Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

! to mems loves. It keeps an eternal dew
on poetry when one reads few poems:
It inlbedS In the amber Of remembrance
the beautiful insect Of past days, and we
rush to its defense, declaring that II
was most beautiful insect. q glorious
insect, an insect to remember and
cherish.
Change in reading preferences come.
about because no one can stand still
, any more than q stream Of water can
We are not lakes, without outlet, but
rivers which now along. We are springs
Of water, clear or turbid, depending on
ourselves and factors outside ourselves
some Of which we can control and some
Of which we cannot, but must accept "a
best we may. These springs move on;
they represent the tide OF man; the
spring remains something the same, but
the scenery changes more.
As one grows older he finds more sat
isfaction In the long story than in the
nearly presents pattern Of the life
which he has led. The trouble with the
short story Is that it Is too short How
ever perfect 1t may be, the reader Is
no sooner begun than he Is ended. He
has got but q gasp Of air, when the
spuffer Is clapped down ruthlessly-The
End.
The marvel has always been that lit
erary art has been able to create reality
with the short story. He who recalls
his first acquaintance with the master
pieces Of Poe. or Hawthorne. or O.
Henry, or who has read the best work
Of such modern story tellers as Ring
Lardner, Edna Ferber or Scott FitZ-
gerald, knows that their work was all
the more marvellous because it was so
condensed. A determined man may
write q novel. and q good one, through
sheer determination, but no man yet
wrote masterpiece In the short story
line by simply resolving to do SO.
X y
The novel gives q closer approxima-
ton Of life than the short story, not
being so dependent upon genius for its
proper presentation. This, too, Is like
life. There are few geniuses in the
world at any one time, but many men
who can live righteous. decent lives.
filled with honest effort. These people
too often are sneered at, when all the
for the spectacular tw1sttngS and turn
ings of the wisecrackers and their ilk.
The very. length Of the long fiction
form makes it the preferred reading of
the older man. Youth wants quick re-
suits, sees the finish before the begin
ming has been reached, but maturity
knows that there Is nothing more sure
than the necessity for continued effort,
and even then success may not be sure.
The short story wears on its brow
the imprint Of youth; 1t Is read mostly
by those who are young and those who
cling desperately to their youth. The
wise man or woman lets youth 60 as
gracefully as possible. since 60 1t will,
despite the most earnest pleadings. He
takes to longer fiction, in his reading.
sure that this carries the insignia Of
life, experience and growth. It better
satisfies the little growth and expert
ence which he may claim for his own
life. It Is truer to the facts Of Life, as
he has met them, too often at his cost.
It gives, in many pages, q sense Of du-
rability which no brief effort can pro-
duce. It creates q mood for O brain
which no longer Snaps into it"
America represents the youth Of the
race, Europe the maturity and old age.
Perhaps this Is why the longer fiction
masterpieces Of foreigners, as we call
them, seem more suffused with life than
the best work Of our compatriots. It
may explain. too, why the short story
has not played as large a part in their
reading habits. They are the descend
ants Of Helen Of Troy, and have gone
through, as peoples, the telling of tales
from the poetry Of the Had to the
latest work of their novelists. It Is q
point Of view readily understood by
any individual no longer young.