Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-03-06

great misfortune of De Maupassant,
that his life and writings were warped
by strange malady which only since
his time have physicians and pSychOlo-
gists begun to understand. This offers
no excuse of course, either for his life
or his writings. and certainly not for
the latter we're there nothing more to
more in them, however. scarcely any
fair person can deny who will read
them after he has reached the age of
80 years, say.
| De Maupassant was above the jargon
of the various schools" of writing, that
Is why one hesitates to call him a
realist. He wrote as he saw life, and
his utterly astounding honesty is what
cOmmendS his writings to the world.
1t Is not easy to be honest, either in
print or in life. The man of kindly
| nature often let's thought go unWrit-
! ten because he does not wish to offend
such and such one. He modifies this
| and changes that for fear of hurting
some one. The economic necessities,
too. play a part in writing. How many
great novelists the world has lost be-
| cause there was wife and child at
home to be fed!
1t is TO- the eternal credit OF Guy dc
MaupasSant that he was the one writer
In the worlds history of literature who
honestly and fearlcSSly put on paper
exactly what he thought about every
thing he wrote about How does one
know this? The very words. their
thought relationship, the very ideas.
carry unacceptable conviction. There Is
not the slightest trace of "blah" in De
Maupassan~ He has escaped that pit
fall which has engulfed so many mod
ern American masters of the short
story. the Self-consciousness which al
lows them to calmly classify themselves
as the ''intelligentsia." The French
master simply wrote his stuff and let it
go at that. He observed. and then
tried to put 1t on paper. So his Wild
est tale is plausible. but plausible in
that larger way which makes, not for
realism. merely, but for life-ism.
This honesty. and this ife-likeness-
these are the qualities which are con-
Stantly striking the modern reader of
Guy de MaupasSant The narratives
themselves take second place to this
sterling honesty, this compelling veri-
similitude. There is scarcely one of
his 200 or SO short stories in which
the honest reader will not find himself
Ill he be actually honest with himself
--gasping at the audacity of the men,
Here are thoughts which no man alive
but has thought. at some time or other
IN his life-and here they are in print
at last! With what a sanctimonious
face one may put the book down, and
speak of that terrible De Maupassant."
~
So, 1t would seem to Mt least one
reader, the stories Of Guy de Maupassant
have their compensations. II any one
Is interested IN the narrative art--and
who is not?--he will find no greater
model in the world than The Olive
Orchard sometimes called The
Mount OF Olives'D. Here is a vivid
short story as compelling in interest as
that automobile smaSh-up you witnessed
down on Pennsylvania avenue the other
day. You saw the big truck and the
passenger car about to smash into
each other. and your heart stood still
Tor second, then-zowie! as Mutt and
Jef insist on saying Something had
happened at last: here was movement
suspense. antagonism. reality. How YOU
enjoyed the crowd and the cop running
ana the two angry drivers. although
you would not admit as much for the
world! Your blood raced happily
talthough you will say We are a liar
right now But We know better-we
nave been there. And Guy de Maupas
SAINT knew. too. He had been there, too
but where you and / only went back
TO the office TO bore our friends with
our recital. he put ii on paper. where II
lives again for any one who will omen
ms magic pages.