Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-03-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES T.. TRACEWELL.

Dear Sir: I notice from time to
time In your column that you speak
| admiringly Of the stories of Guy de
| Maipassant. I find this hard to rec
oncile with the trend OF your writing
| for. to my mind, the stories Of De
Maupassant are positively immoral. !
would not have them In my house,
yet you. who have furnished me and
many others with daily inspiration,
seem to admire them. How is this?
Sincerely yours, Il. M. >.
question. which demands an honest and
direct reply. The question which
| bothers our correspondent offers no
trouble at all If one is willing to APP
proach problems with an open mind. II
one shuts himself up in the castle or
prejudice. however. and refuses to see
the good in something because there is
some bad in it, he will find life very
difficult matter.
Life is. indeed. troublesome enough,
without going out of ones way to make
mountains out of molehills. The stories
of the great French master offer case
highest order. which, nevertheless, many
persons brought up in strict accord
with Anglo-Saxon principles find them
selves incapable of swallowing. And
by this we mean enjoying.
1t is true enough that perhaps no one
should read De MaupaSSant until nc has
come to the years of discretion. Just
what age this Is cannot be answered
in the abstract, but must be settled by
the individual. And then these stories
must be read by those only who appre-
ciate good workmanship in writing, and
are willing to permit this quality to
overshadow what they do not other
wise like or admire.
The role of the devil in the world, for
instance, Is not an admirable one. yet
many persons have sort OF sneaking
admiration for the horned fellow, es-
pecially in America. where one Is
praised who accomplishes what he sets
out to do!
The life story of Guy de Maupassant
offers a more tragic history than that
of any of the characters of the several
novels or scores of short stories which
he wrote In his short lifetime, Is it
not tragedy to be capable of writing
perhaps what might have been the
greatest stories in worlds literature. yet
to have been held back from that
mighty goal by traits and maladies
which physically and mentally pre-
vented it?
This was the sad case of De Maupas-
SAINT. Such sCanty history as is avail
able CHS family Is believed to have
deliberately prevented the collection of
material on his life> shows one of the
most lamentable careers in literary his
tory. judged by the work done in COM
pariSon with the almost infinite pos
sibilities which were plainly present.
How else can one put the life OF
such writer? Here was master OF
the narrative art who managed to put
life. unmiStakable and vast, into his
slightest effort with the pen. Compared
with the verisimiltude which glows from
his pages. the fine short stories OF our
own Q. Henry are but clever bits of
sprightlineSs. One Is always aware, In
reading The Four Million" that he is
doing Just that-reading story As
great as Sidney Porter's collected tales
are, they possess a certain artificiality
which prevents them from falling into
the ranks OF the authentic masterpieces
OF short fictional form. Their very
climaxes (called In the art the denoue-
ment) are achieved with such machine
Ike regularity that they become un-
convincing. o. Henry was the victim of
his own cleverneSs
DE MaupasSant's short stories are tho
direct antithcsis. These masterpieces
strike the reader with the force OF life.
Nine out OF 10 OF them deal with what
can be called none other than sexual
themes, and this is what arouses the ire
OF our correspondent. This was the