New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-09
THE AVERAGE READER,
AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE HIM THE SCAfb-
GOAT FOR THE POPULAR
NOVELIST.
FAME AND FICTION. An Inquiry into 1ef' az
Popularfties. BY E a. Bennett eF'- pi- ~
z. P Dutton 4 Co

$50 .ar,,-ad bz, tho average reader with which
the cultivated minority can have no pane''e.
whatever IT is plain from the eighteen e>sd:'
brought together in this book that the au'','
belongs to the minority. But he oepreca'eS u
prejudice and arrogance characteristic OF MS
class and endeaVors to contribute toward a pe'-
ter understand all around by explaining 70
the minority why the majority likes or dlsiihes
certain modern noyelists.' We are not sure tha'
the reader will find himself getting any Tor
RAIDER as he turns these pages. Indeed, II Is
ez,e, nossihle that Mr.. Bennett may daTken
counsel through the strain Of anna hlnty "fli'h
runs through his book He. We suppose. WnuiH
call IT tolerance. He comes. he s7ys neither T.
ecor nor 10 patronize. hut to comprehend AZ
a matter Of fact his lberality passes. no douot
.nconsciouslv into something like Compaisance
He regards the average reader as IAN intelh-
gent and reasonable being adding that he Is
neither an idiot perverse." Well. no one
who is intelligent and reasonable has ever
thought of regarding the average reader as nee
essarily the opposite: no one is disposed to re
gard him as an idiot or perverse. But Mr.. Ben
nett seems to have been tremendously impressed
by his discovery Of human traits in the average
reader and his fevorite authors. Having demon
strated to his own satisfaction that lin every
writer who earns his respect and enduring love
there is central righteousness. which Is
capable Of being traced and explained and AT
which 1t is impossible TO sneer, he proceeds TO
enalyze a number OF popular noveists He does
it with an air as Of one much interested to fnd
that these fortunate purveyors the multitude
have. after all, some virtues. II is amusing TO
observe therefore. the struggles of his mind
between good nature and sarcasm. II Is instruc-
tive. also. to note the manner in which his anX-
iety to be fair to the enemy lures him into
agreement with the dubious notion that 1t Is
better to read trash than to read nothing at all
Ignorance and indifference the worst, he
Gays. "A 'smattering-poor. despised achieve
rnent-.s finer than these. And the crudest ex-
oitement Of the imaginative faculty is to he pre-
ferred to a swinish preoccupation with the gross
physical existence. Therefore. when those or
us with nostrils happen pass the. bookstals
which 'sroan' with offence, let us. casting
of the mere dandyisn Of art remember that
these bookstalis disclose the germ or a
tremendous movement, and that everything
must have a beginning" It is specious talk. of
which have heard TOO much. We wonder
that II does not occur 10 Mr.. Bennett that the
utter trash which he has in mind leads TO moth
ing: that Il does not divert its readers from a
suinish preoccupatfon with gross physical ex-
istence but confirms them in ii. is part and par
Gel of their whole life. And when we pass from
the baser sort of Journalism and from the snip
petty English periodicals which no practically
condones the novels which are chiefly dis
cussed IN this book. the point issue is not that
everything must have a beginning but that
the beginning be made on much higher
ground than that which so many cheap repu-
tations have recently been achieved
That is a point 10 which sure. Mr.. Ben
nett would be hospttable if it were presented to
him. and sorry that 1t has not crossed
his mind. He talks in his first essay about the
possibility Of great writer producing great
novel. which would be received with applause
intent and with a full knowledge Of the pecu-
liar conditions to be satisfied He states the
conditions. not without plausibility. But the
whole argument, with its constant emphasis
upon the things which the great author must not
do. is based upon tacit presumption Of limita
tons in the average reader which may or may
not exist. Mr.. Bennett apparently believes that
he has proved his case when he has explained
the popularity Of Miss Braddon and Mrs Barrie.
Miss Yonge and Nine Sarah Grand. Miss Correlli
and Mr.. Silas Hooking, Miss f. T. Fowler and
the author of Red Pottage." The things by
virtue Of which these ana similar novelists have
won celebrity and profit things Of which
the Hypothetical genius of Mr. Bennetts great
but popular novel would have to take account.
That is a fair deduction from the book before
us Yet we refuse to subscribe to It, believing
that the success Of book that is not great does
not of necessity imply that a really great book
cannot be appreciated by the average reader
Laziness accounts for q good deal Many a
reader swallows thing because It is put before
him and he has not the intellectual energy TO
withstand the pressure. Trash. mediocrity. books
that are neither good bad. but fairly clever
and interesting. poured upon him He forms
a habit of thoughtless reading. and soon he is
easily led into enthusiasm for very ordinary |
literature But while will admit that this |
conduct Of his often seems to argue an insensi- |
ivy m hat &c brilliant Zrbi We
believe profoundly that, just some men and /
women are born with instinct for the best |
others are born with incapacity TO recognize |
IT even after years of training, We cannot help /
but feel that vast amount Of the thoughtless |
reading that Is got through Is due TO nothing |
more than the prevalence Of thoughtless writing, |
Mr. Bennett protests that he has "a strong faith |
that taste is good It was. and |
that literature will continue its way IN
disturbed" Precisely. And taste will not only |
continue to be good. but It will be a much |
cou1moner phenomenon II less poor literature |
Is published. The average reader would not |
forswear literature tomorrow If the book
stalls contained nothing but great works He
would buy them and read them. and though
they might puzzle him little at the start he
would soon form habit. after the fashion in
aicated above, only In this case II would stead
.ly, though imperceptibly, become ha bit OF
thoughtful reading. Mr.. Bennett says that
Lancashire discovering India not more
profoundly stirred than the of commerce
when the of the Tit-Bits school of jour- /
nalisrn indicated 10 him the existence of this
market (the market for twaddie). which his in
stinct told him might be indefinitely strength
ened and widened by due application of mer-
camille methods Of nursing Are to assume
that a market for good literature could not be
indefinitely strengthened and widened by a due
application Of mercantile methods of nursing?