Truth. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1901-1908, 1907-02-09
TRUTH
A RECIPE FOR BOOK REVIEW

view is recurrent problem of liter
airy discussion The question is taken
up by Mr.. Francis Duckworth in the
Monthly Review (London, january,
who attributes the "low quality of
popular fiction" to the present failure
of fictional criticism. How is it pos
sible for critic" he asks, within the
limits of half column of printed
matter, to pass a definite and final
verdict upon a novel or poem and
at the same time be understood by his
readers?" The answer involves dis
cussion of English fiction and Eng
lish criticism, but it probably will not
be asserted by any that American fc-
ton is of so much higher quality as
to be uncontrolled with the problem
of raising its standard
Using the political side of any
periodical as an analogy we might find
a way to treat books, Mr.. Duckworth
thinks. The ordinary political edi-
torial has no time to deal in detailed
reference to principles of politics, and
such reference is unnecessary when
the political faith of the journal is
known to its readers. If literary jour
nails could be organized on the basis
of distinct literary faith, then, ac-
corning 10 MI. DuCkWOllil, TAG SdIliS
economy with the same surencss of
conveying ones meaning could be
practised. The next step in the prob
lem he asserts, is to inquire whether
there are such things as definite lit
crary dogmata, not less clear cut and
ineligible than political dogmata"
The writer's answer is one of affir-
nation, but he asserts that such dog
mata have been kept in the back
ground by "thc prevalence Of that lit
erary from which goes by the name
of 'appreciations, and the belief that
criticism is rightly described as the
adventures of soul among books.
Individual opinions about books are
prevalent, he declares; and a reason
able procedure would be to try to
group those individual opinions as
individual political opinions can be
and are grouped every day Such
group-tcrms as "romanticist' and
''realist' already exist, and are cap
able of subdivision. But when we
come to examine such groups" he
complains, their unity appears to
vanish; we can find no two romantic
lists in entire agreement as to the Ill
innate formulation of romanticism,
the definition of romance" The way
out of the difficulty is again pointed
by politics, as the writer goes on to
show:
Nov exactly the same state of
things exists with regard to politics.
We are, in fact, entitled to hold that
tho no two romanticists can agree
as to the definition of romance, still
there does exist such an attitude of
mind as romanticism. For in politics
there does exist such an attitude of
mind as Liberalism, altho it may be
impossible to find two Liberals in
agreement as to the definition of de-
mocracy. What then constitutes the
bond of union between Liberal and
Liberal? Probably this, that on being
presented with any immediate prob
lem of conduct they will bc found in
agreement as to the proper course of
action to pursue But the point here
to be emphasized is that this identity
or oneness in action most certainly
implies an identity or oneness in prin-
chile"
With the question of "dogmata"
thus happily provided for, the book
reviewer may proceed to gage any
novelist's achievement, and assign it
to its category, feeling sure that the
reader will understand the terms he
uses. The readers time will be saved,
he inform tiop will he axtandaI. Il