The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-11-28

Ho Chats interestingly About Authors-
southern writers.

The Washington Post. Of yesterday
contained an interesting interview one o.
the reporters Of the paper had win nj
Thomas Nelson Page. That gentleman anc
his wife are stopping at the Shorehah
Hotel, in that city.
81 had a long talk with Mr.. Page con-
corning books and the man who maze
them" said the interviewer
asked him, among other Things,
what books he would recommend young
| men and women who were AMBITIOUS %
| literary honors to read.
GOOD books" he replied, with hearty
! emphasis. good books. What ] mean
by good books is the work OF our best
| authors, Fielding, Scott, Tbackeray.
George Eliot. and other Of the better
known English authors, as well as Balzac
and the best Of the modern French
writer's There IS an inspiration in such
literature After reading It. the man who
has any literary taste will feel like call
ing for pen and paper and trying to see
what he can do in the same direction.
Perhaps / ought not TO say that these
works inspire one. but they certainly en-
thuse you. You remember what Thack-
cray said. that he would like to have
cleaned Shakspeare's boots and to have
helped Fielding TO bed
"Are you an admirer Of MaupassantY
l asked.
q admire his genius immensely. He
was one of the greatest writers Of short
stories that ever lived
And Daudet?'
81 don't think his sketches rank up to
Maupassants. but his more ambitious
efforts. Jack and Sappho' particularly,
ola is
Of the greatest literary artists. But l
must say love a clean book"
How do you account for the promi-
hence which 50 many southern authors
Of late years have gained as litera-
tours? Is il because the public taste
has become dured and needs a. new
flavor TO tickle its literary paate?"
NO; it is because they write simply
of things that they know. Our southern
writers are working a new vein. They
live in a part Of the country that is less
known to the outside world than the
North They write of people who still.
TO a certain extent. retain their primi-
tive customs of a century ago. Their
descriptions are filled with a strong
local coloring, and their stories are
interesting because they are natural.
Their naturalness is their greatness OF
these writer's Joel Chandler Harris. |
beneVe, was the IrSt, as ne Is certainly
unsurpassed Then there are many others
who have justly become well known.
All Of their work is good, some Is fine,
and the public appreciate IT,
Further along in our conversation Mr..
Page spoke of the realistic school OF
fiction as compared with the romantic
or imaginary school. While paying
high tribute to the realistic writer's, ii
was plain that his sympathies turned
more 10 the writers of romantic fiction.
He spoke of the first as being some
thing in the nature Of photograph,
while the latter. so carry out the COM
parison, was more Of the character OF
painting touched with the light Of the
ideal. The portrait had a perspective
and spoke TO the imagination, which the
photographs did not. He illustrated
his meaning something after this fash
ion:
Take Thackeray, for instance. You
remember his Henry Esmond and The
Newcombs among his two greatest
works He writes as closely as 81 realist,
yet he is one of the greatest Of roman
cists There Is no more charming char
acter in the whole realm Of fiction than
Colonel Newcomb. Yet, viewed critical
TX. Colonel Newcomb was foolish,
amiable old man. Ii is when we look
beyond the superficial to see the spirit
within that we recognize the nobility and
beauty of his life. Thackeray realized
him. and made him a living, breathing
parsonage; a model of the gentleman; to
love reverence, and follow; one VINO
commands our love and sympathy ana
admiration at all times"