The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-05

S1Atl DC BOObf
and pure. Unfortunately according
To many writer's whose views haEt
come under my reading, this IS not
the cas-. for the great body OF lhe
fictions of the dag is inferior as -
stvle. artistic qualities and the pro-
prfettes. and often as 10 genuine cream
illness Quite two t~nouasnd new movers
are aid to appear IN Il year now,
ana to the huueering and thirstlng on
the part Of much Of the great cfo"d
Of readers they appear to be most
satisfying and vigorous. 1t IS because
of his uudeniabie fact that IT Is d
duty Of scholarly critics 10 inspect
carefully what is read, as far as II may
De nossible TO DO this. It is no waste
Of time to examine them. ana 10 DIS
sect and expose their failures ana III
puritIes. In this / refer 70 the real
critics who discuss and ~scrutinize the
ficti0ns Of these times. In TINS Il
can be no waste of time to carefully
examine and patiently discuss ana eE-
pose them when necessary. lH1
great place that novels nave III IN
reading OF this age, and the vast IN
fiuence for good or evil they possess
demand that they should be falfly,
carefully s~crutiniZed and sifted, the
bad from the good, the able ana su-
perior from the Mandy pamby, the
false and vicious. There was never
before such a time when Thoroughly
honest, fair, capable censors were SO
much needed. Just as the sweep OF
the influence Of novels wldens. ana
the tendency to the false. the depraV,
ed. the c~orrupting in both motlf ana
story increase in violence. So 1t be-
comes the more important that the
true functions and undated activity
Of the critic shall be more aggressive
inspiring and p~ertinaclouS than ever
before. The novel is more G~cneraliS
read now than are all Of the other
kinds Of book production combined, |
have no doubt, and YIELDS Il Sfeat@"
force and q deeper influence over
the great growing mass OF readers
than pNnaps all the other produc-
lions coNbined, and certainly has A
greater lower and exerts d greater
Influence on the charging reaNlnS
world than ever before. 1t has usurp-
cd the place of the poets and even the
thirty centuries the great poets
authors Of the traglc-drama have
taught. inspired. fascinated and dom
mated the minds OF me- because they
were filed with human passion ana
~s-sp;ration n suffering, and WIN
c~cet thoughts that burn, and inpuls-
6 end aspirations that concern man
cveryvhere and in all clrcumslanceS
and conditions. From the great Gays
when Greek armies fully floWereu III
Aeschylus, Euripides, SophoclGs, 49, aea
lift to hungry humanity such larseSSe
of poetic srlendor and thought, Sucn
tales of sorrow and disappolntnlell
and tragic misery to the passing away
of the masters Of the atfuent nlne-
teenth century, poetry has peefi
The GREAT inspiring Interpreter
teacher and comforter. and through
the centuries the stern or pleasant:
the profound or beautlfu! myths 81
the old world have enthralled the III
tellectual portion of mankind. But now
the novel. such as it is, IS the teachei-
Human character or wild adventure IS
the theme that engages the pens u
so many of the latter-day writers. It's
influence is wide and deep mere are
living in Great Britain critics OF
marked ability and skill. who are, |
believe. sincere in their judgments.
some times read decidedly excellent
papers upon novels by critics IN the
Northern States. Some of them are
excellent writer's, and show nuch re-
source and acuteneSS IN their discus
sions. But they can only study a lew
of the thousands of fictions produced
According TO these critics some few
but very striking and original novels
are produced by writer's on both sldcs
of the Atlantic ocean each year. Inc
great writers of the recent al 'uent
past are gone now with the
of three or four-Hardy, Meredith,
and possibly one or two others. The
demand is great now and the q
ton huge. People love to read Things
intensely human and exc1rlng-of all
that enters into life, its shadows and
It's depths, its Iniseries as we'll as its
pleasures, its despair and its un-
aimmed hopes. It becomes then very
necessary to find out if possible the
evil and the good in such eXhaustless
production. Remember that six or
eight novels are published in the world
every day. What a curse or what a
blessing-which?
There is no doubt that with the
many the task is low. the discern
ment very imperfect and shallow. The
knowledge of what constitutes good
style and correct English is quite
limited. The mass of words are def
cienc in both style and art-are in
craftsmanship low and in interpreted
ton superficial" This is the judgment
of an able, practiced reviewer of real
staff of reviewers of the able, eX-
cellent n. Y. saturday Review"
which I regard as the very best of its
Kind in this country, and I am of that
decided opinion after reading 1T regu-
larry for seven or eight years. |
make an edifying quotation from his
paper on Novels in the issue of Oc-
tober 10Th. He writes:
The novelistic art comes nearest, of
81 the forms Of art in this country, to
expressing the National spirit. 1t is
more intimately connected with the
life of the people than is any other
art. and to that life it gives truer eX-
preston, III d far greater variety of
phases. than does painting, sculpture,
music. or the drama
That shows the prime necessity Of
making the novel of sound, healthful
quality and Of genuine art. Otherwise
It will both vitiate and d~isappoint, and
TAIL in its appointed work. The Ameri-
can people, in the main, are not
scholarly or cultured, and without
nigh conceptions, noble ideals, and in
formed taste. The critic says:
whether it be painting, sculpture.
architecture, music, or literature,
American art has its limitations set
for it by a people whose spiritual life
Is at the minimum. whose most en-
crossing desire, generally and individ
ually, is to anass wealth and provide
for personal comfort and pleasure.
And Therefore, whenever our tictional
art does strike out beyond these limits,
a double credit belongs to its authors"
That is, both sound and sensible.
The critic thinks the quality of the
American novels is improving. If
true it is most commendable. The
themes used, the fields cultivated are
vast and varied, simple and complex,
wise and otherwise. An able. thought
81 - - 49, T---1:l