The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-02-21

Dickens is the ace mystery
writer without the tedious evils
of a detective story, critics point
out. He is, to compare him with
a current author, like William
Faulkner in his dramatic use of
suspense without any of Faux
ner's SordidnesS. AS a social
writer, he is like the great Rus
sian TolStoy without TolStoys
obvious role as a preacher.
Literary critic Joseph Warren
Beach in his book, The Twenti-
eth Century Novel," says: The
novelist as novelist is concerned
chiefly to provide as much enter
tainment as possible, and is
pledged to every device for pro-
curing variety, surprise and senti-
mental qualification to the read
er. The greatest of all masters
in these arts is Dickens.
mo one has ever brought to-
gether in one story so much of
the interest in plot, character and
setting together with the senti-
mental interest in the love story.
And in all these elements the
concern is not that of the realist,
to study and understand, but
that of the story-teller pure and
simple, to strike the imagination,
to hold the attention, to entertain.
The plot is a tissue of mysteries
and complication, in which the
largest possible number of per-
sons are implicated"
A S builder of definite, unfor-
L N gettable characters, Dickens
is without parallel. He is a carl
caturist without the scorn and
derision of that branch of the
arts. His use of names, Martin
Chuzzlehit, Pickwick, Little Nell,
quite wildly places the character
apart from his fellows.
On European cathedrals are
grotesques, little grinning figures.
Couple them with the minute
craftsmanship of Cellini and you
have an idea of the literary skill
used by Dickens. His is not a
broad sweeping brush, but one
that picks humorouSly at amusing
details.
Kindly surveying the scenes of
life, the author chose his char
aSters by their individuality and
enlarged upon their most attrac-
tive weaknesses. AS most great
artists, he was not concerned with
their Photographic reality, and
with such def magic were they
created that the casual reader
may miss their underlying pro-
fundity.
The ills of humanity affected
him as a source for literary por-
trayal, in that the extremes are
more interesting than the means,
and as victim of attack for So
cial writings. He mixed the two
aims together in such way that
his reforming was not strident.
ID EADERS may have an idea of
IN what a great masterpiece
they have in store for them on
the page of The Times in The
Life of Our Lord by Dickens
own words to his children.
He advised his son thus: ''You
know that you have never been
hampered by religious forms Of
restraint, and that with mere I'M
meaning forms 1 have no SYM
pathy. But most strongly i'm
press upon you the priceless value
of the New Testament and the
study of that book as the one
unfailing guide in life.
Deeply respecting it, and
bowling down before the character
of our Saviour, as separated from
the vain constructions and inven-
tons OF man, you can not go very
wrong and will always preserve at
heart a true spirit of generation
anu 1lu1llAlAly.
What readers may expect in
this treasured manuscript dealing
with the New Testament is de-
lightful story of the Christ, hui
manly drawn. 1t may be as Mr..
Beach has said of Dickens crea-
tons, They are fairy-storieS for
grown-up children"
AT time when the world has
rebelled against stern austere
conceptions of Jesus, this may
lead to a welcome revival of adj
miration for a figure that de-
stined many of the ideals given
service today.
The rose is the flower of June and
he n7OOnSfOpo &c The ron, Rofl, orc