New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-04-18
FRANK NORRIS.

fNANN NCNNlS.
VANCOUVER AND THE BRUTE. BY
frank Norris. l2mo. pp So. Double
cay, Page q Co
The feeling uppermost in the readers
mind as he lays down this posthumous
novel is one Of renewed regret at tho
uutimely death OF the most promising.
ne most sincere and significant OF all
ihc novehsts this country has produced
GgrlnS the last quarter century. What
i,is beck might have brought 10 pass.
when Il was written. twenty years ago,
must now remain q matter OF specula-
;ioa As Il Is. we had 20 wait until
theodore Dresser gave US sister Car
rie" and young Mr.. Whitman his Pre-
destined" for it IL with these two books
yhat "vandover" will be clsssed in the
history OF American literature. their
forerunner in all but the date OF its
publication. It's probable reception by
the reading public OF twenty years ago
hss nothing TO DO with the matter az
title az the FIRST reception OF Mr. Dreis-
,r's book has. or the disappointing lack
% recognition that has been Mr.. Whit
mans fate. Formative influences IN
.erature are independent Of Popu-
laritv. II may hasten their action;
withheld. Il can az most retard for
while their ripening TO maturity
cannot Kill them.
The STRANGE story Of the manuscript
OF ~Vandover and the Brute Is told IN
a brief preface by RS authors brother
Norris wrote the story in 1874 ana
1926. partly az Cambridge during MS
rsos-- rrsduate course at Harvard Uni
,-ersitv. and partly in san Francisco
.fter his return home. IL was COM
r.1sed almost simultaneously with NC
TeaCue.r but whereas the young nov
,rst finished the latter story and pub
rshed il i've years later, he held back
The Ear greater book. no doubt 10 await
he ripening Of MS talent and the per
lection Of his Workmanship for is ade-
ouats treatment. The existence Of the
story in its original form-it had nos
even been copied-was Known IN PUB
lshinz circles at the time OF Norris
death. Ii had been packed IN one o.
MANY crates containing his effects and
ulaced in storage in a san Francisco
--arehouse. but while the matter OF
SYSTEMATIC search for il was being dis
.usse5 the earthquake and IRE oc-
..rred. the warehouse was burned TO
he ground. and il was assumed that
lie manuscript had shared the fate OF
he building A year later, however
news. came that part OF the contents or
The warehouse had been removed Just
tefora the disaster. and n this saved
-amrant was found the manuscript OF
inc story. But. continues Mr.. Charles
e., Norris. st so happened that tie sig
nature o. the title sheet had been cut
mt for the sake Ct the autograph. The
natter remained unsettled for seven
Years until a Junior member OF the hrn
,,a dav began 20 read the manuscript
-acog-ized the authors style al once
nd q complete Identification resulted.
Here. then. IS the story az Norris
damned and wrote il, a first draft
which. with all its tentative elements
en7inentlv worth the while OF the
student Of American Action. II comes
the right moment. for in its attitude
.ovard life and its problems IL IS or
-o-day. L proves Norris 20 have been
twenty. years ahead OF his time. Ihere
Is disproportion in the treatment OF
s,isodas. there are threads left loose 70
10 taken I'D and worked into the faDrlc
il, the course Of the rewriting that
rsve- was undertaken, but these DO noI
count. The root Of the matter IS mere
ono can without difficulty see what the
revised version would have been III
soma particulars. even, one doubts II
Norris would have changed his Original
plan-notably in the case Of that hap
hazard kiss bestowed upon the clean
living young Haight in the "ImperiaF
csr.. with its horrible consequences.
The woman disappears from the story
entirely: her victim turns up again
when he reader has almost forgotten
the incident. But it is in the very
casual manner OF its treatment that
lies the strength Of the realism Of this
episode.
one can read into this novel an ale
Vorv Of the struggle between good and
evil in man. All life is that. Il is un-
likely. however, that Norris contem-
Mated any such Interior meaning. His
Gin, was rather 20 present a concrete
- -