The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-31
WHAT SOME FOLKS READ
LITERATURE FAVORED by n PEO-
PIE WHO ARE NOT LITERARY.
A study of Ten-Cent Novels and other
Monthly Report of Book Sales.
Marx sullivan. in BOSTON T%ranscript.

other half, who read the papers in the
library; bar the Insignificant few of the
other half who take books out OF the Ii
brary; bar those long-suffering servants
who make pathetic attempts TO read Emer-
son in order to please well-meaning but
misguided mistresses-bar these, and the
literary pabulum of the remainder Of the
other half may be divided into three classes
the 10-cent novel, the weekly continued
story paper. and the adventure story for
boys.
In a ten-minute walk in the heart Of the
South End, you may pass the windows of
fifty bookstores. A matter for congratu-
l%etion. you say? Quite characteristic of
Boston that even her South End should be
dotted with so many bookstores? n hope
full sign of the tastes of the other half.
Well. maybe.
You will search the windows of those
bookstores in vain for any of the things
you are accustomed TO feast your eyes on
in the windows of your own favorite shop.
No editions de luxe of T~hackeray, no orig
inal Illustrations of the latest fiction. not
even a few secondhand copies of stand
ard works, not a cloth-bound book of any
description. There is practically nothing
but the three kinds of literature mentioned
before. n few copies of the 1O-cent maya
zines is all that the bookstores of upper
and lower Washington street have in COM
mon.
L went into one of these bookshops. and
just for a venture asked for Kipling's
Days Work"
Dunno said the shopkeeper. "You
might look through the pile there"
L did look through it, from top to bottom,
from "Ruby's Reward" to "a Sirens
Face and, of course, found nothing by
kipling. Then / asked him TO
something. He didn [ seem to value one
above another. so l asked what one was
most popular among his customers.
oh, there amt much choice" he said,
They just come in and take one from the
top of the pile. They're pretty much all
alike. | guess"
Finally, ne gave me one of which he said
he had sold two hundred copies. The title
was "A True AristOcrat," and the cover
was adorned with a cut of a girl in street
clothes with a picture hat and an umbrel-
la. This picture is a characteristic of ten
cent novels. The publishers seem to con-
slider it essential to decorate the front COW
er with a picture of a girl of the type of
beauty which appeals to people who like
10-cent novels.
"A True Aristocrat' is typical of it's
class: Helen, only daughter of FitzrOy
Charles Somerset Montgomery. tried to pre-
vent her brothers marriage to Cecile Va
vasour, but Cecile was Dlucky and said:
Helen. while L do not forget that you be-
long to the vaunted Montgomery race, you
will please remember that L am a Vavasour,
even II l have lost my money" So true
love ~triumphed for the time being. 1t is
readily TO be seen that Helen is going TO
be the villain of the plot. Just about this
time her Nemesis appears on the scene.
Nemesis always puts in a shadowy appear
ance III the second chapter of these books
and keeps throwing out dark hints in ev-
cry chapter until the last, when she gets
her clutches on the villain and disposes of
him 70 the entire n tiGfnnffnn of oil n N
cerned. Nemesis in this case was al old
mulatto woman who asked Helen for some
money. When Helen saw her she was af-
rlcted with "a vague, uncomfortable feel
ing in the region of her heart" and by this
mark does the reader recognize Nemesis.
THRILLING SITUATIONS.
While the newly welded couple were
travelling in Europe the husband effected
the usual mysterious disappearance" and
Cecile is left unprotected to suffer the per-
secutions of her sister-in-law. These perse-
cutions and Cecile's struggles fill the re-
mainder of the book until the final chapter,
when news is heard of the missing hus-
band, who has been confined by mistake in
an insane asylum. At the same time the
wicked nurse cOnfesses;" Nemesis possess
ses some inconvenient knowledge concern
ing Helen'S ancestry, which she discloses
at just the right time; the villain walks
the plank and we sail away to the Islands
or the Blest' witt the reunited lovers,
safe in each others arms.
All these Decent novels have some COM
mon characteristics. Absolute lack of hu-
NOR Is one of them. You may follow the
fortunes of Miss We're de We're through fifty
volumes and never find occasion for The
faintest smile. The cook at home spends
her nights off at one of the 25-cent thea
tiers. She says she never feels she has had
the worth OF her money unless she has had
a good cry. With her, dramatic criticism
Is a very simple matter. There are two
kinds of plays: the bad one-'it's not very
sad the good one-'oh, it's so sad"
The same test seems to apply to the lit
erature of the kitchen. The sombre heroes
stalk through the pages like veritable Ham,
let's, oppressed by the tragedy of life. The
only laugh you ever heard is the ''fendish
laugh of the villain as he turns the key
on the helpless heroine, or the knocking
laugh of the designing woman when her
plots succeed and she gloats ever her pure
and beautiful rival. Is there any ~relatior
between this lack of humor and the fact
that ninety-nine one-hundredths of the
readers of these books are women?
the scenes of these novels are invariably
laid in high places. Here is the setting of
the latest story from the pen of the most
prolific author of 10-cent literature:
The place in which the above conversa-
ton occurred was a luxurious room in one
of those palaces. which adorn wide, hand
some, aristocratic Fifth avenue; 2 vast,
lofty apartment, pillared with rose Marble.
hung with velvet, curtained with satin-a
room hit for the gods! frescoed and carved
in rich and delicate designs, almost email
to the work of a Gibbons and a Varjo:
lighted by great spaces of French plate
glass; carpeted with the choicest prodnc-
tons of the far East, and ornamented with
the costly bric-a-brac, statuary and paint
ings from almost every country on the
globe"
This is really a comparatively modest set
ting. The great majority of these stories
introduce you to the country estate OF
nothing less than an English lord, and an
earl or n marquis begins to speak not later
than the second paragraph. On a single
page of one of these novels 1.-THE footman
stopped 10 two matchless ponies the
heroine left the smart victoria and
carrying her pet Prince Charles spaniel
walked across the beautifully kept lawr
and garden to the house where She was
met by "Haines, her old nurse" and her
maid, and together they went to imam.
mas lovely boudoir,' while the '.head
groom took the horses TO the stable.
ARISTOCRACY PREFERRED.
1 don't know what test is used by the ar
bitter who determines the fate of aspirants
for 10-cent literary fame; but I feel sure
he would reject any manuscript in which
callers are not announced by a butler: and
no heroine who committed the vulgarity
Of dressing her own hair would be per.
mitted TO perform before eyes of the
patrons or the Ladies' Own Library. Or
the other hand, a rough average OF ter
French expressions per page of manuscript