The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-11-11
BY HECTOR FULLER.

action from the rush for the newest novel,
sort of disease among readers. which
started some ten or twelve years ago with
the discovery that a demand for books,
Ike a demand for dry goods or oyster
crackers. could be created by extensive
advertising Il was an enterprising firm
OF Western publishers who first pushed
the shouting of literary wares to its ex-
IRENE, and the book was the now almost
defunct When Knighthood Was IN
Flower" The book was as freely adver-
Used as a three-Ting circus. and the
novelty Of the advertising. together with
the attractive title Invented by the pub
lishers), and some superficial merit in
the story itself. carried the novel to
the half-million mark in the matter OF
sales and placed 1t for long time on the
pinnacle Of the three best sellers" Up
10 this epoch in the book publishing trade,
novel had been obliged TO make its
way solely on its merits. but after this
big success the literary advertisement be
gan to grow. until it threatened, for a
time to crowd the patent WHISTLES and
the soothing syrups into the background.
But though advertising is undoubtedly an
excellent device, and has proved the
foundation for many a merchants for
tune. there really needs, nowadays, 10
be something back OF the advertisement,
and the publishe' 3 have rather overd0ne
the thing. Readers have come 10 see
that through ten long years the latest
novel cannot always be the best, and once
more they are coming TO rely less on the
display ads and more on their own judg-
ment-
\ striking modern instance Of this is a
new novel recently very heavily and
somewhat adrOitly advertised. Its title is
"Blindfolded" and 10 emphasize its mer-
its we have had pictures Of most of the
leading actors and actresses with a band
age about their eyes. and testimonial 10
the effect that the book is so absorbing IN
its interest that il has kept them awake
o nights This has been going on Cor
some time. and undoubtedly I'VE years
ago such methods would have crammed
the book on TO the shelves Of many read
ers. but now Il has not even sufficed
10 get the novel classed among 'the best
six" A literary magazine which makes a
speciality of feeling the popular literary
pulse month by month. finds that this
much-advertised book IS selling in only
four out of thirty-seven cities, and one
of the four Is Indianapolis, the place
" mere lllr UDOh - PUBLISHED II II WI lily
Of note, too. that the six best" of the
month are ali works by authors Of es-
tablished reputation. They are THE
Fighting Chance" by Chambers; "Conis-
ton" by Winston Churchill: The Tides
OF BaTnegat," by F. HopkinsOn Smith;
The Awakening Of Helena Richie" by
Margaret Deland; Jane Cable by Nc
Cutcheon, and The Dream OF Heaven
by Marie Corelli.
TIC those who expect too much from the
books they read. it is not amiss to recall
the words which Elizabeth Barrett
Browning spoke in Aurora Leigh:
We get no good
BY being ungenerous even 10 book.
Ana calculating profts-s0 much help
b 50 much reading. Il Is rather when
We gloriously forget ourselves and plunge
hOul-to-ward. headlong. into q books profound
Impassioned for its beauty and salt Of truth
Us then VIC get the right good from q book.
Unfortunately. the present generation Of
readers seem. like the generation of bust
zess men, TO be always in 4 hurry. They
want amusement rather than instruction.
and instead of considering the right
good from a book" consider rather its
flavor Of sensationalism which takes them
out Of themselves and allows them for a
while TO forget the cares which iufest
the day" The average nOvel reader is
not a very clever person. and a really
clever novel seldom has a popular success
It appeals 10 the critical, but il does not
fascinate the masses; its beauties are hid
den and are only TO be found by the elect.
il is quite possible. therefore. that in
worldly sense Il novelist may be too clever
TO succeed. In the meantime, the popular
novels are crOwding the shelves Of the
public libraries until it has become Sc
TiOus problem what TO DO with them all.
il is a good suggestion of the Librarian
of Congress that only novels a year old
shall be placed on the shelves. but so few
Of them last even one short year. It re-
minds one Of the dialogue between the
two bool1worms who met on a library
shelf. How do YOU like these new nov
els they are turning out by the Million
asked one. Il don't know" replied the
other, they never last long enough for
me to get a taste"
The quotation in the above paragraph
from Aurora Leigh" reminds one that
the present is the centenary year of Eliza /
beth Barrett Browning's birth. She was
born at CoIhoe Hall, near Durham. on
March 6. 1866. and died in Florence on
June %. 1861. Her appeal to literary SYM
pathies has, on the whole, been somewhat
wider than that Of her distinguished hus-
band, and her 'SOnnets from the POTtu- |
guese" will probably remain for many
years the finest collection Of true love son |
nets in the language In America we are
rather given TO the celebration of cen
tenaries. and il is bit amazing that so
important a literary event as Mrs. Brown
ing centenary should have been passed by
sol fff7a I ma no that there !
viii be a joint celebration In 1872 which Is
the centenary of Robert Browning.
What is to be the character of the nov
e. Of the future? The writer's seem TO
have about exhausted the old-fashioned
topics. love is going out of fashion, and
marriage-with our increasing tendency
toward divorce-has ceased TO be fitting
climax for a tale. And so they were
married and lived happily ever after
which, lifted bodily from the old fairy
stories, has done duty through the ages, |
has come to be something Of a grim joke
in this, the twentieth century. Defoe. /
who first gave the English novel its I'M
petus and form. dealt sparingly with
love as a motive, and relied for his inter
est on the minUteness and verisimilitude
of his detail. We seem to be coming
back to his method, and the novel Of the
future threatens TO be compendium Of
useful information, sugar-coated. This
is nothing new under the sun. OF course. !
for Sir Walter SCOTS appeal lay chiefly
in The skill with which he dished I'D in
teresting characters against a back
ground of more or less accurate history
The novels OF Dickens We're preachments
80