The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-10-26
Other Hiequs of lola.

There is general agreement in the estimate Of
zoa's work made by Prof Adolphe COIN OF Co
lumbia in communication to the New York
Evening Post The literary movement to which
his name will remain attached has been for some
time thing Of the past" Prof. Cohn says "He
is the last OF the great French novelists Of the
Nineteenth century. For posterity be will sim
ply be the head Of the naturastic school He led
movement OF revolt against the romantic school.
and yet he never entirely succeeded in freeing
himself from It. Thence the extravaganza Of his
plans and the lack OF conference IN his construe-
tons" His greatest gifts, in Prof Cohn's opin-
ion were magnificent powers Of observation and
masterfulness in the use OF language. That any
OF his works will live as a whole. Prof Coin
seriously doubts, but that two or three hundred
pages scattered through his many volumes will
become classical, almost certain"
In writing to Edmund Gosse Of Zoia's wonder
full novel OF the Franco Pfussisn war La De
baole Stevenson remarks According TO my
usual opinion ! believe / could go over that
book and leave masterpiece by blottng." This
fragmentary criticism contains a whole system
of philosophy Of fiction. II was Steycnsons no.
ton that the man who knew how to emit could
make an Had Of daily paper The decay OF
the naturaliso school championed by lola in
lidity Of this idea.
The fact is that the pure realistic theory Of lit
erature as minute Photographic reproduction Of
life, is clearly untenable. There is but one art
Stevenson says somewhere, to omit The
reason why the ordinary photograph can not com
pare as an art work with a drawing or painting
is because it fails in selection. Everything is
reproduced with mechanical accuracy. The best
modern photography is coming 10 be an art
chiefly through the skill OF the photographer in
blurring and suppressing detail The same prin-
cpe applies 10 literature The most realistic
writer must choose the facts that he Is 70 pre-
sent. His art depends upon his skill in selec-
ton. 1t would not do for characters In novel
to talk precisely they would in real life Read
ers would not wade through their verbosity
Even lola, holding as he did that modern art
should be wholly experimental and realistic"
could not push his theory to an extreme Further
than this though he declared that Balzao's imagi-
nation irritated him. he often let his own have
play. Take for instance, the passage In Ger
minal" where he describes the collapse Of the
pumping engine into the flooded mine;
you saw the machine dislocated on It's base
It's limbs extended, fighting with death. II moved
still stretching its connecting rod, its giant
knee as though TO rise, then Il expired, crushed
engulfed Only the chimney, thirty meters high.
remained erect shaken like a mast In a hurricane.
II seemed as though II must crumble and fly
into powder when all az once Il sank In mass,
was drunk up by the earth, melted away like
some colossal taper; and nothing appeared not
even the lightning rod tip II was ended. That
wicked beast crouched in that hollow, gorged with
human flesh, heayed no more its long and heavy
breath"
Here the engine Is idealized. II Is made TO
stand for the human element Of the corporation
in its conflict with the miners. The man who
found giant in engine had no reason 10 be
exasperated al the imagination Of Bslzac
lola succeeded when he selected his material
most carefully, when he used his repetitions with
discrimination SO that they were impressive and
not dull when he handled great crises with reeog-
milton Of their spiritual significance. He became
tedious when ne pushed his method 70 the limit,
piled up trivial details in profusion and Pellis-
sier remarks, made "neuropathy the starting point
Of his work" failing 70 recognize the normal and
ideal side Of life. theory Of literature based
on materialism can not be satisfactory. The fact
that much OF his subject matter, as Howels says,
is "ahhouent," does not necessarily aftect his
method. The point here considered i that he
frequently failed 70 treat il effectively because Of
lack Of repression and idealization. In his later
work Lourdes.@ Rome" Paris and "Feeon-
dite--he abandoned that part of his theory which
dissvowed idealism and frankly adopted alegoTy,
He still chung, however, 70 his profusion OF de-
tail
Zo!a's contribution to literary development lies
In his demonstration OF the effectiveness OF the
realistic method under rigid restrictions. His
work furnishes an excellent corrective for the
vagares OF the extremists Of the romantic school
Il shows that the every day world abounds IN the
elements OF tragedy and thar there IS plenty Of
material for the artist all about him. The scope
Of the novel has been broadened and the method
OF treatment enlarged BY the 2olgon- Maequart
volumes They prove what can be done with
mssSes Of detail intaliigentiy handled. But after
eli tbsy represent Z cne-sided dfYeispmenf AID
their day Is pastr-faHsas Guy Siea. ..-.,--,.