The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-02-17

The dispute among professional and anna
teur critics over the question of what
properly-constructed novel should be will
probably never cease since critics and
novel readers will never be able to agree
Mr.. Howells, who has an especial dislike
for the recent historical fiction, so-called
has been taking a tilt at it again. and in
contradistinction urging the claims of now
els portraying the life of to-day, good ex-
ample of which, he asserts, is Robert
Grants "Uneavened Bread" On the other
hand, there are readers not a few who find
"Unleavened Bread" an inartistic, unpleas-
ant book, lacking in the saving grace of
humor and conveying the impression that
the author is pursuing the heroine. or
rather. the leading woman, of the tale
with unseemly personal animosity Mr.
Howells, too, Is opposed to the purely ro-
mantle novel, and would have nothing but
the realistic. yet the eagerness with which
the public has accepted the flood of ro-
mances of the Prisoner of Zenda' school
shows that ii will rot take him as guide
but will follow its own will. The popular
fancy for certain book does not by any
means prove that il has high literary merit
the contrary is quite often the case-but
ii does indicate almost invariably that in
the production the author has told a dis
tinct and definite story. He may be liter
airy blacksmith. crude workman, but the
story. unpublished though IL be, is there
The elect may value a tale first for it's
diction, the elegance and finish Of its style:
these things are secondary or unrecognized
by the mass of readers. The latter must
have the story, and If in itself ii is a good
story II Is immaterial TO what class Ii be-
longs. 1t may be historical, il may be
psychological. it may be realistic and of
to-day. AS the Journal has often main
tanned. a novel writer need not be guided
by what happens to be the prevailing popu-
lar taste. If he can tell good story he
may make his own school. Nor is il neces-
sary that he should limit himself to any
one class i'm any given novel. He may
combine them. as Maurice Hewlett has
done with such remarkable skill in his
Richard Yea-andNay." That tale is his
torical in a genuine sense, IL is psychologist
Gala character study-and involved in 1t
is the purest romance The author has
studied his history so we'll and has so put
himself in harmony with the spirit of that
far-off time that he has been able TO give
something of it's atmosphere. The reader
feels himself moving among a people ami
mated by other ideas and purposes than
those which govern the world of to-day
and in a way comes into a comprehension
OF them as he cannot do through the dry
pages of history. And whether the char
acter of the famous Richard of the lion
heart is portrayed truly by Mr.. Hewlett or
not. II Is portrayed so skillfully so subtly.
so convincingly, that II is likely to be ac-
cepted henceforth by readers OF the book
as correct estimate OF that hero of the
Middle Ages. and as their own estimate.
Critics have had much TO say OF the his
torical and psychological qualities OF this
unusual book. but the most of them have
passed lightly over its most striking feature