The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-03-04
Story Telling

(By Philip Lttel in the New Republic.)
1t would pay Aristotle, il he were alive and could
still find time for letters to read the preface to
Lewis Seymour and Some Women, which is the
story Of Modern Lover, George Moore's first book
retold by the George Moore of today. The passage
that would interest Aristotle is this: style and
presentation of character and fine taste in the
selection Of words secondary gifts: and Sec
ondary gifts may be acquired may be developed at
least. but the story-teller comes into the world
fully equipped almost from the first, finding stories
wherever he goes nstinctvely the reaper in
the cornfeld discovers melodies that the professor
of counterpart and harmony strives after vainy in
his university In the Poetics-Butcher's transa
tion-Aristotle says Again II You string together
set Of speeches expressive of character, and well
| finished in point Of diction and thought YOU will
produce the essential tragic effect nearly well
| as with a play which, however deficient in these re-
spects, yet has plot and artistcaly constructed
incidents. further proof is, that novces in
the attain to finish Of dicion and precision of
| portraiture before they can construct the plot"
Aristotle living in world where nearly all writer's
used the stories thought the proper telling Of
| a story the hardest thing to learn George Moore
| does not deny this. He merely says a man is born
either with the gift of making up stories or without
| it, The Greek and the Irishman both say that PLOT
is more important than character or words.
| Today we all admit that George Moore and Ars-
totle if you try to apply their opinion to contempt
rary fiction. clearly wrong. 1t is in the nature
of things that nothing absolute can be true.
Even if concede just for the arguments sake.
that it is harder to invent to tell story than to
create" character, are still free to maintain,
in the of a novelist whose aim is to make us
say "Yes, this is like life," that plot he thinks
good whether he found it or invented it, is likely
to get between him and his object. In this same
~ COMIC Ar,nf n1r
Emigrant that all it's Admirable qualities would
have been destroyed by drop Of story or
course. and drop of story, in this sense would
have been fatal to Boswell or Pepys. Suppose
you and live three hundred and sixty-five days a
year for sixty-five years In the course of our
lives meet many characters. machine made and
hand -made--perhaps you yourself hand made
character. We also, at long intervals. for few
hours or a few months at a time, are the heroes
| or heroines of a short story two. But nothing
is more absent from our lives as wholes than plot
interest When come to die shall find il
VIC have time to look about U.S. that we have not
| lived plots and that have lived biographies
That is why modern novcliss, who know this quite
as we'll as do, often fight shy of plots Seek
ing an effect of lifelikeness. they naturally
afraid symmetry. Of obvious calculation. of an,
sign Of the novelists obtrusve will.
Mr.. George Moore, by the way, thinks that ste
venson not born story teller that he "strove
after Stories suspccng all the while that his were
not instructive melodies. The good fairy
came in at the window with her presents. and a:
soon she had laid them by the chd's cradle She
departed: but was she out of sight thar
the wicked fairy descended by the chimney and
standing by the cradle, said: I cannot take away
the gifts that the goou fairy has given thee, but
can blight them forever in thine eyes Thou shall
y never write story that does not seen, tushery t.
La, bad %,1I
n how of his stories first occurred to him. Mar
II eel Schwob acutcly guessed that Stevenson ofte
. began with vision which came unsought and fas
cinated him, and that he aferward invented dclib
y cratcly story to go with it. Ono of Schwob's OK
amplcs The Sire d" Maletrots Dool-frst tn
c vision. the wind and darkness in the steep street
Of tn" medieval town, the door which yields so sur
- prisingly to the young man seeking safety: tho
the invention, the laborous attempt to find stor
~ which should explain that mysterious door. An
W other example The Pavilion the Links
I'd where the infcrorty of the story invented to tn
il place seen was in Schwobs opinion. to the best
my recollection, less marked Schwoh did not gen
cralizc from these examples. He did not attac
u" much Importance to them, admitting that some
he times the story was better than the vision.
ch
nc From the rubics point of view I don't suppos
n it matters much how a story-tccr goes to worl
A. one Of Mr.. Moorcs favoritc novclsts Turscnie'
nd thought of his characters first. studying them an
- Imagining them and writing out snort biographi,
of them. and coming slowly to his story, to II
events most likely to hefall such and wome
to Plutarch, Hoinshed other mems plays. other men
is stories--that Shakespeare's Sardou
EN- was different. He began by asking himself que
:. ton, as for example, what is the greatest sacrfi
" a man make for his country? When he HI
Is found he ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of wifes lover