The sun., 1919-03-02

THOUGH style be the man the books
l. may be o mask. don't know
whether tho little sketch of Joseph Con-
rad that give in the words of 10 David
son, the American sculptor, can add any
thing Of more than passing interest TO
what the reading public knows Of the
man Conrad 1 presume not. But 1t il
at any rate . glance at the man behind
the books
~ love Conrad and so do you," said
Davidson as he gave q final dig at one
of the buttons on his clay model Of Gen.
Diaz. $50 then let's talk about him"
1t was a negligee conversation, rather
early in the morning, in the studio in the
Avenue du Maine, where there are busts
Of Gems Foch, Pershing, Diaz and some
Of the younger Frenchmen who may one
day want to DO Premier Davidson was
lounging in a corner behind q glowing
stove.
"The striking thing for me about Con.
rad" said Davidson, "was the way !
found he approaches his work. He uses
life as a point Of departure. For in
stance, was curious about how he got
his characters for The Secret Agent. He
told me that he used to go to restaurants
In Greek street or Dean street or so
Square, where he watched the types-an-
archists, agitators, charlatans, wretches Of
all sorts or just ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of our
genus fellow man. He didn't talk with
them. He just sat looking, studying, re-
fecting on them. If he saw a man with
certain striking characteristics, with
certain sort of face, he didn't try to break
into the mans life story. It wasn't neo-
essary. He'd simply work it out to his
own satisfaction that the man was char
acter and then he'd work out to his further
satisfaction what sort Of character did
belong, ought to belong, with that sort Of
face
AMY one who reads The Secret Agent
must see, think, how the method leads
by the way Of the imagination to some
thing profoundly real. It's world Con-
rad makes, using life as source Of refer
ence, as sculptor might use a model not
for ideas-he gets them, or he ought to,
out of himself-but to refer to for facts
that are noted and may never be trans
scribed II struck me that Conrad works
like a painter, who goes into the country
and sits down to look at landscape He
hasn't any notion Of copying it. If be
feels like it he's going to make something
Of his own out of the facts before him;
he won't hesitate to put tree where it's
needed-in word, what he sees begins 10
take form for him. He sees the picture;
he'll do the arranging. There, roughly,
Is what struck me about Conrads method
as learned of it from him.
"There's this about Conrad. He's all
artist-that means in an important par
ticular he's Godlike. It's one way with
most of humanity and another way with
God. Humanity looks at man, decides
whether it thinks the man right or wrong,
and SO hates and despises or dislikes and
neglects him. If humanity doesn't like Q
man it criticises him. Again, humanity
may take liking to man, decide he's
the right sort of man; then humanity
praises him But God looks at wretch
or a saint and says, isn't he beautiful
wretch-a real charaeterP or Isn't he Q
lovely saintF It's all the same. God
loves the wretch and the sinner as much
as he loves a lovely saint. It's humanity,
not God, that is rigid and intolerant God
and the real artist take the same point at
view; they're detached, sympathetic, %
far as criticism is concerned. So Conrad
If he makes a wretch he doesn't love him
less than he does his good characters; no
may care for the wretch little more. He
doesn't dislike any character he ever made;
has no preference among them on the
ground Of +aS.r being saints OF SSlers.
So far as his books Individually are cone
cerned he made me feel that Under West
ern Eyes is the one that means most to
him.
"It's stin vivid in mind the first tims
L. -.