New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-18
New Forms of
Short Fiction
From The Didl)

ii
ages have come TO be pretty well under
The Greek theatres, however shattered
.-avmental, have had their general dis
,..,ors made clear. Moliere's data-his
,rsstles and a passion, along with court
n.,.s--are fully comprehended. The Eliza
han stage, thanks TO the studies of Mr.. j.
...,Ser Matthews and others, has issued
.n the dusk of cOnjecture-and from the
,s.sr dusk of ignorance which did not even
.,,s that there was anything in particular
.,r;ecture about. 1t is now clearly under
\ that the details Of playwriting and of
:, rroducing have been greatly conditioned
-,vbere by the mere physical and mechani-
i means of publicity.
Came similar effort might be made on behalf
s,;on.-ought to be made, in fact If the
.,,s,ter and aspect of much of the light
.,,ps of to-day is properly to be appre-
.,sed and appraised. How, in fact, have the
.,,.rn equivalents for the choral altar and
!, inn courtyard, so to speak, made their in
a.,.e felt? The fiction of the daily newss-
..r. Of some of the weekly periodicals, even
-. of the movies" will be seen in a differ
/ =. and ulster light if the conditions governing
| ,,sieation are more clearly kept in view.
The serial published in monthly instruments
1 .-.bow still holds it's place. 1t seems the
,.,.l descendant Of those marvels by Dickens
=, Tbackeray which, during the '4O's, first
~ the light in monthly parts" In days
,.sn the stately quarterlies held the first place
he public attention and esteem, the month
"A not seem large unit Of time. But the
ally and the daily have made the month a
-.n eternity. The monthly serial still lum-
rs along, but its goal seems all the time to
T, the bound volume or book publication. In
.. Of these forms the magazine serial recon-
u,r:, in this day of short-breathed haste, its
,.srrupted continuity, overcomes the disjoint-
y Of its consecutiveness.
The most striking example of fiction condi-
ned BY method of publication is TO be found
he daily press. This type of fiction con-
&c itself most with the bitches and draw
x, Of married life. One distressful couple,
a subordinate figures and occasional simple
.rsss of scene, quite sufices. Marion and
Eu appear daily, to the extent of column
70 The wife may be Eighty and extrava-
az. the husband grave and patient. Or Will
N nay be logged, ungracious, inconsiderate,
/ ID Marion sensitive and plaintive. Thus
4 -rugh every weekday of the year, with each
sscn Of the story more or less independent
nd self-suficing. You 90 off for week to
Nz York, or for month to San Francisco,
for year to the Pole, and when you return
tuion and Wilbur are having instruments OF
ssr familiar Jars on the familiar scale. This
rsht be called the angleworm type Of fiction;
tsrt choppy lengths, each one of them intelll-
t.ls and available without exact regard for
y other lengths. The worm so finely cut up
son reassembles himself-fails, in fact, to
IN back for a well-rounded finish.
Tie chief objection to this type of fiction is
"a, in point Of characterization, it Is static,
kYting like real development, like true evo-
Ion, is absent. Wilbur, if dour and selfish
I'd inconsiderate in February, is found to be
ne the less 50 in August. Marion, however,
egsufering when we left her in early sum-
~, never reaches the point of open protest
s'sbellion by the end Of December. The two
sztures merely mark time, performing
citing dance that brings them no nearer
rs- Their naneuvres lend some color to the
an that the journey itself, not the journeys
u Is the main consideration in humanitys
sndane experience. Another objection to
a type Of fiction is that it must be written
s1 written-in a "style" to coalesce with
a employed in adjacent columns-an undis-
eg7shed style for undistinguishing people.
literature is like enough TO fail when 1t
Srtsses an ideal reader: that is as bad as 10
me for posterity, or TO write-as Charles
@ao once threatened 10 do-for antiquity.
must write for the public that exists in
rs Own day. II that public is long on heed
@'nsss and short on taste.
htoiher form Of fiction that is largely con-
~a'aed on publication at short intervals, for
= aefnite body Of readers, is the intermit-
~ serial founded on the doings and advent