New-York tribune., 1922-10-22

4
/ can go on record to the effect that he
! FIRST discovered the full beauty os
Language through the work of Ger
frude Stein and critic and editor of
/ standing can sobcriy reprint this com
ment? What profit 1t literature il a
man strive himself Tor stark sincerity
III writing and then commend buff
Ifoonery The author of re-
pute is Sherwood Anderson and the
critic and editor OF repute is myself.
/ The occasion for the comment was a
] conversation reported in the "Book-
mans Day Book Under other cir.
camstanees / should maintain. az i
have hitherto maintained, that In re-
porting conversations In this column
! am not advancing my own opinions
or even announcing an agreement with
the opinions quote, but merely re-
fieeting what is being thought and
said by those 1 encounter. But here
must request suspended judgment.
When the commentaries says that when
Mr.. Anderson states that he first dis
, covered the full beauty of Language
through the work of Gertrude Stein, he
is Commenting buffoonery," / am
forced to say: This is not just! 1t
may appear to the Literary Review"
commentator that Miss Stein is a buff
fcon, but to me latter Mr. Anderson'ssre-
pors) and to Mr.. Anderson she is not.
Miss Stein has written reams OF,
stories, so many that they line her walls
in neatly arranged, ticketed tyrsscript.
She has the means wherewith to publish
these experiments in expression, but
she chooses not to do so because Of that
very easiness by which she has been
labeled buffoon by paragraphers and
editorial writer's, knowledge has come
to her that her experiments are of
use rather TO writer's than to the ren-
eral public, that In dissociating words
and making new patterns of verbal
hope to evoke more than ridicule
from the public and from the
critics who are hostile to new forms.
And 80 she continues in her earnest,
honest and visionary way to labor in
secret for what may be, as Mr.. Ander-
son sees it (and ID a. new epoch in lit
erary expression. admit,
frankly, that in Miss STEMS published
work can establish only the most
feeting associations, that much Of 1t
means nothing whatever to me, but
whenever / have been able to extract
an emotional OR intellectual experience
from her word patterns that expert
ence has been unique. To Mr.. Ander-
son they have been revelation and an
inspiration; therein is their justifca-
tion.
We danced some tonight and re-
read parts of ''The Brothers Karama-
zov' in bed before going to sleep.
There Is book os tremendous proper
ttons and significance, one Of the great
psychological studies in literature.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER Is
We tramped and motored about n
bit to-day, and thought of calling upon
Harry Burton and Herbert Jones, who
live in the neighborhood where we
were, but we couldn't locate them, and
we returned home, cooked dinner,
cleared away the dishes, and then
Hazel, the children and caught
train home. Alta May said Ruth and
Burton lr. were the best behaved chill
! dren she ever saw; and Hazel and /
! wondered about that, because we had
never thought much about their con-
! duct one way or the other. They seem
1 to understand us and we them, and in
| that way we get along very we'll to-
gether. For instance, tonight we
wanted to SO to the invitation per-
formance of "The Torch Bearers" and
it was the maids night off, so told
| Burton II he would look after Ruth
L..
mitted to ourselves .afterward, our
minds were on the children half the
time during the play, and perhaps that
was why we didn't enjoy it; but when
| We got home we found the children
sleeping soundly and che house not
burned down. We might have put more
confidence in tho boy. Between acts
at the play we ran into Hamilton Gibbs
| end Mrs. Gibbs, who introduced us to
I l. - ~.
of "The Globe" and we chatted with
Roy McCardell, Milton Raison and
other eminent patrons of the fine arts
who were invited to the performance.
MONDAY, OCTOBER is
Lunched to-day with Harry Hansen,
! literary editor Of ."rhe Chicago Daily
| News" and Mrs. Hansen. Harry said
| that Ben Hecht was aggrieved over my
adverse comment upon "Fantasius NAL
lare," not because Of the criticism
4 offered but because Ben thought my
comment indicated that was being
corrupted by the New York atmos-
piers. ben is incapable Of seeing your
criticism as an honest Judgment said
Harry, $50 long as 1t was not favor
able He prefers to believe that
you are slipping" r.. Introduced
: aarry and Mrs. Hansen to Gilbert
seides, John Cournos, Carl Van Vech-
ten and Haywood Broun and went back
to the Office. <. Read tonight
, The Bright Shawl" by Joseph
hergesheimcr, which I review in an
other column.
I TUESDAY. OCTOBER II
Lunched to-day with John Cournos,
author OF Babel" panoramic novel
OF the cross-currents of modern ciyili-
, zation. He told me that at Oxford,
where he was working with Edward ].
: Ubrien on an anthology of English
short stories, he discovered that sew
eral philosophers were working on q
new philosophical theory of conflict.
which was being worked out also IN
, france by Ellie Faure and in Spain and
! Italy by other writers. The foundation
OF this system Is the same as that Of
o the philosophy which underlies .Babel.''
and It may be discovered also in II. S,
Eiiot's new long poem, .The Waste
{ Land, In the work Of Edwin Muir and
! IN the new poems. of John GouIts
Fletcher and other English poets. !
E vas very tired and / could not follow
E Conrnos,s explanation Of this new
/ philosophy very easily. He wasn't par-
] ticuiarly clear about It. But rathered
, from what he said that it was e philos-
, ophy which accepted conflict and con
5 Sradietion az .animating principles Of
4 lie and asks that we make use Of then,
as the instruments Of happiness and
!, acnievement and progress.
Well, we have done this. even IL pe