti's stories, only single one OF this recent
| flood OF Russian novels, " Anna Karenins -
| which is said to be one of the best and purest
| That's why did not read any more. II thai
is the best, what must the others be ? Al
| the time / asked myself the very question
put by Mr. Thompson: '.Why should any
pure person find pleasure in reading Anna
| kareninaY The reading of such literature
breeds a state of society like the IulL MAJ
Gazette exposed. Familiarity with tempta
| ton, vice and shame, does not beget con
| tempt for them in the large ma sority o
| cases, or II it does, why shall we not send
our children TO low dives and drinking dens
| to get their education? In word, why
| should not criticism partake OF the highes,
and purest morality, and TO colOred to match
| well with noble patriotism This would
not mean mere sentimental morality and
mere vain-glOrious patriotism, but it would
mean a keeping within the bounds OF high
Christian civilization, and it would mean q
fixed preference for the best development OF
our own literature"
ANOTHER point he makes, and It is the last
one / shall quote from his excellent article, is
one OF the greatest importance AID deserves
to be pondered seriously by all really patrio.
tic Americans. Russian nihilism, if not
originated by the writings OF TurguenefI,
Gogol, Pushkin and others was certainly en-,
couraged, fed and nourished by them until
it attained to its present monstrous growth.
This is a fact OF history none can deny Is 4,
not dangerous then for us to import these
atheistic poisons and anarchistic hrebrands
into our country? Do wa not perhaps already
reap some of the fruit in the rantings and
murderous violence of the dynamiters which
have so sorely disturbed our national tran.
guilty OF late ? At least there il food for
thought IN the fact that the outbreaks OF
anarchism here have followed closely upon
the appearance OF this Russian literature in
our country. AS Mr.. Thompson we'll SAYS,
"There is an active exchange OF energy be-
tween the literature and the morals OF any
country. When we began to import cheap
trsnslations OF Turgueneirs novels, and to
fill our journals with praises OF them, we little
dreamed that We were encouraging the
development OF that foreign-bred anarchy
which blossomed lately in Chicago; but W o
were doing Just that thing. Russian litera-
ture is not better for us than American liters.