The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-18
From the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal
Few people realize how great an
undertaking a modern novel is. An
thony Trollope used to say that q lit
erary career looked easy because all
it required was pen, ink and paper.
There was no expensive preparation to
be gone through, no costly plant to be
set up. The novelist, particularly, sim
ply sat down and wrote. TrollOpe
did a good deal himself to support
this idea. BY sticking to his chair so
many hours a day and writing so many
pages an hour. with so many words
on a page, he became one of the most
prolific novelsts of his time. The late
Mrs. Oliphant was another author
whose fertility was cause for wonder
ment, and yet she did her work so
quietly and those who were intimate
with her hardly knew when she did it.
| In an appreciative notice in the At
| lantic Monthly Miss Harriet Waters
| Preston quotes Mrs. Oliphant as de-
| nying that she worked at q break
neck pace" She was very constant,
though very lelsurely" And, indeed
one whose "inspiration" never failed
could easily turn out three large vol
umes a year by writing q thousand
words a day. We have lately been told
! that some of the newly discovered
| geniuses can do better than this. But
! with one of them. at least, speed is
| not the question. The novels of Mr..
Hall Caine are too important to be
tossed off lightly. He tells US himself
of the herculean labors which his new
| book, THE Christian" required of
! him.
TIRED OUT.
Mr.. Caine had an interview recently
with a London reporter, to whom he
unbosomed himself with great free
dom. The reporter commented on the
great mans tagged appearance" at
is The Christian" explained Mr.
Calne. at has been a colossal under
taking" There was physical exhaus.
ton and mental horror" to boot
The novelist's task is obviously more
serious than it was in the days wher
Sir Walter wrote a novel in three
weeks. But Sir Walter was not 81
conscientious as Mr.. Caine Move
writing was a primitive art in those
days. Everything in '"The Christian
was founded upon the closest expert
investigation. When the reporter sug
gested that Mr. Caine had acquired
the language Of the betting world, Mr.
Caine laughed significantly" O.
course he hadl How could he help i
after collecting a small sporting library
and taking the sporting papers fo
several months? AS for the Cockney
isms, they too were accurate. Mr.
Albert Chevalier, the distinguished
'coster' singer. had seen to that. Al
a matter of fact, the proofs of 9TH,
Christian" had been ready by mot les
than twenty persons, each a specialists
in some walk of life" There is some
thing like a novel for you!-nothin,
done in the old-fashioned haphazarC
way, but everything scientifically ex
act. Thus dictionaries and encyclo
paedias are brought out-why no
novels?
A REALIST.
Upon this hint the reporter spok
and called Mr.. Caine a 'realist" MI
Caine did not deny the soft impeach
ment. In fact, he was so much of
realist that he hoped for the approva
of the doyen Of the guild, the grea
Tolstoi. From what I have heard in
directly" observed Mr.. Caine, "h
(TolstoD has been following the publ
cation of my story with great interest
and I hope, from rumors which hav
reached me, that he may write upo
this subject" Let us hope that h
will, and that Mr.. Gaines modesty Wi
not compel him to withhold the Rus
sian novelists letter from an anxiou
public, The trick of extracting a post
card from Mr.. Gladstone or a para
[ graph in Harper's Weekly from MI
| HOwells is about played out; let u
Gn1g % fInN
means. We should like to hear ais
from the specialists in various walk
: of life who saw the proofs. Hov
much does Mr.. Caine owe to them
, Surely he should have given them
: kindly word in preface.
FURTHER DETAILS.
Other interesting revelations WEI
obtained by this intelligent Londo
reporter. "The Christian" was mostl
written in bed, beginning at four i
il the morning. When Mr.. Caine finishe
= it he wrote "Thank God" on the Las
g page with feelings of real gratitude
= This has been eliminated in the printe
4 volume, perhaps for fear it might el
s press the feelings of the reader ais
=. Four in the morning is an uncann
!, time to write, but Mr.. Caine explain
that then his brain "is incomparab
at it's best" Such being the case. l.
g us hope he will never be tempted
n postpone his task to the evening hour
> Even at it's best, his brain apparen
: ly works none too freely. "The fin
a manuscript" he declares, was revise
) again and again. If you come
10 Greeba"-Mr. Gaines retreat in II
a Isle of Mani will show it to yo
"a 1t shows signs of work" There we
> proofs, too. four sets in all-two f
~ the English magazine and the Engli:
a book, two for the American magazil
% and the American book. Three tran
> lators also had to be looked after
= say nothing of letters from all par
of the world" with which Mr.. Caine
,s Every able secretary" could hardly ke,
=, pace. 1.-The commercial side of Il
n production of a novel by an auth
70 enjoying popularity" Mr.. Caine note
Uic not fba loo CT plIriOllc NNn Ghpn