Evening star., 1935-12-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRACEWELL.

Rough-neck authors, who specialize In
shocking all and sundry, cannot fool US.
Almost any one could do that, II he
wanted to and cut loose. It takes an
artist, real one, to do the real thing.
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Half century ago the republic Of let
ters in France passed through exactly
the same stage. The new freedom of the
dawn of science was expected to bring
the millennium. 1t was sort Of renais-
sance, and advantage was taken Of 1t by
cheap spirits to write stuff in their own
image. Topics and themes discussed and
dwelt on ad nauseam have been equaled,
In America only during the past dec
ade. Even today, as "louSy" as some of
our books have become, we have little to
compare with some of those old French
works. The term French novel" came
to mean something pretty bad with many
persons, who were frightened away from
the wonderful work which the true mas
ters of the French fiction were creating.
The right sort of novel Is an extension
Of life for every reader. Time and cir
cumstance often conspire to withhold life
from the individual, that life which is
seen and heard in the fates Of others.
No doubt 1t is best that this is so. Even
the most ardent reader will be willing to
admit that the trials and tribulations Of
his or her favorite fiction heroes and
heroines would be pretty wearing, in the
flesh. But it is good for even the quiet
est person to delve into the quagmires Of
passion and adventure, via the lives and
loves of those men and women who come
alive" for us in the best novels. A best
81
be good but not great. Such book, two
years ago. was Call Home the Heart" by
Fielding Burke (pen name Of Olive Dar-
gem. 1t was little read, but it was ex-
ceptionally good. Another, "A Stone
Came Rolling" by the same author, is
good. The Ishama, lovely woman, of the
first story becomes the super IShama Of
this. We do not know If these stories are
great. but they are very good. far above
the mass Of novels issued every year.
y r =
Really fine writer's of fiction show their
craft not only in creating characters that
impress the reader as real. and in leaving
a certain sense Of exaltation at life, but
also by their fine sense Of what to put in
and what to leave out.
1t is restraint, wonderful quality,
whether in book or man.
If we think of the world which we call
Dickens, teeming with life, all sorts of
life, we cannot believe for an instant that
the master could not have conceived
characters thrice or four times as rough"
as any he did conceive. Even in such
sentimentalized passages as the death of
Little Nell, conceived for a generation
which liked such things and criticized
largely by later generations which did
not he held true to certain amount of
restraint His books today are far more
vital and read than those of Thackeray
and Scott. Even Anthony Trollope, in
yome ways, Is more lasting than these.
Where is more stuff Of life and dream in
him.
1t is difficult for the average reader OF
books to evaluate living literature. where
even the best critics fail. But surely it is
not saying too much to class Miss Glas-
COWS latest, her Vein of Iron," whose
title even is inspiring, with the very best
of American novels. If there is any one
fault with it-strange fault, indeed!-it
will be that to some readers it Will seem
too well written.