The New York herald., 1922-05-07

Will 1t be a masterpiece of
the two thousandth century, or does it
already ropose securely in our
libraries, safe from the eyes of the
vast majority. while the typewriters
Of innumerable authors are clicking,
the wheels Of innumerable presses are
turning. the Offices. of literary editors
are being piled high with fiction, and
the stalls of bookshops are being
overcrowded in the frantic attempt to
supply the public with the --latest and
best? For the latest too frequently
represents not the greatest but the
poorest; a hundred books too fire.
quently contain the substance of one
fairly good one, highly attenuated by
modern scientific methods. and the
voluminous output of watery and un-
necessary fiction lends forceful argu-
ment to those who maintain that the
novel is in the act Of committing sui
eide.
Novel of To-day Ought to
Think of Self-Destruction
TO say that the novel Is actually
taking its own life may be to exag-
gerate; but certainly there is justifi-
cation for those who contend that II
1t is not destroying itself it ought to
do so. and so preserve the remaining
shreds of its self-respect. For 1t has
been emasculated to the extent Of
tottering feebly when IL should stride
vigorously: it has been robbed of It's
majesty and driving force. and is like
dotard who utters many words but
little wisdom. There would perhaps
be but slight loss were It TO be gagged
indeed, unless its vitality can be re-
stored, it may be not only gagged but
permanently silenced. while new
artistic form may take it's place Such.
at least, Is the conclusion toward
which one must be led by even a
casual study Of the contemporary
novel.
For In the majority OF books the
last page is written plainly into the
first. Novelists seem to work accord
ing to formulas as definite as that
represented by the algebraic equation
+ y - z. Once having read the OPEN
ing chapter and discovered the mean
ing of x. the average reader, could An
ish the volume for himself and supply
the missing and q: and. moreover,
the task is simplifled by the fact that
there are several generally accepted
meanings of X. which vary but little
from book to book. For. example
there is the novel in which repre-
sents a mystery Here the opening
chapter usually finds some one unac-
countably murdered, and the reader is
required to rush through three hun
dred pages In 'breathless suspense. to
be rewarded in the end by learning
that the victim died of heart failure
or was shot by some previously un-
heard OF projectlle. Such a book is
THE Grey Room" by Eden Phillpotts
wherein a number of persons are sue.
cessivelx destroyed without apparent
reason. Until I'm conclusion one is
supposed TO accept the ingenious but
entirely incredible explanation OF a
poison bed invented several centuries
before by the Borgias. "The Mystery
Girl" by Carolyn Wells. is another
case In point, and here we find three
hundred pages devoted to the eyre
gious proposition that man has
stabbed himself 10 death with an icicle
owing to his unhappiness at finding
his long lost daughter. Somewhat
different in conception, but hardly less
meritorious. is Arthur Preston Han
kins's "The Heritage OF the Hills"
the major premise of which is that
the hero has made his home on a desc.
late ranch in the Sierras merely in
order TO determine whether some
wholly mysterious question asked by
his deceased father should be an
swered I'm the affirmative or In the
negative. That the public is expected
TO make It's way through dozens OF
scores OF pages OF such balderdash,
published by reputable houses and
written by more or less reputable
authors, does not augur we'll for the
future of the novel.
Closely allied to the mystery story
Is the detective tale. This also is writ
ten according to formula; there is the
adroit and experienced detective. Of
whom Sherlock Holmes is invariably
the prototype: there is the motivating
crime. represented BY the stolen pearls