The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-08-01
OLD FAV0RITES--- MIDSUMMER IDEAS---CHAT
O ABOUT BOOKS AND THEIR MAKERS. @
A WHOLESOME RETURN.

| AhS4 - biie HSS Vi lHe Olu llNOIltcS, dlly
how A vacation Is only half enjoyed which
| does not include some hours with them.
Baizac was never before widely read
| in this country. Dumas, the elder. is en-
joSing revival of popularity. The Dick
| ems craze" II such a term must be used
10 indicate popular inclination. is fact.
| a reference to publishers discloses that
| never before have so many new editions of
| the novels Of our fathers and grandfathers
| been demanded. Modern fiction has whet-
| ted appetite for what may be called the
suhstantials. Stanley Weyman, as an in
stance, points back to the Three Guards
men" Winston Churchill to 1.-The Virgin
| lars. A revulsion or reversion to the es-
tablished books must inevitably ensue as
reading gains ground-speaking OF it as II
| II were brand-new art, and, indeed. 1t is
| comparatively new to surprisingly large
| class. As the reading class spreads It must
| deepen. so to speak. From the newspapers
and magazines is but step to the novel of
to-day, the story OF contemporaneous life:
and from this but step to the story OF
yesterday. The highway OF letters leads
backward. though not necessarily upward
There have been periods in the history of
English literature. dignified as eras and
locked back upon as classic, which, meas
ured by quality. We're far inferior to even
this much-abused time, when commercial
ism is supposed to be the death Of all art.
BE this as 1t may, progression in literature
involves retrogresSion the cultivation of a
taste. which is but proper habit. comes
through knowledge OF the accepted and uni
verSal standards
1t Is not invidious to seek a standard
from the past Experience with present.
day genius warns that books fame is an
ephemeral something dissipated tomorrow;
but II is not altogether impossible that even
this commercial era will discover a group
of !mrnortals revealable to subsequent times
These will have value for posterity The
older immortals who have been revealed to
US are our only safe gauges Of present
merit. and the only safe patterns of quail
ity.
1t Is hardly to be hoped, even should It
be thought desirable, that the great read
ing class will ever outgrow its absorbing
love OF fiction. but without disparagement to
present-day scribes, it is to be hoped that
the public will cultivate a discriminating
taste, which will do far more than can any
art oil special criticism. 1t is not very difficult
thing to acquire some Critical" taste-a
mere matter Of making friends with the
few masterpieces Of fiction and learning of
the things that made them great. 1t is not
gift. q trick. To repeat. It is a habit, and
one which largely forms itself, requiring no
very assiduous cultivation after all.
Comparison. a first principle Of philosophy,
Is the essence Of good criticism. Those
works which the consensus of human judg- |
ment, tested by time. has decreed to be the
oest models should be. and are almost uni |
versaIly. the standards of excellence An |
mutation can never be great, but the ey- |
sentials Of good art are everywhere right
Every book stands by itself, SO to speak
YET when the possibilities of comparison do
exist in the nature Of things. where the |
nnes OF comparison do obtain, it is not only
lar to every conscientious writer (for he
assumes the highest practicable excellence
md 1ye
witness how far he has attained IT, but II
oehooves the reader, who is the real party
anected, to weigh and determine a book in
the light OF the best patterns A fixed narrow
standard Is not vital necessity in literary |
accomplishment, nor is 1t necessary to crit
cism; but some gauge. some SCALE some
reference must be had and those writing,
should be selected which illustrate In the
nlghest degree the principles of excellence
There was only one Sainte-Beuve, but !
anybody may learn to distinguish between
value and sheer worthlessness.
PEssIMIsTIC VIEWS.
An ultra-p essimistic view of ''litterachoor' |
Tor the week observes 4 condition not I'M |
Ike that obtaining in Wall street-a slump |
n values. There has not been in evidence |
enough of the Pernassan ozone or divine
afnatus to fly a 10-cent toy balloon This
view, II allowed full expression, might. in
Iced, go on to say that, with a few excep-
ions, the geniuses of the weeks output
would not even be marks for the autograph
collector; their names would not help the
sale of literary" chairs. much less bring
price at the end Of a breakfast-food tes-
imonial. But from out Of obscurity leaps
anne. Some day-who knows?
Lovers of the new. those grazers who for
yer seek succulent tufts in fresh pastures |
# fiction. will find this view consonant with !
heir disappointment. 1t has been a week
7hen the bargain counter prospered at the |
Expense of novelties. The floorwalker stood |
olitary and asleep in the barren aisle Of |
resh things. while business surged back |
nto the realm of reduced remnants 1t will
AXE several days for literature-the word ,
icing used in highly modern. ultra-pessi-
nistic and nondiscriminative sense-to over 10
ONE the slump.
There may be some who vet linger under
he SMELL Of the masterpieces Of the week |
etore to whom the gloom seems even more | ,
rofound. Last week there were such CHEEKY | ,
ghts as, Tor instance, Opie Reed-a genius | !
y the way, to whom full justice has never !
cen done. He has his faults: thew have
cen mentioned in these and other columns
has been said of him that he cannot ! ,
eparate business from literature. but this Il
as been said, with equal force, Of Howells |
nd kipling. kipling simply lives of his :
Qualities, and while they remain fat he !
aemingly cannot be induced to do serious .
-ork; a fact which tends to show a count :.
incentive. As for Read. he writes
n In spite of his royalties-or for the sake |
MS royalties, as some contend-but in | 9
lis ne Is no worse than Howells, who | {
uses Off an average Of three publications
er year. On the whole. It is difficult for
odern writers to escape the charge of
riting for profit. Howellss and Reads en- a
gy and hipling's nonproductiveness come II
Tor equal blame. But, incidentally why | A
iouldnt literature and remuneration go II
and IN hand, as the lad" writer's con- c.
nd? A
To return to Read in an effort to accord d
m ruler Justice. 1t must be acknowledged W
lat he occupies a peculiar place In liter N
.ure. place no less distinct than that nj | Il
ipling or Marie Corelli or the Duchess ir
cad Is the genius Of the smoking car Out | r,
tne millions OF smokers who ride by rail te
e biggest percentage read their Read | ~
ensured by the statistics of the butcher Il
~, which have not yet been compiled by II
o Literary Digest. Read easily takes rank | NJ
'ove the other moderns. to say nothing of | m
e immortals gone before. his sales keen in
g pace with those Of the best brands of d,
CARS, in view of which fact it is some C.
hat remarkable that no literary cigar has e.
en- named for him. There are moments in p
FAD when he enhances the fragrance of "
e Havana. or even the flavor Of julep W
toddy. Who could resist. for example ia
e OF his descriptions which likens some =
Tennessee to the liquefied essence of a ju
falling aslant the dewy slopes of
e Cumberlands?
Il was noted last week. in DISCUSSING his CT
W book. The Harkriders." tale of two y
phonse-and-Gastonlike Southern k.nsmeu, ~
at he had designed them to appeal to a IS
imitive sense Of humor. Their continual a!
petitions Of "Ah. my dear Major the very II
IN want to see." and always the man 81 81
NF1 Mt to T-y~