The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-09-24
BLUFFING BY The NOVELIST
iLIFGED TO ne COW uON iUOAG
MODERN WRITARS.
Ima EInaiion Not = saTficirni substitute
for knowledge, says critic Great
AUTHORS Who stick tn Facis IOla's
Quest OG InfOrma Ion aud His - Of o.

for know ledge. says q critic Great
AUTHORS Who stick To Facis LOIa =
Gluest % InIOrma Ton aud His - Of %
The comrnonest 81 all tho vices IN
modern literature j. what a writer IN the
London Times terms N" pr"tenCe Of
writer's to knowledge they do not possess
We are won't hs writes. TO talk Of
imagination ~ n II we're suhstltut" for
knowledge. a power 10y means ~ which a
writer can tell Ne what n" does not know
II - a faculty erninentlv scientific since u
enables the writer 20 make W." ~ his
experience or anowledg" IN new condi-
lions supposed nv himself
-Awri,er who deals with matters of fact
cannot well conceal his ignorance Of Thorn.
at least from thos. who know more than
himself But the novelist - subject TO
no undisputsd test and he has every
,smp,a',on 10 conceal ignoranc" by hlud
I, IA A common trick Of noVeli-ts to assuTn"
an extreme air Of certainty when th"lt
knowledge Of human natuT" faiis them
They pretend to miraculous powers 81
diyination by which they hop" =" nN"raNe
the reader into accepting ImpoSSIbiliI'"s
This - "A lawful trick where the IMPOSE
bihtv - only material for then there -
no dishonest pretence
We can ali detect amaterial lmpossi-
hihty. and n the novelist can persuade We
not 20 notice It. then his arr triumph-
But where the impo-sihIllty ~ pSycho-
logical It - not lawful for psychological
i'm DoasibilitIas an fiction are mere failures
Of art They mean that the novelist mas
attsmp ted what he cannot DO. that ne -
irving to tell rs what ne does not know.
and MS air Of certainty " only pTetehce
that he does know
When swift describes the material
,mpoSaibiht,ss Of Iilhput with 80 much
exact detail. he u not pretending To more
knowledge that he pos-eSesrS. he y Only
creating an artistic Illusion. But the
novelist who confidently describes psyche
logical proccsses OF winch he knows
nothing u not creating an artistic Illusion;
hut telling lies. and Tor those VINO nhn
him out h,s hook haS no NOR" interest,"
than a detected he
t,n,s eapectaIly 4 II ~ new KIND OF hlur.
nut the newest Kind ~ blum - "rV qul'kN
initiated and the lruna'or~ glN" away w
trick so that even the inventor OF :, can
no longer deceive When Ne read old ana
gs,nn,'S novels We often find IN them pas
-age. tina, are manIfe~tly absurd. and we
WCnder how they could over nave ie"h
yrr,,ten or why they were not ms ahtlN
cond.rnned hv their first reah"rS
Such passages ar" nearly "N"E7
,bey wsr. novel They d"o"iv" no
LANCER because they hsV" h""n -iaI.,'i
la, ,,n,tatton But what a winter tells
~ OFT q hrs own kno"'~iH' h'--s h"
grow stale Tot 81 cannot 10 uhua'''n. ah'
the novelist who dos not Wi>h 70 I-,cnihe
a l,,,,pfng stock should tell nothing that
he A. not know N he finds THAI h"
Knows nothing h" may h" snr" tha' ne
ought no' 20 49, writIng movers
-Ths great dramatiSt makes non" ~
lt. character ont - no'hihG u lh"t
III
no kp,,y- Of other men and what b" knows
~ hins.If And hI- knUwleige ~ inner
men T. IA turn bas"d upon ne khpN'~lk"
II nim-.l for that - ~" "iilv 'H''-
pI.fa snow edge - human na'nr" M
J.. ,,p attain e. He observes ana a.
yira. ,hn meaning - What he nl'~''r'f7-
~ , sc,sn,lfr process. tor IA oitri men
n. -....- only outward -Vnp' 'ins
-Th.r. must have hs-en germs "i Idgo
and pd,olI,s and even NdCbdh ~ ShaH'-
-p-are himself y" d'n', aI~ ''' .'E "
i-.1ra had -.-.n men ~ real I'VE m Nh"m
tRa.a germ. were more developed. ana 80
putttpg two and 'wo together n" Co'ld
imagine tine Complsi" ChaTa0'"r~. li"y
uer. not made out - nothing bnt grow
IN ms mind and wer" 80 10 sG"ak 1"r'en
IN the world ~ Imagination
D" M ,r,s,t.a ot the word creation -
re.nons,hIe for many wrong IDEAS ab"ui
literature and art and Tor rH"h wong
practice There have alwaNS Teen Wtl,'t-
vino thought that they mus prov" th"lr
,.nins by creating something out ~
,oIhing that knowIedRe was mer"
h,ndra nee to the working " their IinaRi-
nations ,.t, 81, ,,,..ts ~
LACY Of knowIedge and y - lu-t i"@'au--
~ this Lack that they fan ~ magma ION
FOR imagination - encouraged ana en-
r,ched by knowledge II AL Atnds ann
ass. FOR the want ~ u. knowledge Is
-, we're the soil by which IN" mower
81 ina Rination ~ nourIrheh; anu W
greater the writer the greater MS passion
for knowledge and the NOR" use ne van
make ~ all that he knows. -..-
scott IL perhaps the most IMAGINATIVE
y, ali our noyelists. and none OF them has
had a knowledge ~ vast ana DIVERS ,
4, =. the sane With Tolstoy HIS novels
,nte,ea, ia 40 much even whom the story
seems lost in them. because h" - Always
telling ~ ~ what he knows
-Ue can interest uG IN levin moving
,..causs he moved himself. or m Andrew
RoIkouaky fighting because he has toughl
himseH n ia these cases ne W~r" h"'
wri,inR ont his own e1perience his MARIA
tive would h" empty ~ detail ana lll,Isl"n,
And ~ ~ IL with stories or poems ~
They are dull II the writer can
onIv tell rs that 10 or some on" else ~
very POWERFULLY moved He must oven
IN poeiry tell ~ facts aboui passion y We
a r., 10 listen 10 what he says. though ne
NAV tell them indirectly. ana th"V mus
NO, 10 second hand facts that h@ has
armed from other writer's. for u ~ easier
20 detect examining IN lit"rat'ir" than IN
. examination papers, and when the reader
detects N he loses interest.
There IL this fault in many ~ Zola'
novels. He was thoroughly aWarr ~ the !
value 81 knowledge IN q novelist. hut he !
Thought h. could cram II. His books are
ful of facts. hut they ar. often facts too |
easily come by and acquired for partict- |
lar purpose. W" can detect thl. IN has
treatTpent ~ them for he thrusts thsm In |
oar faces as II he wore proud ~ them. |
He would cram his readers a. he has
nrAmmed himself, scarcely understanding
that knowladRe Tor a novelist II not an
end hut only n necessary means 20 an
end