The San Francisco call., 1897-09-19

iSt is TO nature and to the home
Her phases of life, seems after all about to
be realized. With this return there also
appears to be marked desire for return
TO implicitly both in plot and in construc-
ton. The time has arrived when to make
g success of a story it is regarded as abso-
lutely essential that the author shall have
clear, pungent style, free from what is
termed highfalutin' and with moral not
too Cbtrusively expressed. Stories which
come under this category can always be
sure of readers, and it is right that this
should be so. For what is the purpose of
much OF the reading that is undertake
in these times of limited leisure, if 1t is
not to divert thought into lighter chan
nels, to give some relief from the high
pressure consequent upon the struggle for
existence which is so prominent a feature
of our daily lives2
The reader of to-day desires to be
amused. Little time or inclination has
he for the perusaI of deep polemical or
dldactIc novels. They weary him by rea-
son OF the fact that they cause his brain
to work alter its work should be done.
With the few hours which he can devote
to the pursuit of recreation, he prefers
that his brain lie almost fallow; that it be
not sown with the seed that Will fructify
IN deep thought. Hence the return to
novels having the spirit or sentiment Of
rural life.
We are led to these remarks by the pub
Hcauon from the press of Messrs. Apple
pm OF uniform edition of Hamlin Gar
land's works. Mr.. Garland started writ
ing at time when the polemical, sex
question, erotic novel was in the height of
lts popularity. AS a result he was mis-
understood by the critics, willfulIy or
lgnorantly, it is not the province of this
article to inquire. His work was consid-
cred too tame. too pastoral. But the
time came when the novel with-a-
purpose ceased to attract, and those
same critics who were so quick to
condemn, returned to the work of new
Western writer, to find in it new beauties.
To-day Hamlln Garland is recognized TO
be the foremost exponent OF life in the
Middle Western States of this continent.
His writings are read approximately in
every part of America, not only for the
quality they possess of Photographic &C
curacy, but for the delicately subtle man
ner IN which his themes are handled.
II there is one dominant expression
more than another present in Nj Gar
lands work it is confrmatory of Presi-
dent Garfeld's sparkling epigram that
the only coats OF arms that exist in the
United States are shirt sleeves. Particu-
larly is this made manifest in his short
stories, a volume OF which is before Us as
we write. 1t is entitled "Wayside Court
ships" and the title expresses clearly the
nature of the tales contained therein.
They are short, crisp and direct, and the
pastoral element to which we have made
reference is prominent in them all.
"Wayside Courtships," if it is not to be
accounted one OF the great books of the
season, nevertheless possesses attrac tions
OF its own that will make it a pleasant
companion to the man who reads fiction
6otn for its own sake and for the purpose
II instituting a comparison between
3Sviters IN this branch of literature. In
4 very simplicity lies its charm. No OBJ
81 tIty wells Mr.. Garland's meaning in
dealing with the love stories of the coun-
Try cu-ate, of the humble farmland. or
OF the semi-urban book -canyasser. You
may take up for perusal any OF the stories
contained within the covers OF "Wayside
Courtships" Given your hero on the
first page, and within the ten following
YOU may be in possession of the name of
the heroine whom ne Will eventually
marry and with whom he will live hap
PLY ever after. This is Mr.. Garland's
stvIe. and a refreshing one it is when one
has become satia:ed with affairs of worldly
men and women IN all their intricate
bearings as revealed to US by Mrs. Craigie
and novelists of her cult.
A little reflection devoted to the matter
will show that this return to simplicity in
stories of the character affected by Mr..
Garland is more likely to permanently
affect our literature for good than is fol-
lowing after the modern school OF fiction
lists, the names OF whose professors will
cccar to the reader without much diff
Guilty 1t is the fashion in some quarters
to deride writers whose works breathe the
freshness of the fields, whose writings
place US in closer touch with nature and
its deyotees Yet we have novels that
have been accepted as standard, and
which will ever be regarded as classics,
that are constructed on this plan.
Was there ever, for instance, a more
pleasing story written than 1.-The Vicar
of Wakefield, with its wealth of homely
sentiment, its air of pastoral sim plicity,
voicing a contentment with things as they
are, and emphasizing what are nowadays
incorrectly viewed as the ommon places
Of Lie? Yet it is novel whose plot is OF
the most simple character, handled in
manner equally simple. Its situations
Agather dramatic effect from the direct
manner in which they are placed before
the reader, and Goldsmith used none OF
the articles employed by the writers OF
our day for the purposes of effect only.
The author of "Wayside Courtsnips" has
been quick to see the advantage of so
handling his characters that their actions
are natural, not stilted, and short walk
of half an hour in any of the States he de-
scribes would reveal the actual men and
women whose lives he glorities and ideal
ICES.
Twelve stories are contained in the
volume before uy-the first two being the
best-and remarkable for certain in
tensitv of feeling. In - Preachers Love
Story" Mr.. Garland pictures youthful
college graduate, who is appointed