Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

That is why, in reading his incom-
parable stories, one never thinks of
mass production, but only sees two
men on horseback, galloping over the
roads of France, or a man and woman
standing beneath the trees of the beau
tiful park at Versailles.
This man had an abundance of
vital power in his makeup which he
was able to use for the rapid produc-
ton Of ficticn, but this power was so
vital, If one may put it that way, that
it was able to achieve as artistically
with much as most writer's can with
little.
If any one knows a better way to
put the secret of the charm of Dumas
than that we wish they would let US
know about it, Some of the French
writer's have called him a veritable
source of life, one with the powers of
mountain. sun. in an effort to put
some label on his colossal powers.
All gets back to the plain fact, that
he could write unanimously better than
! any one else ever could. He had no
recourse to cheap tricks of his trade.
He wrote because words dubbed in
him as ordered expression. And order
Is art.
He did not describe a character by
him at all, but in the end the reader
knew the man. No profound character
analysis, mind you. That he left to
DETER hands. His were large, coarse
hands, able to block out the broad sweep
of those scenarios which he anticipated
the movie world many years in creating.
Yet his characters somehow have a
bit of his amazing vitality. The men
and women in all too many of our
| f11n oil In IL
human. Dumas people are always real.
although common sense often tells us
| that they are in actually the merest
! Pigments of the imagination.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is genius.
x X
Whether a man produces little or
much will make no particular difference
in the after years, although it may
make considerable in the size Of his
bank roll while alive.
| No writer will be lauded because he
produced 100 novels, unless that hum
dred is freighted with an abiding in
terest which will pass unframed
through the changes of the years.
1t Is amazing to note with what
surety the greatest noveliSts of all
countries and ages have passed up in
their work, the trif1ing fads of their
Gays, ana nave concentrated on the
sure workings of heart, hand and mind,
the same in all times and among all
! peoples.
You will search the few novels of
Jane Austen in vain for any actions,
words or scenes peculiar to England
in her time At most you will discover
only half dozen of unusual words
| (such as "ha-ha' for a small stream).
| With that capable selection which
after years has agreed to call genius,
Miss Austen selected her papery men
and women from real life, and set them
forth in words which mean the same
today as then.
The same may be said of Dumas
| stories. Despite their translation into
new tongue, and the lack of any
personal acquaintance with swashbuck-
ling romance on the part of readers,
| these romances of his breathe perpet-
ually certain gusto, which is merely
reflection of his spirit.
He had the writing 1T" the impal-
pable but nevertheless powerful some
thing or other which finds its way into
the minds and hearts of his readers.
In future ages, no one will write this
way of the English word-mill to whom
we have referred. But Alexandra
Dumas. hundred years from now.
will find other readers to praise him
as we do now.