The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-05
Discursive Chat as to Novel Writing
and Reading.
BY DR.. T. B.. Kingsbury.
BY DR.. T. B. Kingsbury.

q I,uered. 81 has he work itself be-
come disgraced. and In an g when
the tendency is moving in this direc-
ton. il is not unwise u pause and re-
consider the basis of fiction, its aim
and scope"
The true artist. the man Of royal
gifts who has power and originality,
viii make himself a distinguished
force in letters. IN proposition a he
magnifes MS calling, is faith
ful to pure style ana arts
-9zUE5pI 10 s9yiLoI8 uIoJ JH
humanity, viii be his influence for
good. and his fame among the refined.
observing and cultured humanity be
well established, and thereby he Will
make healthful and pure the work of
his own creative and discriminating
faculties. The man who writes TO Ell
evate and bless the people Is q far
better friend than the man Of rarer
/ gifts who abuses his talents and makes
glad the iniquitous and the depraved-
The saturday Review critic says:
Il have read several such novels
j during the last year that were worthy
Of a good deal of praise because Of
their sense Of proporton-that quaIty
which is u prime factor IN any work
of art-their understanding or char-
! acter their construction, their treat
ment Of situations, and their faithful
local color. They were truly lnterpre-
ters of one phase Of the national lie.
The trouble with most readers Is
that they don't discriminate, but read
the char ana trash that come out In
the usual prevailing form, bound, Illus
trated, flashy in appearance ana
well pulled. It is apparent to
observers that craftsmanship IS
ordinary taste and Judgment are
lacking in the great horde OF promls-
cious readers. Novels are written too
swiftly, and are praised too eXag-
g~eratingly. h critic quoted from mas
discernElent, acuteness, Judgment ana
taste, and while %praising many novels
he does not fail to discover the IN
feriority and DEFICIENCIES tho most
of them. He says there - improve
ment in prOduction-but ia LOO much
Of haste and carelessness. l quote;
"But rarely oes one find an Amerl-
can novel that leaves upon the NINA
anything more than a superficial I'M
preston. How often does one appear
whose reading is an experience, a
milestone, in ones inner lie? How
often does one put down an American
novel with q freshened and thrilling
sense Of the mystery Of human destiny,
Of the everlasting pathos and overcast
inc inspiration of human struggle, of
the splendor n dignity and allure
ment of the pageant of hfe?'
In the rush to read the new novels
the really great novels, the standards
VI lItOlc liz C1 J>NN' 49,
avoided and ignored. He makes this
correct and revealing remark
with a very few notable exceptions
American h of fiction write so
much and publish SO frequently that
it is impossible for them to take the
pains necessary to master the techni-
que of their art or to Suttl-
cient leisure for the essential processes
of mental e%nriching and ripening."
But all able critics are not
safe and iudicious. If you be-
lieve what many writer's or
evident literary ability and critical
skill say of many works that appear
from month TO month. there are many
of uniquL excellence and charm. and
if not truly great in a proper sense
are reDlcte with very rare qualities
that delicht and enthrall. You would
suppose as YOU read opinions from
day 70 La of current fictions that
they were equal to the best of the
fictive masters of the world, who
have floGrished from Henry Fielding
to Stevenson and Meredith. They
could not say much of Hugo, Dumas,
Balzac and Sue; or of Scott, Dickens,
Thackery and George Eliot. than they
say of the novels of a few scores of
living authors My advice is to read
the best first to form a true taste and
standard for fictive creators. Do not
neglect Bulwer, Hawthorne, Hardy.
Meredith. Reade and a dozen other
gifted successful and entertaining nov
elists, in addition to the masters first
named, SC read the current ficti"ns
of the present time. Read the best
and greatest first.
Nearly every one who writes thinks
himself qualified to produce a story
The is that tens of thOuS-
ards Of What are written for novels are
trash that never see the light or die
a-borring." And vet in all the world
of letters there are not two hnn6rpH
noveliSts Who have survived the
wrecks of the years. | repeat, read
first the very best before v~enturing
to read the evanescent, perishing,
formless. weak. inartiStic novels Of
this age Read the great books and
remember it takes as long to read lit
erary rubbish as to read the noble5t
productions Of man.
1t may interest some of my readers
to present to them, even in brief form,
some recent scientific discoveries. We
read now of the degradation of op-
per- Sir William Ramsay, a distin-
guished British man of science, has
discovered the way to produce what is
known as lithium by what is termed
as the degradation of copper. " That
is to say, he has discovered how to
make copper. that is nine times as
heavy as lithium. as light as the latter
is. BY his process the copper in solu-
ton showed that it contained lIthium
'in the residue" 1t was an "unlikely''
discovery. but appears to be certain.
Another late discovery is a process of
cutting steel with a blow-piDe. The
cutting OF iron or steel plates by the
local application of intense heat is not
a new method, but the new discovery
made by a Frerchnan is to cut steel
or iron with a new "OXy-aetylene
Dlow-pipe." What before required
several hours to accomplish is now
done in a few minutes in France bv
DIR. Georges victory, as reported in La
Nature for July.
A third interesting report is that of
of a disastrous blast that occurred on
the southern Railway, SO famous now
for accidents and efforts to avoid re-
sponsibility. The Railway and En-
cheering Review" for August tells of
a wreck OF that Inflated ragged road
near Lookout Mountain on 10th MAY
last. BY a blast set off in an earthcut.
the flying material wrecked a span of
a bridge 500 feet away. struck q pile
driver 900 feet distant, killed two
mon wraCEa6 an enrina ard elayap /