Evening star., 1928-10-18

Some readers have been so kind as
to express their amaZement at our
partiality to the historical rop1anceS
of Alexandra Dumas.
THE conversations. which you praise
so highly, are absolutely stilted and
unnatural" writes one.
THE action is the crudest sort of
swashbuckler stuff" says another.
His stories are much too long,
writes a third.
They all begin alike and end alike, y
storms a fourth.
After such a quartet of charges, one
scarcely knows where to begin in de-
fense of that great writer, who. after
all needs no, defense from any one.
His stories are too firmly established
in the reading habits of the nations.
We have no statistics to show the
present day vogue of Dumas, but sure
ly they are not needed, since there
is no more popular romance in the
world than 1.-The Three Musketeers, "
unless it is the same authors Count
of Monte Cristo."
In fact. there is scarcely a story OF
this romancer which is not loved by
thousands of readers. not because 1T
is the greatest tale ever told, by any
means, but principally because it sat
isfies a certain longing of almost every
human being.
To 60 rip-roaring through the world,
engaged in high adventure. meeting
conditions as they arise. and answer
ing them with physical or mental force,
as the need might be-is that not a
dream of every human being?
This longing to be in the thick OF
things. to be mixing it up with the
world, is no more prerogatiVe of men
than of women. Wherever blood runs
warm, and mind answers to heart, and
emotions to intelligence, will be found
the taste for adventure.
The cold facts of the case, however,
make it necessary for most people to
buckle down to the tasks of the world,
to carefully place themselves in sta1d
positions, to retain their balance when
emotions tempt them.
For every man who can journey to
the North Pole there are untold mil
lions left behind. Then, too, there is
both a mental and physical incapacity
on the part of millions to engage in
these high adventures. They would
not. if they could because thousands
of wears of so-called civilization has
bred it out of them.
Yet no matter how matter-of
may be their lives, in the breasts of
millions of people there remains one
single spark of romance. Its sole sat
isfaction comes in reading stories by
the worlds greatest story-tellers. In this
great diversion nationality plays little
part.
A great story by a Russian is
great story for an American as much
as for a Russian A grand romance
by Dumas is quite as engaging to an
Englishman as to a Frenchman. In
this land of high romance nationality
plays its part only in so far as it gives
a certain quality to the tale.
1t is precisely because the French
temperament lends itself naturally 70
a highly colored narrative that AleXan-
Dire Dumas is loved by his millions OF
readers the world over. He is adver-
tised by cne reader to another. 1t
would seem that certain temperaments
especially prefer him. Perhaps these
are those who least resemble the sWash-
buckling heroes of whom he so engag-
ingly writes Yet we have known many
robust persons who were as fond OF
Dumas as any other. One never can
tell.
In such broad canvaSes as Dumas
paints a certain amount of liberty is
permissible One must not expect to
find in his pictures such lines as