Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-03-10
THE CONDENSED NOVEL.

Recent Progress in the Direction of
Shortening Works of Fiction
In view of the fact that there are now
published monthly in New York two mag
azines, Short Stories and Romance. de
voted exclusively to stories that are told
in few hundred words the Philadelphia
Press prints the following editorial under
the caption. "The Tapering on OF the
Novel;"
The "Shortstory," rs Mr. Brander Mat
thews, whose humor dwells somewhat in
conceits, loves to call it, is made the sub
ject Of a review to itself in The Atlantic
The reviewer groups fifteen newly harvest
ed sheaves in this field. and By no means
exhausts the yearly crop at that. At least
two dozen volumes of short stories have
been issued in the last twelvemonth. and
the weary reviewer is nowadays but too
we'll aware that every fortnight sees him
confronted with the waking and walking
ghost of his past magazine reading in .
new collection of short stories by some fa
miliar hand.
Ten, even five, years ago, such volumes
fell fiat and were published chiefly to fill
out an authors work. Hawthorne's
"Tales" were, as he woefully said. twice
told," because he could persuade no one tc
read them even onca Beyond saying that
we do the short story better than any other
nation-which is true, and has been said
before-The Atlantic reviewer casts little
light on the cause and origin of this new
phenomenon in literature. The short story
teller is, as The Atlantic points out. apt to
be free of local color-seven of the fifteen
cited being of mo mans land" and only
the four southerners speaking a speech
which bewrays them. The short story tel
Ter has no bent ethical or otherwise. and the
entire legion of them simply reverse Can
ning's knife grinder-"Story, God bless
you, I've none to tell, SIR" and have naught
else.
Yet the appetite for the short story is
quite as remarkable as it's existence. BE
sides the fortnightly volume which sells
and sometimes, rs in the case of Miss vii
kins wins an International reputation over
night, thanks to an international critic
Mr.. Lowell, there is a magazine like Ro
nance which devotes itself every month tC
cluster of short stories, new and old. by
land and sea. from many lands, of many
tongues.
The store of short stories is of course a
rich one. All countries have their short
stories They exist even in Chinese anC
Arabic and are Just appearing in the Re
Nuisance of Hindoo fiction centering II
Lucknow. A magazine which publishes
200 year must travel far a-fell. Its mere
presence, however, is proof of a demand
whose existence keen literary observer:
were but recently doubling.
The Atlantic asks and does not answer
| the question why Americans excel in the
art. The answer must be in the demand
| we have noted, and this, in it's turn. we
fear, springs from the newspaper habi,
which renders reading more than three ol
| four columns-the length of short story
| irksome. How many of the most intelli
| gent newspaper readers have really reae
| the twenty columns or so of message ant
| diplomatic correspondence on the Chiliar
situation, critically important as they
| were? Short as it is, the short story ha,
| shortened in twenty years.
Trowbridge's Coupon Bonds and Othel
| Stories," one of the earliest issues OF tht
rent average. For four centuries, from tn,
medieval romance rs long rs Chimes
novel or Chicago tax supplement, thu
novel has been shortening. 1t is taperins
off in the short story. Much shorter il
cannot be. What is to come nextf w
venture to say, in the light Of much nov
seen and read, the rhgththic and metrica
narrative. The short story looks like thu
end of the prose novel in its best manifes
tion as work Of art.