FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134  
135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   >>  
inal issue of the _Edinburgh Review_ for a few cents, while the other day we saw a first edition of the maligned "Excursion" sold for thirty dollars. A hundred years ago it was the critic's pleasure to drub authors with cruel and unnecessary vigour. But we think that almost equal harm can be done by the modern method of hailing a new "genius" every three weeks. For example, there is something subtly troublesome to us in the remark that Sinclair Lewis made about Evelyn Scott's novel, "The Narrow House." The publishers have used it as an advertising slogan, and the words have somehow buzzed their way into our head: "Salute to Evelyn Scott: she belongs, she understands, she is definitely an artist." We have been going about our daily affairs, climbing subway stairs, dodging motor trucks, ordering platters of stewed rhubarb, with that refrain recurring and recurring. _Salute to Evelyn Scott!_ (we say to ourself as we stand in line at the bank, waiting to cash a small check). _She belongs, she understands._ And then, as we go away, pensively counting the money (they've got some clean Ones down at our bank, by the way; we don't know whether the larger denominations are clean or not, we haven't seen any since Christmas), we find ourself mumbling, _She is definitely an artist._ We wonder why that pronouncement annoys us so. We haven't read all Mrs. Scott's book yet, and doubt our strength to do so. It is a riot of morbid surgery by a fumbling scalpel: great powers of observation are put to grotesque misuse. It is crammed with faithful particulars neither relevant nor interesting. (Who sees so little as he who looks through a microscope?) At first we thought, hopefully, that it was a bit of excellent spoof; then, regretfully, we began to realize that not only the publishers but even the author take it seriously. It feels as though it had been written by one of the new school of Chicago realists. It is disheartening that so influential a person as Mr. Lewis should be fooled by this sort of thing. So there is something intensely irritating to us (although we admire Mr. Lewis) in that "_She belongs, she understands, she is definitely an artist._" In the first place, that use of the word _artist_ as referring to a writer always gives us qualms unless used with great care. Then again, _She belongs_ somehow seems to intimate that there is a registered clique of authors, preferably those who come down pretty heavil
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134  
135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   >>  



Top keywords:
belongs
 

artist

 

Evelyn

 
understands
 
ourself
 
recurring
 

Salute

 

publishers

 

authors

 

pronouncement


annoys
 
thought
 

microscope

 

faithful

 

powers

 

particulars

 

crammed

 

observation

 

misuse

 

grotesque


scalpel
 

fumbling

 

morbid

 
interesting
 

relevant

 
surgery
 
strength
 

referring

 

writer

 

intensely


irritating

 

admire

 
qualms
 
preferably
 

pretty

 
heavil
 

clique

 

registered

 

intimate

 

mumbling


author

 

realize

 
excellent
 

regretfully

 
person
 
influential
 

fooled

 

disheartening

 
realists
 

written