The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-02
LUCK IN LITERATURE.
Rcmark. op the Art of Arrival and
the Chronology OF success.


the ChronoioGy OF Success.
4 distinct element OF curious in
terest attaches to "A book published
anonymously. the other day and en-
titled Getting Wrong Start"
wherein an unnamed author describes
his many years of struggle semi-star-
walton and almost hopeless discour-'
agement under unusual difficulties;
the period of his supposed misfortune
ending when, at the age OF 40. he
wrote a book which leaped into sud-
den popularity. The author in ques-
ton had been brought up as many
another American lad of good family;
pettcd too much in his home, perhaps.
and vithou, being taught any definite
means for earning a livelihood. He
drifted all over the continent. trying
ono thing and another. and. as he
thought. falling in every venture.
Then. under stress OF circumstance
md not until early middle age, he
wrote his first book of romance.
Through the unexpected royalties
,hcrcfrom accruing. and from other
ID. ol<s of romance following at inter-
walls during some ten or fifteen years,
he has acquired competence more
;han sufficient for his needs.
This, of course. IL by no means un-
usual That which distinguishes the
recital Of personal experience from
many another lies largely in the
writer's mental attitude toward his
career. lie continually asks himself
why he did certain thing and failed,
instead of doing another thing and
succeeding. The reader gains the i'm
preston that a veritable demon of Bad
Luck pursued this unhappy man for
two decades: whereas II may very
we'll he that his buffeting by the
world. his mixing with all sorts and
conditions Of people in a hundred diff
ferent communities. gave him just
that knowledge of human nature and
the varied affairs OF life without
which he could not since have written
his books.
There is much that IL unconsciously
drlmatic. as well as not little that
is still more unconsciously pathetic. In
these pages; the pathetic thing being
that he who penned them seems not
to have grasped the fact. long ago,
that before a man can produce fiction
dealing with life he must have knowl-
edge Of life itself: of depths far below
the mere surface which is snap
shotted by a multitude of young ladies'
and young gentlemen who find their
way into magaZines-who give us
pleasant, amusing pictures, some Of
which are delicate and altogether
charming. hut seldom to he c,assed
with literature. Instances there are,
10 be sure. of men who now and then
have written in their thirties a novel
not only of narrative interest. but in
addition sounding some of the hidden
springs Of emotion. intellect and that
remnant Of instinct through the pos
session Of which we. of the human
family. may yet claim cousinship with
others If the animal world. Is II
not a fact, however, that a Majority.
perhaps a large majority. of the best
novelists who are mon failed to come
INTO their own until they reached
middle age-.that. excepting for an &C.
cas!onal hashlight. their finest work,
their finest continuous work, has heen
produced between the ages of forty
five, say. and sixty. or siXty-fivc?
Howells commanded attention
through his earlier stories, but ne
did not write THE Rise of Silas Lap
ham until he was fifty. Mark Twain
save to the word The Adventures of
Hucklehcrry Finn" at about the same
he -fxy ba,
fifty when he produced his one i'm
portant serious book. Joan of Arc
Weir Mitchell did not commence 10
write his worthiest fiction until he
was mature in every sense, Hugh
Wynne." for example, coinciding with
| his siSty-seventh year, while his last
novel "WcStways.' written when he
was more than eighty. is surchargcd
with tho spirit of young love, and its
every page eXhalcs breath Of tho
sprinCtime Of life. Lew Wallace was
fifty-three when "Ben-IIur" was
ready for publication. william Dc
/ MorCaus first novel. Joseph Vance.
was undertaken when It's creator was
/ sXty-fvc. Tho list might he pro
, longcd indefinitely. to include Haw'
| thorne, stockton and many others o.
/ that coodly company whose work en-
dures. Was 1t III luck, or the yer,
best Of good luck. that attended such
men. that withheld popular, transitor,
success" while they were slowI,
| gaining knowledge of life ere the,
portrayed il? He who is caution,
would be slow to venture n definite
answer To the question.
As to novelisls who are women th'
story is different, In some way. n
Yet not eXpla ned, they seem to ar
rive" al an age far younger than thci
literary brethren. As an example o
the present daN Dorothy Canfielt
may he cited whose intimate Studio
4 rural life in New England are. il
their way. a truly artistic and a
dramatic as are the rare picture
Gently by Miss Alice Brown. Not We
th.rty-hve. Dorothy Garfield is the all
thor Of eight volumes, some of then
made up from selections of the II
short stories she has published
Furthermore, she is Doctor Of philosO
ply. and has won another degree q
far higher Mother of Lust
Children. 1t may not he impossibl
that women possess. far down in thci
beings. intuitive knowledge of If
which makes 1t unnecessary for then
to experience personally, or personals