Evening star., 1938-01-02
By Mary.Carter Roberts.

every year is, of course. one
Il of the traditions of book re-
viewing. 1t is, indeed, one OF the
inviolable habits of the profession.
Let December come and critics every
where begin to scan their records and
put their memories seriously to the
question-what has been fine and
memorable this II month? What
works of immortal genius have been
given to posterity? Let December
move toward its end and typeWriters
are rolled out to record answers to the
inquiries. A grand summing up, indeed
is expected, and no reviewer imbued
with respect fc' proper usage would
dream of ignoring the claim. Yet, in
the present year, to give a grand"
summing up simply is not possible.
The adjective is inappropriate. 1t
has not been grand year, literarily
speaking. 1t has been instead year
of pot-boilers. No splendid new young
geniuses have come forward and prac-
tically every old-timer. every man or
woman with shred of literary reputa-
ton has knocked out perfectly rou-
tine, perfectly conventional volume.
A summing up, therefore, runs more
to numbers than to quality.
Look, if you please, at the name of
familiar authors who have published
in the fiction field alone during the
past year. Observe the numerical
richness-Zona Gale, Susan Ertz,
Irving Cobb. John Erskine, Elizabeth
Goudge, Martha Ostenso, Vardis
Fisher, Somerset Vaughan. Branch
Cabell, Kenneth Roberts, Hugh Wal
pole, Booth Harrington, Michael
Arlen, Phil Stong, Virginia Woolf, H.
M. Tomlinson, E. M. Delafield, Fan
nie Hurst. Louis Bromfield, Andre
Maurois, Oliver La Fargo. Harvey
Ferguson, Sigrid Undset, Christopher
Morley. A. J. Cronin, Ann Bridge,
Mari Sandoz, Trygve Gulbranssen,
Karel Capek, Margaret Kennedy,
Francis Brett Young, Edgar Lee Mas
ters, H. G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway,
Johan Bojer. Knut Hamsun and
Compton Mackenzie. The years out
put of all save very few of these
writer's is listed ANONYMOUSLY in the
present reviewers records under the
heading POT Boilers by Veterans"
For few, indeed, of the volumes have
been anything beyond that.
There are, of course, pot boilers and
pot boilers. Nobody, certainly, would
estimate a mess of Sigfrid Undset's
pottage as no better than a similar
effort by Fannie Hurst. Nobody in
his senses either would measure the
work of Somerset Vaughan, even in
his most mechanical mood, by the
standard which must needs be set for
Miss Martha Ostenso. That there are
great names as we'll as merely IA
miliar ones in the list above the re-.
viewer takes as unnecessary to men
tion. But common quality is to be
found in the recent works of all of
them. and that is merely mechanical
performance. Inspiration has. been
at ebb tide throughout 1887, and
coincidentally, an unusually large
number of practiced writer's have
good and bad-fallen back on literary
tricks and conventions to carry an
unusually large number Of quite un-
necessary volumes into print. Under
these circumstances it perhaps can be
seen that grand" summing up Is
not possible.
7 EFT us take, however, some Of the
more greatly esteemed names
from the list above and see what 1t
DC hof ho{
Take first, then, Mr.. Ernest Hening-
way, whose novel. "To Have and to
Have Not" is still appearing on the
best-seller lists. 1t is particularly good
for the purposes of such an examina-
ton, for of all the messages of pottage
put out this year it has perhaps the
most glaringly evident marks of the
work of fiction hastily constructed out
of conventions and cliches for the
purpose of catching a not-too-alert
Mr.. Hemingway wrote a fine first
Mr.. HimingWay wrote a fine first
chapter. 1t was long short story,
an adventure tale, complete in itself,
brutal, realistic, perfectly plausible.
Then for some reason which. since
be his desire to publish a full-length
novel again, he abandoned realism and
plunged clear out of sight into cliches
Of the dreariest sort.
His book purported to be character
portrait of laWless individualist, an
anti-social, non-conforming, male
brute; from having shown us his hero
in such light, however, he went on
to muddle his original clear, uncom-
promising picture by sentimental
touches Of the kind beloved Ey notion
picture addicts and soft-drink con-
sumers; his Harry Morgan, in the
first chapter, was raw liquor, harsh
and fiery; in succeeding pages he be-
came ice cream soda, and that some
what Debated. And, to add to the
artistic crime, we must point out, too,
that the book was heavily larded with
sociological" implications which had
no true part in its context; they were,
instead, obviously laid on to catch
sales among that part of the public
which today believes itself to be social
minded without actually knowing
what social-minded means, the peo-
pie, in short, who, having heard that
the enlightened attitude is one which
recognizes that the world contains both
rich and poor work hard with dull
conscientiousness at achieving this
recognition and trouble themselves not
particle about any other phenomenon
Of human existence. For their dear
sakes Mr.. Hemingway permitted him
self to write very badly. And worse
he made still another appeal to cheap
popularity by laying filth onto his
pages as with trowel So it will be
seen that ITO Have and to Have Not"
combined deliberate pandering to
sentimentalists, to serious, but dull
thinkers (and there are enough of
these to render their good opinion
highly profitable) and to the evil
minded. And the book is the best
seller and has been one for several
weeks.
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