The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-19
HOOKS AND AUTHORS.


HOOKS AND AUTHORS.
James Lane Allen has broken a long
literary silence to give his idea Of the char
acteristics Of really good novel and the
training required for the writer who would
I produce IT, First, says this writer Of stories
Of the story writer who would succeed:
He shall train himself to see a great story when
II Is before his eyes, search for Il until he has
/ found n: that he shall acquire the Judgment to
/ pick IL out among thousand inferior ones Next
that he shall train himself 10 sec the great story
which he has chosen deeply. see It as deeply a. lie
Itself is deep Next. that he shall train himself
/ TO nG this deep vision Of his great story clearly
within hi $ own mind. as clearly as he would behold
/ faces and forms. lights and shadows. groups and
distances 10 some wonderful pellucid mistaken
mirror. And next, and finally. that he shall learn
/ how 70 transhG his vision whole and true for the
| eyes and minds OF mankind That Is what great
novelist u.s. and that Is what great novelist does
| when he produces masterpiece. And that Is
/ why the hne art OF Notion Is not the despicable
| pastlme OF tuning out pretty sentences but the
grave and dlfeult toll Of seeing and choosing and
! fathomlng, and then Of delivering faithfully TO
others, some part Of the realities Of our human lie.
Evidently Mr.. Allen Is one Of the few
teachers who practise their precepts, for the
literary world has waited long for another
one Of those convincing and faithful present
ments Of romantic and peculiar phases Of
our national life which this author has
from time 10 time published, and which
would receive a most cordial greeting
should il appear. In the Trappist Founda-
ton on the Campagna near Rome Is one
monk who has been ahsolved from his
vow Of silence that he may show the English
tourist about the old buildings. Some one
asked him if he had read Mr. Aliens story
Of THE White Cowl, and when he answered
Yes. many times the visitor said: But
how do you obtain the privilege The
others do not read the English answered
the monk They think The White Cowl'
is a religious work, and'-Gfter a moments
rehection--and it Is a religious work OF
the most beautiful significance.
The Sdiurddy RelieW speaking Of the
undue passion which women novelists have
for Dukes, advances the pertinent fact that
Dukes are really more important person
ages out Of society than in. Although the
social landscape may not be complete
without one since the whole British Empire
can only produce about twenty Of these
high tone aristocrats, IF every young lady
in a novel Is 10 have one for husband, Mrs.
Humphry Ward and Mrs. Glyn will, be-
fore they have done, have married all the
Dukes in existence three or four times over.
William Farquhar Payson's roma 1tic
story of Quebec and New Amsterdam in
colonial days has been dramatized and will
be presented by Paul Gilmore under the
mana cement Of Jules Murry, next season,
under the title Of Captain Debonsire.
This brings the little story before the pub
lie in its original form, for 1t Wa first written
as a play and recast into a novel.
Lady Londonderry In her recent article
bla zes out a very admirable trail in the
wilderness Of books for girls to follow and
the reviews and literary journals ire much
occupied discussing its merits and de-
eritR. Certainly the lat Of books recon-
mended for girls n aGing Is most c Xcelent,
and the air who follows it will be better
read than most educated men. Other good
lists have been ofer by equally qualified
literary advisers. but the question Is not
What shall q girl read1' but How shall
she be made to read it1" There ia one and
only one me thod. Il is again a question OF
grandmothers II a girl Is 10 be made TO
walk the straight and narrow way OF good
literature Ter mother must have been
trained TO show her the path and TO walk
with her daughter therein. Verify, few
there be who walk therein, and children
dislike loneliness. II a mother will stop
playing bridge mornings or even give up
her Browning class TO sit down with her
little girls in the summer vacations TO read
aloud some light, ente raining history to
them, accompanying the chronicle with the
literature Of the various periods, choosing
A different history each year for five or six
wears, the foundations OF good reading are
laid forever Take, for instance, short
history Of France, stop at the crusades TO
read The Children's Crusade >; again at the
appropriate time for Mark Twain's Joan
Of Arc (the children will believe II IL the
yeritable record OF the secretary II the
mother be discreet). and again at tbs
Revolution for The Tale OF Two Cities,
and 70 on to the end. Two hours in the
morning finishes tho course in a season.
Five or six years Of this with II possible,
pilqrimage TO the countries studied and the
Girl who hasn't had her taste vitiated with
the too highly seasoned literature Of the
dav is ready to be turned loose In any
GOOD library and 10 do the rest for herself.
No one knows 20 we'll as those who have
tried them how futile are all rulss for the
training Of children, but one literary axiom
can be laid down: Always read ahead OF
a child. something the child could not
manage alone. Children will follow every
time-if the mother knows the way. Be Il
said in passing these remarks are not offered
low a bachelor or spinster, but by one who
has tried 1t.
In connection with the discussion just
now being waged over the inadvertent re-
mark published in this column last week
concerning the hostile attitude Of 40
iourner in a foreign country toward the
tourists that come down in swsrms in the
season like the invasion Of the locusts In
Phsra obs day, It is interesting to remember