The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-09-08
GREAT CONFLICT WILL HELP
MAKE FICTION OF THE FUTURE
AS in Past, War Will Be Prolific of Novels-Offers End
less Opportunity for the Exercise of the Imagination
Of the Story Writer

the head. more than any other por-
ton Of the frame, gave evidence OF
hard treatment: a broker Jaw, the
mouth a pulp of teeth and bleeding /
tongue, an eye torn from the socket
and exposed upon the cheek, a cloyen
skull that showed the palpating brain
be.scath."
Zola's novel shows war from the
viewpoint of the ordinary soldier.
THE Disaster of the Marguerite
brothers, gives US war from the Of
| fcers' side. Both brothers were sol
diers and their father, General Mar
| gueritte, lost his life in the war at
Sedan The book is the first of a
tetralogy called IAN Epoch" the last
volume of which is also in English
and is called "The Commune" THE
Disasters" deals with the campaign on
the northeast frontier around Metz.
The leading character is an officer,
Pierre du Breuil. who is with the gen.
eral and is aware of everything that
is going on. There are very powerful
scenes in the novel. and battles and
horrors are magniicently described.
Other Famou Novels.
The whole book is really q series Of
. episodes: hence there is little unity to
it. But one neVer can forget the pic
ture of the French army S~tagnating
under the walls Of the Lorraine town:
one can see the rushing sQuadrOnS
men Tie Ddlllc DcSlHS anu near llc
roaring of the cannon and the grOan-
ing and curSing of the wounded. A
similar scene to one in Zola's novel
occurs here, where the Frenchman
kills another by mistake. The novel
is a powerful arraignment of war and
of the religion that brings it about.
The Commune" by the same authors
should also be read.
Mention should be made of other
novels on the subject by French au-
thors and p~rOcurable in English. There
is Alphonse Daudet's Robert Hell
mont" the dairy of a r%ecluse, which
while not exactly a novel. yet gives
fine pictures of the state of France
when Germany invaded it. Then
those famous historical novelists who
worked together, Erckman and Cath
rian, gave us two novels dealing with
the Franco-Prussian period. The
Brigadier Frederic" and the STORY Of
the Plebiscite." This latter novel
shows the troubles of the peasants
during the war and also attacks the
old imperial regime. We also ave a
novel on the var by the famous writer
of detective stories, Emil Gaboriau,
called Other Peoples Money"
English and American novelists
have been fascinated by the subject.
For instance, Robert Chambers has
written no less than four novels cen
; tring around the war. These are
Lorraine" Ashes of Empire '"The
, Red Republic" and 1.-The Maids of
Paradise The last novel is probably
; the best. 1t opens with a wonderful
description of the battle of Worth
. and the famous charge Of cuirassiers
Z 1t deals with the flight of Empress
. Eugene and the siege of Paris. Two
: American war correspondents assist in
e the flight and also in helping the es-
, APE OF two sisters with whom they
fall in love. The girls are rescued
u from two Prussian spies and finally
, the escape and marriages are effected
The background of the novel shows III
5 the horrors of the war. There are
hair-breadth escapes in the novel, bu'
its real value is in the spirit Of wal
that it gives
The English novelists nave not for
= gotten to deal with the Franco-Prus
sian war. Bulwer-Lytton has giver
us a picture of Partisan groups ant
classes before the siege of Paris in hi
The Parisians." Henry Kingsley
who was a war correspondent and tn
; first Englishman to enter Sedan, ha
= left us a French boys story Of Sedan
= in "Valentin." A more recent move
l. on the subject is Max Pemberton'
o "The Garden of Swords" The tai
begins with the defeat Of Worth an
u ends with the defence of Strasbours
There is 0 as we'll as war. On
Sceu6 Audl fingers Is the discovery ID
Captain LefOrt of his wife's love 70
i her English friend, by her concern 70
.e his life in battle. There are also tw
!, good juvenile books on the war b
" the e~ver-faithful S. A. Henty, 9TH
Young Franc-Tireurs," and "A WON
an of the Commune"
er Such are some of the books on tn
e. Franco-Prussian war. Scenes are er
1t acted here which are being repeate
n today. After all most war scenes ar
lie alike and to those who like to read {
e. them one can recommend the two res
ed classic war pictures, TOlstoy's "Sebas
b. topol Sketches and ouF own Stephe
Cranes Red Badge of Courage" tn
in latter written before the author ha
a smelt powder and yet as veterans hay
FL testified perfectly accurate. NJ
Should we forget Andrews IRE
ed Laugh and the more famous TIL
en- Human Slaughter House." by WilIial
ID. LamsZus.