Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-28
LITERATURE WAS INJURED
BY WAR. ASSERTS AUTHOI
lndrdua'ty Submerged by Patriotic OuburSf Hergeheme
Says-Encornges Young " rers

Philadelphia is discovering that Just
outSid" her limits she has literary
light that is due to shine more and more
with every passing month.
His name is Joseph HcrgcShcimcr.
Mr.. ,l!CrgCShcimcr wasn't in when
visitor arrived at his hom" in West
Chester tn" other day. but two fine
AirrdalcS did their bcSt to entertain
him. When he appeared he was all
business. lie was out of his uiItomo
bile at a jump and was talking as he
came mp on tho porch
That iS the first. last and definitely
final impression that one gets of him
vitality. and business to the finger tips.
None of this languid literary trmprra =
ment, but business like efficiency. in
Mr.. 1Iergeshoimer.
Nobody Cares
beautiful place: Yes. it is. Quiet
too; nobody cares n continental about
litcratur" out here and I'm not dis
turhcd. Id like in some ways to GO
to New York. but. Lord. coudn t
stand going out places every night OF
the week. | don't sec how they do il.
1.-The first person to come to sec m"
here" went on the writer, 'was from
Australia. the next from the China
coast. the next from California and so
on. till now it is philadelphia.
Seeing his visitor staring at him in
evident surprise. he laughed.
II didn't mean actually. but igura -
lively. Whatever recognition I've r"-
ccivcd has como from abroad first. I'm
surprised at the popularity I've won
in England, and it wasn't until English
critics like Edmund Gossc started to
speak we'll Of mo that American critics
even knew I existed.
Started on the subject of critics. Mr..
Uergeshcimcr proceeded to tell what he
thought OF criticism in general.
Criticfses the Critics
81 don't know for fact. sometimes.
whether I'm being praised or attacked
in n criticism. I doubt if anyoody,
even the critic, knows just what h" is
talking about They all love to use
high sounding or stock phrases which
|
The Great American Novel. tn"
Great Novel of til" War; th" 10 -
mantle and 'RcnliSt' schools, 'styI" :
local color and all the rest OF them
oro uscd indiscrminatcly and very often
without any definite knowledge OF what
tEcv mean.
.I don't know what they mean by
.,,reot novel of the war. VIII say
+Iot M one could stand really hnc
ord truo book about the war. 1t would
ho foo horrible. No. I really don
SOC how they figure out that III ABOUT
fvo wears the first really great noE"l
of tho war will come. don I see why
II ever has to come.
.tTbc war had the effect OF hurting
literature. This is natural because men
bogon to think and act in common in a
Snirit of national feeling. lndividu-
.Iitv was submerged in very natural
patriotic burst.
~ don't say it wasn't very good
thing or that the war and every man $
share of duty in it weren't more i'm
nortopt than the literary genius of an
individual. but | will say that it was
rather question VI "Hut wv wa
got out of the writer. not what the
writer got out of the war. The effect
on him was not wholly good.
Novel Of War? No
Mr.. HergeshcnRr has not and docs
not contemplate writing novel of the
war.
At about this point the conversation
drifted back to critics and then to
teachers. Here it was that Mr.. Hcrge-
sheimer. who is about forty years old =,
said:
I've been to school only two years of
my life. and so my knowledge of aca
demic things and the pedagogical view
point is limited. The years when a
boy is usually acquiring his education
| was studying art right here in Phila
delphia. (Mr. Hergeshcimer. by the
way, spiked all rumors about his birth .
place. lie is really and truly Phila
delphian or near one.)
Then | went abroad, studied art
some more, Travelled and lived along as
best | could. Perhaps ! shouldn't talk,
but / really doubt the efficacy OF edu-
cation, especially for one of literary
- uYLo oxnn,rIo af a foynritn anJ