The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-03-11
lola AND HIS WORK
His Ambition Is to Be a Napoleon
in the Literary Field.
tie Views Life as a God Might, Taking
Sides with None, and Rejecting
That Which He BehOlds.

He had bought a cottage from the peasants,
and was rebuilding it by degrees. The great
study which overlooks the lOw-lying, sill
very-green meadows through which the
Disc flows was just finished. He had, even
at that time. begun 10 collect the massive
furniture TO which his natural taste runs.
Madame lola led the way up some tor
tuous staircases. opened the door and left
me TO find the master If 1 could. At first
1 thought 1 should not succeed. 1 peeped
about the heavy furniture, wondered at the
lectern, and finally discovered the master
lying On a sofa by the window, correcting
proofs. He waved his hand to me to be
seated Dear me-" 1 thought, this is a
little cnilling;" and at the same moment /
remembered that 1 had heard that lola
knew at once If he were talking TO a fool
or a man OF wit, that he did not toler-
ate a fool for above a minute; at the end
of that time he was dismissed with short
words. Heavens! 1 haven't said a word,
and he has already found out that
I am a fool" But there was the
seat | had to sit down. / glanced
at the terrible master who lay on the sofa,
his glasses on his nose. reading me, /
thought, through and through. 1 sat, striv-
ing 10 collect my thoughts. The necessity
of some commonplace remark frightened
@~- II Jill anu ondhsptdIc WGIG "a
denly introduced they would have to begin
with remarks about the weather. or the
pleasure they had both taken in each 9TH
er's works. But, not feeling myself to be
either l trembled as 1 gabbled through the in
evitable compliments. He received my COM
p1ments~ coldly; so coldly that my flesh
began to creep, and / felt that there could
no longer be any doubt in his mind that L
was a fool.
lola was not then what he is now, a gra-
ClOuS, Kindly man, IN the habit or receiving
every one who chooses to call on him and
answering all sorts of questions: He was
or bear who hid himself in a cave and
cursed the universe. who babe all corners
half a dozen friends. lola did not know
now TO receive commonplace compliments,
and l shall never forget the frigid indifer-
ence with which he received mine.
MADE HIM A FRIEND.
To my surprise and pleasure lola began
to tell me about the novel he was then
writing. 1 must have stayed three-quarters
OF an hour, and then, fearing to outstay
my welcome, 1 babe the master goodbye.
He took me down stairs, talking ali the
time. He asked me to come and see him
again. Then l knew / had made a friend.
AT this time lola was a fat man. Soon
after he became a thin one. BY abstaining
from drink at his meals he reduced his
weight thirty-six French pounds in two
months. He seemed to have accepted Bal
Eac's maxim that the elegance OF life ex-
lists mainly in the waist: As his waist mar
rowed his manner of life became more ex-
panSlVe., No longer Is he the recluse of
Medan; he has added a tower to his country
house-with what intention l never fully
understood, and he lives in a spacious man
sion In the Rue des Bruxelles, which he
tries. portTafts W MIN rc6 6ak carvings, tapes.
iron Ratings. A plaster cast of the Venus
De Milo stands on the balustrade that circles
the staircase. This confusion of taste seems
IN me TO be representative of the own
ers mind, a mind that would embrace life
and art In their entirety, who grasps like
q rant and out of whose enormous grasp
a good deal slips.
But there is no reason why a great writer
should be learned in curios; there are many
why he should not. The greatest do mt
care much about such things. Manet lived
all MS life amid the red plush of a hotel
meuble; and l am not sure that 1 should
have spoken of Zola's furniture if it had not
and much general bric-a-brac. a definite
mental change has come upon lola. 1 once
heard hlm say that he was going to give
q Dali. L don't think he ever carried the
project into execution However this may
be. his house has for the last three years
peen open TO visitors and he has answered
the ten thousand heterogeneous questions
that the eleven hundred and ~ffty-seven
interviewers have put TO him with unfail-
Ing urbanity. and, 1 am bound to admit.
with extraordinary common sense.
His mind is not as intense and penetrat-
Ing as Tourgeneff's. but it looks with admir-
able lucidity over a wide surface. and he
can answer the most foolish questions rea-
The lola novel is practically the daily
paper. lola has discovered a formula
which suits the average man as well as
the Daily Telegraph or the Petit Journal.
The average man finds in each novel the
same amount OF actually. the same amount
Of imagination, the same amount of love
making. And lola chooses his subject not
In obedience to an artistic instinct, but in
subject than Lourdes? Three hundred thou
sand pilgrims go there yearly. Every pill
grim Is a certain reader. Protestants hope
to find refutation. Catholics confirmation of
the miracles; The afflicted in all countries
hience. And lola will steer a middle course.
Just as he steered a middle course between
France and Prussia
ABOUT THE DOWNFALL"
1 heard him boast. without. however. per-
ceiving the enormous artistic signihcaT
Of what he was saying, that he had written
q French novel on the war without giving
Prussia cause for offense. 1 take II that
the sublime impartiality Of the true artist
Is very ,kkferent from the mock impartial
lily Of the journalist who wants to get up"
q controversy. The true artist is void alike
OF morals. patriotism. politics. love or hate;
he sees life as God sees il, without preju-
dice; life is for him-I think the praise In
Flaubert'sE"une haIlucination a trans
potter"
n idea of conquest seems inherent in
lola. Five-and-twenty years ago he wrote
2 book called lie Conquete de PLEASANT"
The idea OF conquest cropped up again in
L'Oeuvre. and this time it was Paris that
was conquered. Now ii seems that lola
meditates the cOnquest of the world. He
came TO England at the head of an army
OF journalists; rockets were let off at the
crystal Palace and trumIets were blown
IN his honor at the Mansion House. The
pretext was literature, the real reason was
worship OF the golden calf: and Zola has
profted by the circumstance to extend his
connection. He will probably proceed on a
Similar mission 10 st. Petersburg Dir has al
ready been spoken of; he may even visit
America. Why not? There are sixty mil
lion in the United states who, through the
medium OF translation, may read the
Rougon Macquart. The newspapers re-
ported that Madame lola, astonished ar
the length of our London suburbs. said:
Emile" Every house represented to her
the possible sale OF a novel, Charpentier
edition, three francs fifty. If you were to
tell lola that your concierge had not heard
his name he would feel much DISCOURAGED
He would inquire il there were a con-
cierges' guild, and would arrange TO adj
dress a meeting. Napoleon looked upon
every man who was not a soldier as lost
70 france; 50 does lola look upon all men
VINO do not read his novels.
Inc desire of gold for its own sake is
SonPrehensibie in a way; the desire 10
max money for the sake of children is
easily COMPREHENSIVE. and IL is possible TO
SyHlpdthize with ROssini. who, when he
MI made sufficient income, declined TO
write another note of music, saving that
henceIorth ne Intended 10 live for the pleas
ure OF the table and conversation with his
Iriends But ZOla's case is not one of
these- he has no love OF money; he has
s~quandersd all he made on vulgar decora-