The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-12-01
AS TO TRILBY.
1t Is Most Charming Book, Full of
Beauty and Grace, but 1t Is Not True,
so at Least Thinks Mr.. Dana.

1t Is a Most Charming Book, Full of
Beauty and Grace, but 1t Is Not True,
so at Least Thinks Mr.. Dana.
From the New York Sun.
Those who have read "Trllby'' will re-
gard as an impertinence any statement of
reasons for the great success of the book;
to those who have not, let us say briefly
that while the story is drawn out of the
same elements of youth and love which in
one shape or another are the theme of
every novelist, but somehow never grow
old or tedious, Mr.. Du Maurler has writ
ten his tale with such originality, uncon-
ventionality, and eloquence, such rollick-
ing humor and tender pathos, and de-
lightful play of every little fancy, all rum
ming so briskly in exquisite English and
with such vivid dramatic pcturing, that it
is only comparable, in the mass of trash
poured out under the name of novel wri-
ting, to the FRESHNESS and beauty of a
spring morning at the end of dragging
winter. Many of those who have read it
think that the genius of Thackery has
visibly descended. 1t is however thor
| oughly unique story, and once begun it Is
not put down until it is finished, by the
critic, the schoolgirl or the man of the
world.
The discussion about "Trilby" chiefly
centers about the books morality. For
the scene of the story is laid in the bad
| fairy land known POLITICALLY as Bohemia;
| and Tribly, the heroine, is an artists mod
el who earns her living by posing, nude or
| draped either in portions or in "the alto
| gether," and who has, in fact, mostly by
reason of her parents faults and her un-
| fortunate early surroundings, lost the one
| N.irtIin ~ yhinb criX TO tn nlI ba
| rest" When the novel was printed SER
| tally in Harper's Magazine, certain pas
| sages were thought by the editor TO be a
| little too strong and were eliminated but
| these passages remain undisturbed in the
| book form of the story. They are prin-
| cipally those In which Trilby tells frankly
| of certain incidents in her life, and the
| author defends the necessities of the ar
| lists profession as regards the use of liv
| ing models. With those who think these
passages immoral We cannot agree. Mr..
Du Maurier has treated with candor some
| facts belonging to the realm of things
| which are usually understood instead of
being talked about, but he has done this
with singular manliness and delicay, and
with entire absence of mawkish or other
| improper sentiment. The impression of
Trlby's character left on the reader is en-
|
whose life is not sin but tragedy.
Not an Immortal Book.
And yet having given the book and its
author warm and just praise, the multi
tudc of people upon whose hearts Miss
Trilby's divine feet are dancing so merrily,
must forgive the belief in us that the story
has little share in the powerful rhyme
which outlives marble and the monuments
| Of, ic n CT nd it1l,i ~
tale, but 1t is not great. "Trilby" Is a
moving piece of sentimentality which, as
such thiags are apt to be- Is wholly UNI
real. 1t presents a picture of life which
| is striking, but false in fact and design
| 1t is not great because it is not true. For
| the same reason, unless II Is read wisely
it may prove to be immoral; and those
who are carried away by its fun and ten
derness may see its substantial unverity,
If they like, by comparing ii with Il real
masterpiece such as one of Balzac's most
able stories. We are not thinking here
of the improbable share that hypnotism
plays in the story This is, of course, 4
mere fantasy, though weird and power
full one. But it seems worth while to
point out plainly that grisettes of the Lat
In quarter, in Paris or elsewhere, are not
Trllbys any more than they are George
Eliots or Clara Bartons, and that Mr.. Du
Maurier's readable fiction will do harm If
1t induces any young man to believe that
the bright grisette of his acquaintance is g
noble, great-souled creature like Mr.. Du
Maurier's heroine.
Bohemia Not Fit to Live in.
We are not terribly scared about the
matter. If the reader will keep his eyes
open, he will see clearly enough that he is
enjoying Il brilliant poetic fallacy, which
the author himself does not believe. Why,
after all the sermons about nothing so
chaste as nudity" was Little Billee shock
cd horribly when he saw Trllby naked Cn
the posing pedestal? Why, following this
scene did the great artist, NJ. Carrel, take
Trlby away instantcr, and try to comfort
her, remembering "that he had daughters
of his own at home?" And why did Little
Billee's artist companions, former bcliey'
ers in nudity, tell Trilby that posing "fol
the altogether" wasn't just the thing? We
do not quarrel with the poets, either oi
prose or verse, over their right to treat
, Bohemia with generous license and fanci'
full eXaggeraton. We all of us like ia
read what they have written, and their
, words of winsome unreasonableness stil
recollections sometimes that haunt us like
strains of the plaintlve song. which Mr.
Du Maurier has made the musical motll
of his story. But in real life the poets and
writers, those of them who amount to any
thing, regard Bohemia with merely pro
fessional affection, and they get away
from there as soon as they can. Wher
John Boyle O'Reily wrote that he ha{
rather live in Bohemia than in any other
land, he did}not mean at all what he said
although he made delightful poem about
! 1t. He knew very well, as Du Mauriel
knows, that it is an interesting place tC
; visit, but there are no more pitlabe spec
, cles in the world than the men who stay
there and grow old there; and that II
} truth, 1t should be sung about as the lant
which was found once and happily lost, a'
Carcassonne is the country which we are
always looking for and never find,
2 Therefore, we advise everybody to reat
: Mr.. Du Maurler's story, and to remember
! that 1t is all sentiment, and that 1t is no
i,,ar i,,n