The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-05-18
THE NOVEL

From the New York Times.
G\ 7R. IBANEz shows his wonted ad-
JM ventur0us spirit in considering in
SVS todays New York Times Book
Review and Magazine 1.-THE Future of the
Novel" When we look back to the long
winded cycles of medieval romances or
to the now dreary and discarded volumes
of "Clelie" and Grand Cyrus and see
what was the delight Of generations long
become bore, we have to be more than
little timorous about guessing what fu-
ture novel readers will like. Historically.
comparatively and always brilliantly Mr..
Ibanez studies the novel On a multi
tude, OF points he stirs the assent or dis
sent inevitable to discussion of the ia
vcrite reading Of the public. Most Of
us, perhaps, will admit that the west
erner picks up his novel. to live for a
few hours In an imaginary world, where
he can escape from the commonplace, an
moving occupation of routine life" II
that is the-case, can there be more than
a success of curiosity and temporary
vogue for the American novels that paint
with an alleged realism" the drabness,
the uncouthness, the unloveliness ascribed
to certain persons and localities?
II these books have any value, it must
be in their truth; yet they seem to be
sophisticated, overdrawn caricature A
certain ennui drips from the best of them
into the patient readers mind. Granting
that the picture is true, that it repre-
sents conditions and characters familiar
to us, it does not give us the needed
refuge in dream. the Utilization OF fancy.
the travel Of the<1magination into a new
country. The talk about names and
methods is mostly confusing or futile.
Naturalist. realist, psychological, roman
tic, are largely terms of the school. You
have got to have observation, emotion,
thought, incident, action. You ought to
have style, though Sir Walter, lacking
it to some extent, is none the less peren-
NAL, The cardinal thing is that the book
shall interest the reader, drag him out
of his rut, give him some charmed hours
Inc uHpdTuOHdple Sill - " o0 "oAi. ~o'AA~
contemporary English novelists, much
better skilled in the art of writing than
most OF ours. forget that.
Everything under heaven can be and
is lugged into novels. Mr.. Wells has even
journeyed with success into that most in
ventive. romantic and incredible field of
fiction which has so long posed respect
ably as history. The world has at least
100 skilled hovelists for every one of a
generation or two ago. One sometimes
wonders if the literate population will in
crease in any reasonable proportion to
the supply of novel writer's Among all
these Industrious, clever builders of tri-
logies and tetralogies and growers of
annual novels one likes to see the ia
vorites Of his youth still holding their
proud place There was a lot of chat
ter some time ago about the decline of
Stevensons popularity, 1t is strong here
and in Great Britain. and Mr.. Ibanez
tells us that now Stevenson is all the
rage" on the continent This is rather
sad news for our native daubers of
regional yokels.
\ Will the novel of the future. in Europe
at least, grow more realistic" or win If
revert rather to the type of the old
novel of adventure. of action:" Mr..