Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TR4CEWELL.

A distinguished novelist visiting the
National Capital is reported to have
said, upon leaving: There is no Ro.
nance in Washington"
No Romance in Washington? AS
well say there is no life in Washing
ton as to say there is no Romance. As
well declare that human beings living
here have no hearts as to say the CITY
lacks Romance.
Not that any one, even the distin-
guished novelist, understands exactly
what is meant by the term ALWAYS
word OF loose application, today il
has come to mean almost ANYTHING
one chooses.
The word Romance" is more or less
synonymous with the term Novel
today, and every reader knows what
tremendous range there is among
novels. from the story of stark-toc
stark-realism. to the tale figured with
picturesque figures that border on
men and women such as no man OF
woman really is
The word Romance" was originally
applied to something written in the
so-called vulgar tongue, not in the
Latin. Every time we speak of "Ro-
nance today we recall wildly the
great hold the ancient Latin tongue
had on the entire learning of the
world.
Latin was decidedly at" Latin
was so classic that no one who pre-.
tended to learning dared TO attempt
to transmit his choice thoughts To
posterity in any other form. Bacon
and Browne in England and countless
others in other polite nations of Eu,
rope wrote in Latin.
Those who first broke away from
this tradition wrote tales or stories
in the vulgar tongue of the Roman
people. 1t followed that similar
writer's in other countries, such as
Spain and Portugal, began TO write in
the common speech of their people
In this primitive sense. Sinclair
Lewis novels are romances. AS a
matter of fact, they are works OF
modern American realism, favored
with heart interest.
X x X
My belief is that no one can write
of men and women as they are with.
out turning out romance. In other
words, looked at from the larger view.
point. Life itself is romance.
Every novelist, then, writes ro
mances, although the literary world
may combine to label the work
realism. The most terrible of Rus
sian novels, from this standpoint, be
comes sort OF romance.
After all, why did the old writers
give the Latin the merry "ha -ha," the
nervy "go-by?" They did it, it seems
to me, to get right down to the heart
Of the people. TO present to them
something they could understand. tc
speak in their own language" in
short.
Tom Jones" the tale of a found
ling, commonly characterized as the
first English novel, in IA real sense i
strikingly like Rabbit" Lewis book
that should have been awarded the
Pulitzer prize a few years ago.
Both are tremendously true TO THEN
age, both present life "aS is" and
both are called realistic Yet each
achieves Romance. How can the hon
est author help being Romantic?
OF course. if one confines the term
only to productions that reek with
mystery, wonder, heart-throbs, etc.
my argument does not hold I will
admit. too, that such a strict classiti
cation commonly does hold.
That it should not, is the argument
here. Romance is the great claSSifi
cation that covers the world of litera.
ture as the sky does the world. Who
ever writes of men and women pre-
sents to us Romance in some form oil
other.