New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-17
THE NOVELISTrS METHODS.
MR.. CRAwFORD'S NEW STORY.
TIE THREE FATES BY F. Marion Cnw1oru'
12mo PIP. AZ Macmillan IL Co.

| largely into the work and the methods Oh on'
novelist that he is sure to be suspected of anto-
biography. His hero is a young mar who begins
| life as paid contributor Of book notices to a
daily newspaper. 1t is only the books OF sllgho
Importance which are entrusted to him. and as
he receives instructions as to the amount Oh sp"oo
to he given to each volume, and is not permitted
to indulge his inclination to cut and slash win
youthful rccklessness, he, Of course, thinks MN
self ll-used. After sufficient discipline oil thls
kind, George Winton Wood begins to write articies
for the magazines and in describing his progress,
his hopes, his disappointments and partial sue
cesses, the author exhibits. doubt, an intimate
acquaintance with toe kind of career ne Is
chronicling. IL by no means follows. however.
that the story is in any true sense antoolo-
graphical All fiction deserving the name embodes
the personal experiences and observation of the
author. Whoever sits down to write novel
| without any experience and observation OF
| life is predcstincd to failure. and though. I'M
fortunately for the public and the critics, the
rash experiment is often made, the end is ever
| the same.
Mr.. Crawford's full knowledge of this phase
of his subject imparts solidity and shrewdness
| 10 his running commentary which will render this
book particularly interesting TO journalists. men
OF letters and critics. Romance writer's indeed are
| likely to be startled by the really extraordinary
| fcats Of literary production ascrlbcd TO George
Wood As Mr. Crawford observes. authors have
many methods OF composition, and il would be
difficult draw n line and TO say that any special
mode was impossible. But it is safe to assume
that not many writers have ever exhibited the
ease and celebrity Of composition here shown by
the hero, who being urged by his sweetheart to
write n novel evolves plot in an hour or so,
immediately begins writing proceeds for eight or
| tli until
the book is finished in a very few weeks. Another
OF his stories is completed in twenty-nine days-a
tom de force" which is the more calculated to
impress the reader inasmuch the book hastily
produced is represented as a good one. We DO
not venture 10 say that Mr. Crawford could not
do this. or that he has not done it. We merely
observe that there are not many similar instances
TO bc found in literary history and that these are
10 lr found in the annals Of the giants principally
The description OF George Woods inspiration. how
ever is highly interesting and here there can be
no doubt that personal experience has been drawn
upon The complete absorption OF the mind In
the work: the strong relief assumed by the crca-
tions Of imagination. and tho melting into imm1-
tcriality Of tho actual world, its occupants and
affairs the apparent eXtraneousncSS Of the char
acicrs who come forward as it were OF their own
votion. and who say and do things which seem
Consciousness all this kind OF experience has been
common to every great novelist.
Interesting as this literary analysis Is, however.
il must yield 70 the final purpose Of Mr. Cnwfords
story The ttle-"The Three Fatcs"-has ref
crcncc 10 the influence upon the hero's career OF
three women who in turn attract him. The first,
Constance Fearing, does him an ines'imabe good
lin persuading him 10 attempt the novel whose sue
ccss almost NJ once establishes his fame and fort
uncs With her he believes himself 10 he pas
siona,ely in love: but she is cool, cautious. and
distrustfi as is perhaps almost inevitable IN The
caec Of n rich girl who breads being ofproachcd
only for her money. Whcn Constance hsis herself
unable 10 love him ~ she thinks he ought 70 he
loved and refuses 10 marry him. he considers his
carer bllghtel. There Is no conscious teh-delu-
sion in the casr yet THREE months later he u
virtually making love to another eir 10 whom be-
becomes engaged. II is true that he is cntrapped
into this engagement by the gncful Totuc,' who
knows though he does not. that lie is the
sole heir Of a very rich old man: and it
is equally true that the love Of poor Mamie for
him is utilized by the manocuvring mother to
make him propose But when all j. s1id il is
clcar-as he finally rcali1cs-thnt he was not really
in love with Constance. who lie thought had broken
his heart As 10 Mamie. he knew that he was
not In love with her. As to Grace Bond. the
widowed sister Of IN, first love- 10 whom he in
cincs strongly at the last, the reader Ii left in
doubt.
II is not az all easy 10 penetrate the authors
ultimate meaning. I'm George Wood he has created
his most complete character; and the reader may
be pardoncd il he fails 10 comprehend thoroughly
the workings of mind whose subtcty is so pro-
found that half the time il docs not understand
itself This of course. constitutes a proof Of the
authors art for do any Of us understand our
selves truly and wholly? How much less can
we hope 10 comprehend one another In the case
Of George Wood the inference which seems most
probable il that he was tempcramcntally incapable
of n deep and abiding love Rejecting upon his
own past he is surprised to note how little i'm
preston his dIsappolntmcnts in love have made
upon him. In the most moving crisis Of the kind
he has been able 10 plunge into his chosen occupa-
ton, to exchange the real for the ideal acid n
lose himself in the latter When the dcccptions
Of Tottie were exposed by Tom Crak and
his engagement with Mamie was ~ suddenly
broken OF by the honest, Inundated Girl he
gets himself out OF the difficulty by be-
ginning new novel on the spot; and no
personal sentiment interferes TO prevent him
from working at this strcnuousy and absorb
eddy that the world is utterly forgotten while he
is thus engaged, ond that six months undertake
ing, under ordinary conditions. il finished in n
few days.
This is the character Of q man who has a yoco
ton which dominates him. In his books he finds
himself creating situations and describing emo
tons which, il occurs to him sometimes with SIR
prise, he has never felt himself His tickle love
Is somehow more real and impressive than that
personal emotion which, while it lasted he believed
TO be a master passion. Is not this the EXPLANATION
Of THE Three Fates" George Wood stands for that
deeply interesting but mysterious temperament 70
which the ordinary relations OF life are reversed
To the born creator of fiction it. is only the ideal
which is real. Let lis talk about something
practical" said Ealzac tired of things Of the ma
teral world" let us talk about Eugene Groudet -
To him, as is well known, his own characters and