The New York herald., 1922-10-15
Francis CARGO, Novelist of the Under
world


award of special prizes to works of litera
ture of various kinds. This has not in
embarrassment The position of the
Academy is in this respect unenviable. 1t
has not only the guardianship of the dig
nifty of French letters. but it also has, as
one of its chief functions, the encourage
ment and progress of these letters. These
two functions war with each other at
times more particularly when the Forty
Immortals are charged with distinguishing
and rewarding young authors or those
striving to strike out into new and unac-
cepted lines of literature Such, for in
stance, was the case with Brieux, whose
reception into the Academy was a matter
of no small surprise to those who looked
upon that institution as little more than
a museum for the preservation Of fossils.
Brieux was, to be sure, man of talent,
serious, powerful. but entirely lacking in
that grace and amenity which the tradi-
tional view associates with the real literary
man of France. His plays might be good
propaganda for science or sociology, but
there were many in France who tradi-
tionally conservative. refused to consider
them as real literature.
The situation is somewhat similar in the
case of the recent award of the prir du
roman. which the French Academy has
given to Francis CARGO for his novel en-
titled "L'Homme traque" CThe Hounded
Mani. For some years. now. Francis CARGO
has been recognized by those interested
in French literature as a writer to be
watched. Three years ago a discerning
critic classed him as one of the most in
teresting OF the younger authors, who,
though they had not yet written any really
remarkable book, might one day achieve
real distinction. At that time CARGO had
of poetry, Instincts" and the novels Les
Innocents." "Jesus-la-Caille" and Les
Malheurs De Fernando" and these books
had served to connect his name with writ
ing of a certain kind. namely. the descrip-
ton of the underworld of Paris. OF these.
the last two, later brought together with
some abbreviation SC as TO form a single
novel bearing the title of the first, deal
with the Gpdches, their female companions
and other figures even less worthy of ad-
miration according to conventional stand
ards. The main story is that of Fernando,
a wretched woman of the streets, who suf
fers from the enmity between the power
full and independent M Dominique" and
the more sly "Pepe-la- Vache." She finally
comes to hate the latter when she learns
of his being a police spy and she gives
herself up to the police to save the former.
who has avenged himself by numbering his
enemy.
What strikes the reader most in this
novel is it's moderation. The subject it
treats might we'll lend itself to spectacular
advertisement 1t invites exaggeration.
CARGO. on the contrary. seems to avoid
every form of appeal that does not come
from the cool though not unsympathetic
portrayal of the life he describes. He does.
II is true. put before us remarkable scenes.
such. for instance. as the fight between
Fernando and another woman. But in
these as in his use of the language peculiar
to his vulgar characters. CARGO seems to
avoid the extraordinary or the unusual
whenever possible. His is the attitude Of
calm realist as far from the sentimental
ity Of the romantics as from the brutality
Of Zola and his school.
The fact is that CARGO is more interested
in human nature than in the picturesque
or the spectacular. The human heart in
terests him; and it has been his lot to