Evening star., 1954-09-26

ANAAS"ANA6SS We AAoNV ASVCA 0O1iC
for them. The level of the
contributions tall save two, by
Edith Sitwell and w. H.
Auden) Is extremely high. The
tone is erudite, benevolent and
serious. More. Of course, we
could not wish for.
The keynote is struck in the
leading editorial of the section.
1t says in part: mo doubt to
many American readers much
English writing looks pain,
fully spinsterish and involuted,
just as to ourselves there seems
sometimes to be a willful
avoidance of grace"
Our Love Of Violence
Criticism there is. but it is
familiar and not shrilly stated.
The anonymous author con-
sidering mystery stories feels
they express our liking for
violence. or lack of respect
for laws and their enforcement,
and the extent to which
Americans take for granted
the existence Of corruption in
high places"
The British critics regard
us-and they are not alone
in this-as frantically security
conscious. They give horren-
dous examples Of blacklisting
among televiSion writer's and
withholding of passports for
writer's of less than simon
pure political loyalty" They
believe the press corps takes
the role of a non-existent in
telligentsia. And except for the
WPA years, they feel that as
a nation we have not done
right by our writer's. a.. The
Republic has done less for it's
writer's even Quantitatively
than some of the smaller
European kingdoms including
Belgium. enmark and
Sweden"
A Cultural Note
And here is an interesting
fact: I'm the civil service.
with about 2 million employees,
there is only one post reserved
for a man of letters: it is the
privately endowed chair of
poetry at the Library of Con-
gress."
It is perhaps inevitable that
at the present time OF strained
Anglo-American relations, that
social and political asides have
more piquancy than the liter
ary criticism to which the Sup
plement is primarily devoted.
and in which 1t eXcelS.
Weakness Of Our Fiction
The survey OF American flc-
ton, for instance, is extremely
good. Note is taken of the ever
recurring note of criticism in
our novels. the constant pro-
test against the compromised
ideals. The critic goes on to
say in a penetrating conclu-
sion: "The ideal conception
may be vague enough; indeed
the vagueness we feel at the
heart of Mr.. Dreiser's view OF
America or Mr.. O'Hara's is re-
sponsible for much of the
weakness of American fic-
tion."
In the main, generalizations
are brilliantly set forth and the
particulars relevant. The con-
sensus is that we have achieved
cultural independence, main
ly through a rediscovery OF
our own folklore. They agree
that our poets are housed in
universities rather than gar
rets. They feel our record in
creative literature is by mo
means poor" although there is
this disquieting thought: In
deed if Europe is sceptical of
Americas powers of leadership
and such undoubtedly is the
case-the scepticism springs
in part, at least, from our poor
opinion of American cultural
achievement"
BristIine SoIesmonship
Significantly the lions share
of space has gone to poetry
and Southern writing. And in
one marked and delightful
departure from the imperson-
ality of the bulk of the text,
a bemused British visitor OBJ
serves a Southern library, one
that is filled with music and
bristling with craftsmanship"
The Supplement offers riches
for readers on both sides OF
the water. There is much to
read and much. to ponder.
Notice: The first in the new
Institute of Contemporary Arts
lectures will be offered on
Friday, October l, at $40 pm.
at the Corcoran Auditorium.
The speaker will be a distin-
guished English expatriate, a
descendant of both T. H. Hux-
ley and Matthew Arnold, Nov
elist Aldous Huxley. His sub
ject: Visionary Art and Vis-
ionary Experience"
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