The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-12-14
The MANIFESTED
ARNOLD BENNETT

Arnold Bennett begins a new seri
al story, "The Regent" In the De
cember American Magazine. It Is 6
theatrical story and reveals the au
thor's extraordinary grasp of all the
interesting details in the world Of
actors, playwrishts and managers Ir
win S. Cobb has written "a sketch OF
Arnold Bennett for the American
Magazine, an interesting extract OF
which follows:
And that positively is all that Ar.
mold Bennett does-he writes. He
has so far as my own limited ac-
quaintance with him goes, no fads
and no hobbies. He doesn't golf, or
fish, or hunt, or bridge He loves
music and pictures, but he doesn't
play well and he doesn't collect pic.
lures. He hates travel and he abhors
excitement. He is not an after dir
ner speaker nor Judge of wines
He sees life and then he writes q.
down. | would say that life is his
hobby and writing it between the
covers of a book his trade.
"And since he was born among
commonplace surroundings and rear.
ed in commonplace way. he writes
G the commonplace people and the
commonplace things only investing
them with the passionate romance
of common placeness, which, after
all, is the greatest of all romance.
Nothing Mechanically thrilling
ever happened in his own life, moth.
ing melo dramatically thrilling ever
happens in his books. He sets down
life as he has lived it and as he
knows it, not as somebody else has
lived it or imagined 1t. Some of his
books have no climaxes and no stu
atoms in them at all. In those of his
books that have climaxes the CHM
axes come naturally with no strain
ing, no preliminary setting Of stage
come with no regard for
chapter or verse; in short, they come
as they might come in your life or
mine. Every one of Benefits nov
els is a great biography, and II he
ever wrote a biography 1t would be
a great novel.
''He is terribly methodical, which
Is what you would expect of such a
man. His writing is the most exact
,lerkly, monkish writing you can i'm
agine; the old smile of copper plate
doesn't begin to describe 1t. A page
If his manuscript is like a page out
If some old missal. Sometimes he
wen Eliminates the initial letter OF
/ new chapter! He is as sure of the
way he writes as Of what he writes
Ind that Is very sure. He sets out
he admits It himself-to be a sue
.essful writer, and he was never In
loubt OF the ultimate result even
When his first books moldered and
gathered dust on the book dealers
helves and the mention Of his name
meant nothing ID the casual hearer.
lie is never in doubt, now that sue
less has come.
'He is a business man In literature
lie makes most OF his own contracts,
lis publishers will tell you he can
rive a gooo bargain-it is the care
ul, methodical solicitors clerk stand
ng behind the writer. Humorists say
lie is great serious writer, serious
writer's say he is great humorist;
admit him great novel
st, and novelists concede that he
writes better essays than almost any
,ody who uses the English language.
And meanwhile Arnold Bennett
writes and writes.
PERSONALLY he is a smallish, slight
y wearied-looking man, with small
in his speech, a large
Gather backed notebook in either
tide coat pocket, Turkish cigarette
n his fingers and in his head the
he brightest, quickest brown eye
'ou ever saw-an eye that is inter.
,sted in everything that has happen
ID or Is happening or is going to