New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-13
A FRENCH NOVELIST.
WRITER OF THE MOST POPULAR BOOKS OF
THE DAY.


today is NJ Georges Ohnet. If one is 10 believe
the critics. his works are failures According 70
the modern school of naturalsm none of his DOCKS
is worth reading. lie has plagiarized, they say
all that is good in his books. There is not spark
of originality about the man. AS for literary
talent style, what not it is preposterous 10 meh-
ton it in connection with NJ. Ohnet Really, nc
is literary nullity. Such has been the almost
universal chorus of the critics. Serge FAMINE
and lie Maitre DIES FORCES" were damned. not
with faint praise, but with the most vigorous
dsnunciation and contempt As for Dermer
Amour" poufl 1t not even worth damning'
And when this incorrigible scribbler ventured 10
put forward his "Dette de Haine (which does
not refer, by the way, to what he owes the critics
there was simply "a universal sniff of utter
WEAKNESS and commiseration.
Now. ali this has no effect upon NJ. ohnet,
for he seldom reads what the critics say. What
effect does it have upon the general public. then?
This for one thing, that NJ. Ohnets books are
more widely read than those Of any other French
novelist of the day. and the number of their
readers is steadily increasing. Not even NJ. zola.
who is at the antipodes of the literary globe, can
hope to rival him in popularity, either at home
or abroad All of NJ Ohnets works run into
editions of scores and hundreds Of thousands, and
they are translated into other languages ana have
an equal circulation in foreign lands. And this
is the more rema rkabe, in that his works not only
do not meet with the favor Of the critics. put
they run counter in tone TO what the pubic
taste is supposed to demand. There is an I'M
preston abroad that the French public. and In
deed the public of other lands. require novels
highly seasoned with the spice Of vice. Sensation
alism and eroticism are supposed to be the quail
tiles that not only meet with most favor. but
are absolutely essential to success. Very well
How unjust this is may be seen from the avldlty
with which people read NJ Ohnet's works, which
are entirely devoid Of those qualities. Perhaps
more Of immortality would please the critics, but
purity seems to be approved by the public one
may say the same of NJ Ohnet's plays, which are
dramatizatlons of his novels; except "Dernier
Amour" in which the play preceded the novel
There are few more popular dramas on the stage,
despite the fact that the dramatic critics IN
variaby write them down in the harshest terms.
Talking Of his plays recently. NJ Ohnet SAID
1t is not an agreeable profession, that of play
writer. It is hard work 1 feel constrained 10
attend every rehearsal; and that is no small task
especially to q man who suffers from the govt.
Noyel-wrting is far easier and pleasanter. How
ever prefer play-wrting, despite the trouble and
fatigue it entails. You see. when you write a
novel you need not leave your quiet study. You
can work when you like, and You have only one
Judge to satisfy-the public Your romance sells.
or does not sell, but in any case you are not
worried from morn to night But when you write
for the theatre, you have to go through endless
rehearsals, which are almost killing particularly
If Won wish YOUR work to be properly represented,
II is worse than being sentenced to hard labor to
be forced to remain on the stage every day for
four or five hours listening to the actors going
through their parts. By the time the ordeal IS
over you lose your head entirely"
| NJ Ohnet then referred TO the critics. Here"
he said Oh" is another annoyance attendant on the
theatre and not by any means the least Objection
able for the critics. by their Judgment, may damn
your piece. If they were but eclectic. the evil
would not be so bad, but they not, and criti-
else your work in obedience to the preconceived
ideas OF their own school 1t is impossible, there
fore for them 10 pronounce a fair and reasonable
verdict Thus / know beforehand which papers
will speak we'll of me. and which Will attack me-
The critics. TO be able to form an unbiased ludg-
ment should set aside entirely their personal
tastes. I am en- idealist and yet they combat
me with naturalist arguments great deal has
been said at different times Of the struggle for
merv between the classics and romantics but 1t
was nothing compared with what takes place III
these days. Never was any battle so Derce as
that which exists between the naturaliSts ana
idealists Hence. repeat, the study is preferaole
to the theatre. If you are ford of repose, be a
novelist; if you like fighting and are not afraid.
be q dramatist There is one thing, however, IN
favor of the stage-one success will make you
celebrated, whereas you may write ten novels and
still be unknown. work for the public, he
added. recurring to the hostility of the critics
| " | recognize no other master. SO long as the
nublic improves my work, | am Indifferent to the
critics"
The system of work which NJ. Ohnet pursues
is a simple one. u begin" he said, with an
idea, motive. 1 turn it over and over in my
mind until have woven the beginning, the mid
die and the end OF my plot. / then sketcd out
the different characters to be introduced, and the
various scenes of action. This done, L set 10
work, writing for four hours every morning. some
times | can write only one or two pages, but when
the inspiration is free and easy can write whole
chapter at one sitting. Generally speaking, h
write my novels in the country anu my plays III
| Paris. / do not surround myself WIN documents
to work on. | do not want them, since L form
my characters and incidents out of my own mind,
or according TO what have come across In daily
| life | have o good memory and can remember
about almost everything have seen from child
| hood. | am not obliged to mount railway en-
! gine like lola, who after all obtains only
very imperfect view Of the scenes which come under
| his eve and which are more imaginary than real
though the pictures he paints are marvelously
II has often been said that NJ Ohnet writes all
| his novels with the intention of damatizing them
| That Is not the case lie is a novelist first Of
! oil; the dramatist comes afterward. He says
! it is not so easy to dramatic novel as some per
| sons imagine. The work has to be changed IN
| many important respects. For example" he con
| tinued the denouement in 'Comtesse Sarah had
| to he altered for the stage, while the play OF
| Serge Famine contains many things, notably the
| great love scene In the third act which do not
| exist in the romance"
-----------.-----.--s
THE SCIENCE or THE OCCULT.