Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-05-11

|
| griddle.
The change lnllterary fashions IS not
| as arbitrary as that IN the clothing or
men and women The people of our
| great world have their clothing de-
signed for them and they are glad OF a
! change when any fashion has become
! SO universal that the cook. the cham-
bermaid and the girl behind the coun-
! ter 20 0ut TO take the air In gowns ana
! bunnets OF the same design as those
Worn by The fine lady who has two
| men on the box Of her carriage anu q
| liycried butler to serve her when she
| feeds The high fashlonables wish that
| there should be differences between
| them and more humble folk, and the
! tallors. and milliners and manua- max
! ers anticipate this desire, so that each
| season pretty nearly whole new ward
| robe lH necessary. In literature, ! fancy,
| there Is not quite so much design ana a
| good deal more chance, while hoi pollol
| assists IN an active rather than in a
| passive way We get tired OF the same
| Old thing done over and over again.
| we get tired Of the same manner even
/ when The matter IS different
! ! believe the passing vogue of the ms
! torical and romantic novel was due IN a
! very large measure 10 the fact That the
reading public had become wearied to
| somn)lence by the realistic school or
! fiction makers. Now / am not saying
| anything On disparagement of realistic
| fiction as IL has been written by the
masters Of the craft. They did not
| weary the public. nor did the public tire
Of them. The masters Of realism nave
| been and are artists who will always
1. 81. a., httsl, 4
| is the second and third class reallst who
| has brought reproach on the school
| This Is neither right nor fair for ant
should he Judged by the work OF the
masters and not by the hunglers. Here
| is whore the realists have been at fault
They have insisted that the very dullest
exponent of their school was n better
artist than the most sldllful worker in
those hctiuns which SCARED into the UNI
known and the impossible, even though
the atmosphere was poetic and the
sentiment heroic This was great
mistake; Il made US tired. Weread these
stupid books because we were au-
thoritntiyely told that we should, aud
we found them about as entertaining
az catalogues and inventories, We
found the company as dull az could be
and the workmanship on par with the
hurried stuff which the reporters for
the daily newspapers turn out at break
neck speed while the presses and the
neWsboys wait. We do not read novels
to be instructed. We are not hungry
for sociological facts and conclusions
when we take up Il book for an even
ing's entertainment No, we want to be
entertained by being removed out Of
ourselves But ! should rather be my
self and bear with my own inflrmiues
and pcrplexlties than 10 spend whole
evening with a lot Of very duh people in
my neighbours kitchen. Now, your real
Isl Of the second and third class takes
you into a kitchen through the area
door, and he does his very best to make
you feel thc. you are one Of that circle
Of domestics. / have no objection to
Kitchens. and none 10 domestics. Both
in our present scheme Of economy are
very necessary But II ] go 10 a kit
chen or am taken there, | want II TO
be worth while. The duh picture OF II as
the dull realist makes II does not en-
terrain 1t does not enlighten II merely
bores And yet because IL 10 called real
these mistaken folk say It is art, and
insist that It must be respected. AS o
matter OF fact, ii is not art at all, hut
the reverse OF art. And yet the great
realists are great artists. Jane Austin,
Balzac, Flaubert, de Maupassant, lola
and Howels, all are artists OF high
rank, several Of them of the highest
rank Flaubert polished ana polished
until his whole literary output does not
IN the volume Of II exceed that Of some
Of the realists Of today for year Ills
craftsmanship was as nearly perfect as
possible, and his artistic achievement
commands the respect Of all who are
familiar with IL. The same may be
said Of our own Howells, who reyl'es
with such painstakng care that not IN
frequently, | am told, his proofs have
10 be set up again-new type-setling
Icing cheaper than 10 make the many
corrections. ! do not believe, however
that many Of llowells' followers take
any such care. All they appear to
strive for is 20 get very homely sub.
ject and then smear it with dirt and
other filth. Then II Is realism, then II Is
fine literature, according 70 their no.
ton OF what literature should be.
But the public wearled OF this when
the novelty and the shock Of It wore
OFF During the time Of It's short ascend
ency II tried TO take also the stage. and
taken smoking from a real stove, with
tn, aroma Of the cooking bird assai-
Ing the nos rils of the audience, was
considered by many the browning
glory Of a realistic drama. In which
ahlt and conscientious players were
doing their very best 10 portray real
men and women to the life. The
pucrile accessories and the tedious in
sistence Of the realists ended, for a
period, at least the reign of that fad,
both on the stage and in novels, and
.he pendulum swinging back to the
other side OF the clock we had the 70
mantle hctons imaginative and his
torical, and q much expanded public
was eagerly ready to read and to en-
Joy.
This wag nothing entirely new, but a
literary renaissance. We had had Du-
mas and Sect, and Cooper and Thack-
cray, not to mention dozens Of others.
We We're tired Of the sordld, and the
commonplace. and the uneventful. We
wanted lie, strenuous life. We wanted
action. action writ large. And We got
all that we perhaps a little
more. Instead OF the plodders in mills
AMI factories, instead of bookkeepers
and clerks in counting rooms and shops,
instead OF Gull farmers In tiresome
iolds we got fine ladies In paint and
patches, gallant gentlemen in silk
stockings and powdered wigs, soldiers
Of fortune and adventures Of every de-
gree and kind. We heard the clash of
sword on sword, Tor the clock was
turned back a century or so, and we
lived over again the days when a
strong arm and a quick wit were
equipment enough for success ~ "a
world which had not been commercial
lied. Al least We seemed 10 see these
people Of our great grandfathers' time
| fancy they were really not much like
what has been portrayed for us, but
they woe real enough as substitutes
for ,ae dreary folk who had been bor-
ing W.. We therefore took them 10 our
hearts. and the fortunate creators Of
these old-time characters had the sat
isfacilCa Of numbering their readers by
the haf-milliUn and the profit % draw.
Ing royalties so large that some Of
them enjoyed incomes as great as sue
cessful actors lawyers, doctors and