The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-20
Is He Right?

dining III restaurant and / ask Tor hlet
mignon, the waiter doesn't bring me ham,
burger steak. There is no reason why he
should. If he did would be decidedly ir-
ritated Not that have any prejudice
against hamburger steak. But when I
ask for filet mignon, want filet mignon.
Now, why, when I'm buying a literary
flet mign0n, am L so often sold literary
hamburger steak3
For example, when buy book of Mr..
Walpole's, 1 think I'm buying a book
saturated with England, stepped in Glebe-
shire, in Cornwall, or in that neigbbor-
hood forever sacred to the Duchess of
Wrexe. | want to read about English
people, depicted with a slight air of I'M
reality, but so eonvincingly depicted in
this way that one accepts it without ques-
ton.
Now isn't it bit hard when Mr.. Wal
poles novel deals with Russian persons
and places' The name Walpole stands
for one sort of thing. 1 buy his book
and 1 get another thing-a quite differ
ent thing.
Similar is the case against Mr.. Comp
ton Mackenzie. The name Mackenzie on
a books jacket stands for a series of COR
geous, full eolored word paintings of Eng
land and EngIishmen. The painting is
done on the grand scale, yet infinite and
telling attention is paid to minutiR.
There may be splendid humor-witness
Cdrniral. There may be cleverly done,
animate pictures Of the past, such as
those in The Passionate Elopement But
there should always be these splendid
paintings, arranged in series, with a vivid,
poetic and fortuitous style linking them
together.
Yet l have bought Syria Scarlet, a
movie scenario of event after event, loose
jointed, written In the ordinary manner
of Smith or Jones Where are my paint
ingsi Where is my style? have bought
another hamburger steak.
This constant experimenting by writers
is hard on the reading public. 1t can't
know what it is buying. Of course it may
look before it buys, but that look doesn't
really help much. So perhaps it doesn't
buy books as often as it might To tell
the truth, the English novelists are the
leading addicts Of this experimenting,
which may account for the fact that the
American public buys English novels in
smaller quantities each year
The picture, of course, has its reverse
side. When one buys Mrs Wharton's
novels, one knows what one is getting
That is also the case with Mr. Harrington,
Mrs. Deland, Mr.. Joseph Lincoln, Miss
Sinclair, Mrs. Stratton-Porter and Mr.
Harold Bell Wright. We have bought
Mrs. Wharton's book and we have got her
calm, ordered analysis of human emo
tons, very finely ard very clearly pre-
scented in fawless English We have asked
for filet mgnon and been served with
filet mignon.
The book buying public has been so
much abused that some opportunity
should be given for its cases statement
1t has its rights. 1t pays its dollar and
half for book, without which, after all,
publishing could not continue Which
being the case, are not these experiments
by writers unfortunate?
Artistic temperament to the contrary,
why won't the author stick to His liter
airy last7 Or, if that can't be done, why
can't he write different types of novels
J,ffnropf nop,ac4 Ia oan'f
the book buying public too many times.
The man who has ordered literary filet
mignon doesn't want literary hamburger
steak
And he isn't likely to repeat his order.
JOHN L. B. WILLIAMS.
NEW YORK, June 20.