The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-01-07
GOSSIP

The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland Is
Sir Peter O'Brien. He is wisely a
great lover of SCOTS novels. and he
says he has really read
forty times. We are with that extra
| ordinary entertaining move as we are
with some Of the great Scotch novels
Guy Mannering," The
| and The Heart of Midlothian" n
| some others, and with Dickins' PICK
wick Papers," we could read them
once a year with pleasure.
In 1897, the United states Were more
or less afflicted by a book deluge.
| There We're SOB books puhtished-not
| copies. but different books. OF these
| 2,403 were by British authors, $50 were
reprints. Awful!
DIR. Mftchell's Hugh Wynne"
achieved such a grand as an
| historical novel chat it's sale continues
large. We believe among northern
critics there is an opinion commonly
held that it is the best American his
torical novel since Coopar's Spy" and
Hawthorne's masterpieces DR.. Mitch
ell has already begun the publication
Of a new serial he calls The Adven-
lures Of Francois" DIR. NJ. is now
believe, and is quite distinguished as
a Philadelphia physician.
Strange to say the American CORE
spondert of London Literature is of
THE impression that novelist, Mrs.
Burnett, is an American. She is pure
ly English, and came ITO this country
when in her teens. Her later books
are not pure, we believe. We
have not, however, read her last three
or four. We have enough of her and
do not particularly admire her either
as woman or author.
There are some historical novels
a dozen or more-the interest of which
is perennial, and they should be read
by the novel d%evourers of this produc-
tive age. Do not overlook SCOTS
great historical novels, Quentin Dur
ward among them; nor Kingley's
"Hypatia" and Westward Hon.; nor
CoOper's Leather Stocking novels;
nor Bulwer's Last Days of Porllpeli''
n Last OF the Barons;'' nor Tnauk-
eray's great rbOoks-'Henry Esmond''
and The Virginians;" nor Dumas
Three Musketeers'' and Twenty
Years After" We observe that Lit
erature" prefers the present boom of
historical romans to the "sex-prob-
lem" Verify! 1t quotes a wise man
as ~saying-'For every new book THAT
comes out re-read an old one" Excel
lent advice. our own experience is,
that after reading three or four novels
of a latter-day author we are satiated
and turn to the great old writers with
renewed ardor and unsatisied appe-
lite.
We mentioned lately tina Poe out
ranked all American poets abroad. In
h realm of fiction he only is second
to Nathaniel Hawthorne among
OUT native authors. AS creator
and master of the short story in per-
lection he is highly esteemed. Re
Gently Literature discussing five
new volumes of Short stories Gone by
an American, Mrs. McE>nery Stuart. }
said this, and it is too appreciartve
and true to be overlooked:
THE tale proper, in my opinion
wrote Poe, who ought to be a good
judge, affords unquestionLably the
fairest field for the exercise of the
HOTTEST talent which can be
afforded by the wide domains
Of prose" Primitive man, the
anthropologists tell US, was much of
the sarne opinion; the Oldest stories.
the tales hat every literature has in
common, are the short ones. . " Tn
France, indeed, the tradition of the
short story has never been lost since
the country began to have a Iitera-
lture.. and in America the uneuIailed
, genius Of Poe made an early precedent
in fs favor . 8 The old rule was
for the novelist occasionally to amarsa
himself by dashing off a brief tale
wh4ca might be a masterpiece, as with
Scott, or a trifling hors d. oeuvre. az
with Dickens, George Eliot, and
Th~ackeray."
DR.. Jokai IS the most eminent novel
ist OF Hungary. and is highly praised.
the word great" being often apoIIed
10 him We have never read a lire by
him. We know his rank is conceied
to him, and he is described as greatly
gifted with Imagination. Marry Euro
pean authors of distinguished name
in their respective country are nov
the vogue and are to b. read IN trans
lation- Hungary. Spain. Norway
Italy, have all their great novelssss
and Russia has several.
We have thought and have said that
to US reading Goethe only IN transla-
tons (rhree) he had less of style cnsau
any really great author we had read
I1hia imnexzzfon id - cnxza-. -