The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-04-18
NDER a preface stating that q critic
Of contemporary fiction canhot
nretend TO have an eNhAuetlNe hC-

Under a preface stating that critic
Of contemporary fiction cannon
pretend to have an exhaustive ae-
quaintance with branch OF literature 30
bewildering in extent and variety and that
he Ia bound somehow to select. an edi-
torial in the London Athendoum goes on
to point out Interestingly several salient
and peculiar characteristics in the cond'.
ton Of the English novel at the present
time. As follows:
The average" novel. the mere literary
narcotic. OF one period Is OF course very
like that OF another. II IN only ON con-
sidsration OF the comparatively small out
put OF really high artistic purpose that
one 10 compelled to ascribe to the fiction
| OF our day = definite character OF It's own
Such consideration. however, does convince
us that the novel as treated at present r.
such comparatively young M as Mr..
Wells, Mr. Bennett and MIR. 0alsworthy.
| such positively young men as Mr.. Cannan
and Mr.. walpole, has certain general pc
culiarities both of matter n manner
which distinguish II sharply from the Eng
l!sh novel OF any previous period. Fiction
at the present moment exhibits serious
ness OF aim, tendency 10 social criti-
cism. a tentativeness OF form and "A fusion
of earlier methods which all suggest that
IL is in a transitional period Many of its
characters are the direct or indirect
result of the practice Of the later Victorian
writer's. It will be advantageous. there
fore. to institute n comparison between the
fiction Of to-day and the fiction uet us
say) OF twent, Ave years ago,
In the last twenty years OF the nine
teenth century the English novel may
he divided into three mai groups.
Realism dominated one OF these and
accepted as a condition by Mr.. Hardy. fol-
lowed as an evangel by MIR. Moore was
probably the most important and fruitful
. a.. ia knI -
n mastery exponent in Meredith, though
| his romantic view OF life was tempered
! by a Keen critical faculty, and powerful
| II unorthodox exponent In Mr.. kipling,
whose supposed alliance with realism
was OF the left hand only. Meanwhile
with the work Of Mrs, Humphry Ward
| the novel was beginning to claim for itself
| the right to crticise contemporary HE
and to attempt the solution OF current
| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. social and ethical
The fiction OF our own day shows no
such definite cleavage and IL patient of
no such convenient classification Its
! leading examples combine the qualities OF
all the three above divisions with certain
notifications OF method. 30 that IN the
work OF most of tho younger men we iind
! realism, romance and criticism blended
into n new complex--one. by the way,
typical OF the modern distasto for cate
gorical thinking.
MI. Wpllt IOT instance, perhaps inv
most interesting and representative oil
our living noveiis,s. holds equally OF al
three traditions. His material is usually
of "A frankly Realistic nature but nor
NAL lower and middle class life appears
to him as neither colorless nor prosaic
II Is. on the contrary, instinct to his
Imagination with incalculablo poasibiltie'
of romance and adventure. He finds il
mot gray. but golden" Moreover, II,
handles II with none OF the impersonD
aloOfness OF the academic realist He II
, eager to Reneraliae upon 1t and subject i
to criticism. He has realized that prob
lens" are an integral part of our menta
outfit, and he IL curious to trace an,
depict their formative influence upon char
acter. He differs however, from TIT
aforetime problem" novelist by desir'
rather 10 represent men and women al
moulded by the vexed questions OF to-da!
than to supply answers to the vexcd Qucs
lions themselves. He has modified tn
method of Mrs. Ward as much AS he hai
modified the method of Meredith or Mr.
Moore. Arnold Bennett II n less, bu
hardly less. marked example OF similar
tendencies. He chronicles the detail %
life Az meticulously with as suhdued nj
emphasis. as the authors of Jude TN
Obscure" and of "a Mummer's WIFE"
hut his chronicle IL Informed. as theirs
are not by sense OF progress TIT
lives whose evolution he develops ar
| chapters in "A history OF civilization no
planned or written from the standpon
Il OF the pessimist, His men and womel
find their romance In their advance l.
clearer apprehension and stronger contro
OF n world which In the Intimate convic
| ton OF their creator IL somehow good,
This fusion of method and critical alb
sorption In tho conditions and forces O
modernity have produced valuable wor
besides that OF Mr.. Wells and Mr.. Zen
nett. Under similar influences Mr.. Onion
has analysed with nne irony the mind q
tho commercial and political arrv ste
Mr.. Galsworthy has given us his Studio
OF that curious Increase OF senslbility an
widening OF imaginative sympathy part