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Show WHAT'S NEXT IN LITERATURE? Opinions of Leading English NolSP CerJ-ftsbt. t?:5. by P-js;:c Leaser cc. I I Mason- Croft, b t rat ford-on -Avon. Vi e rv.-jck.sh ire y' " 4T'3i4nio Severe. mi - - ill AH : : t -x "I I If v v v'- r I" 1 Mid ay CoUig Partridge Grt0 Sussex . 7 ' - vX J'f , rr- , Hi. E V . - i I :v - " IP""- f icticnNVX - ; V ' . y topic of thr?fv;0,S. AVCV7rest in the I Os .. 7 jSsyZ Incident for that this Vila VitX fcvyiJ1 ald say I FJp?ly neltl!----Ai'jJ ncw Ni-jr: en months fron I I ; I 1 By Raymond G. Carroll DURING the war virtually all of the more or less famous British writers er.eaced themselves in the so-caHe-propaganda work; those who were unable to get into the army. With the German signing of the peace terms and the whole world settling down once again to normal nor-mal conditions the question naturally arises. "What sre the plans o tie British fiction writers ?'' j To the end of ascertaining if possibl the present state of mind of the leaders : fiction. I addressed the following qjc5-ticns qjc5-ticns to some of the foremost: First What sort of reading should be prepared at this time for the world masses ? Second Are wartime stories the proper sort of literature to be presented either in the magazines maga-zines or through the customary channels of books? Third Whether it is npt important impor-tant for serious writers to bestir be-stir themselves before the neighborhood neigh-borhood picture theatres have entirely captured the time and interest of the average public? TX) THESE queries I have received some interesting answers. Sir Gilbert Gil-bert Parker sent the following renlv: 24 Portcaa square, W I My Dear Mr. Carroll : Tour questions are cot easy fo answer for at best the answers to the first two cust be purely speculative and v.cia-for-ed. But I've done the best possible in the inclosed. Answers to Question First The same as in the pas;, with an addition t.f historical tuarter. since the general public hroujh",n the world has be?n roused and educated b..- the war to a keener historical !;;?. It j5 in-possible to force the public iuto a (.vsj'ra of read-in;, read-in;, but 8 tendency oa3 he cultivated, and the historical tendency is a-.parent. Second Persoually I tili-i that the public generally is for the is-ufi.t tired of wartime war-time stories and wolu weleciue fiction far away from the hurly-burly and horror of war. et the UK-;e for wartnue stories will return and w:i! provide for the next generation or two a held of interest inexhaustible in-exhaustible and deep with drama and humanity. hu-manity. Third 1 do cot think writers cat deliberately delib-erately '"beir then.se'ves'' to produce Education was never mere talked abulia it is today but the Egyptian of Phirsi! lise was better educated than tieBrithiu American of "civilised' cities! Go vki you will and speak to whomsoever yon nw. the ismoranee betrayed among all classe! ol the simplest facts of life is appalling at: overwhelming. The people do not recif ; trd here will come in a devastation idreanrf of. The "picture theatra" is the delinh; of the staring savage to whom books art d:i nearly sealed he thinks he can csderstci a picture, though lhai is becoming diSsi-but diSsi-but so far as a book is concerned, he wsJ rather "scoot of" in oilskins on a bsk-evele bsk-evele at a tearing pace, with no pardrni-aim pardrni-aim or end. than open its covers. Tienn? of great authors who have made the ipetfc of "nations are alxost unknown to r-oera men ; they would not know the ! si'iakespesre if it were not often rep-xs; and some are not very sure whether he to a man or a town! Ignorance is the be::? : tvs "educated" era 1 and "series r.as' will do well if they can only hoii hack ra t'.-e vuiirsrity of the moment lid pc their souls in patience nrtil tit F-bi wearies of the "mere noise of wiee ui eme-g?s once more from childish bsrhi-" to a sense of order, fitness and beauty. MARIE COSEUI. y B. MAXWELL gives tie folioviis NV 8S his ideas of the question nise tv the writer: " Tce readinq that should be rrepsred S ttit time for the world masses ought to a- the only real lesson eat tie : U ven us. That is. the inherent po.-l po.-l men possess of rising to great lefri f-crL-e. courage, endurance; me value of the S!mp r-'- f -( !TSve. home, healthy rk:inb-tiUty rk:inb-tiUty of U outward and In other words, the li.ersnure of .,1 with the widest and cost pt 1S; en.-oursge thought h,t loftv and simple. . course,--; our -velists had p. SS the "man in the street." or to meet tue u Ust gives him. Contemporary ,o---he nL, rsrt merely . he cloth; thoy deal with the T.efu. ,1-e hopes of the hour, the pass.rf fs.-- of the moment. Like the E?P-q .w full of undated facts . trivialities, monstrous irrelevr. emotions are kept on tue sur.a.-e, chHug.ng laws of human nature are indicated : but they are "bng .t. '-vs';' fo-date." and, rs advertised l-" I-l I-l shcrs. "eminently readable." liven when labeled "serious" t.tj what Kuskin would have classed w papers and not books; they do cot r.'.( the work of our special vvrrcMV-'-' 5 script ion of the labor crisis, the the battlcticbis or whatever the ' snb.tcct-mattcr r.-.ay be. One ccivo of people csriug to read U'f C-j i few years after publication or of any w;iy the better for haviug ret. at all. Mrf lu the oonniirivisl side. I o.ud your MwJ question by sayirg tMt too topiotil sso wartime stories .J - to be good busuioss until iotett -topic of the war has e-.itir.ly f'i- ' inifss. 1 would say that tl.'.s w .11 rot c -for about eighteen months (rem ro. As to wlul serious writers v.:. have Rlrcauy hinted at my opicion. I tb.rk thst in Puflaiid. A :. or there are any senoiis w riters is ttf e. ( of the word. There are w ritrr their work seriously and thoiusr i seriously still, but thri-e ai-e ';"" M evili-vinc into serious (Vv.'.l-til'C s,-el mosters that are ( -ne ; T.-tt : ttrmiiip to write not ool.t or ! ' but for all tnwr. W. l'.M-M books. If they do, they will fail. Inspiration In-spiration is the seeret of success in all walks of life, but infinitely more than all in literature, otherwise it is manufactured stuff. My own view is tat all authors who are worth while have been stirred deep.y by the tremendous drama of the last live years (nearly i. and big things will be the result. I have no fear of the picture tlKjities. Iu the end they will cultivate a greater taste for the drama in the regular thiVitre and win also help to create or renew a taste for reading. I know that people read less than they' did before motoring and "the movies" became popular, but that is only temporary People will rad more than ever they have don. as publishers know now, and I regard re-gard the future with confidence and hope. Yours sincrelv. GILBERT PARKER. rpHE views of E. Phillips Oppenheim on war stories are expressed in the following fol-lowing letter which he sent me: 13 Clarges street, W. Mayfair 4097. Dear Sir In reply to the inquiry contained con-tained in your letter of the tith inst., 1 do not think that it is possible to ignore the war or the changes which it has brought about in any work of fiction written today. From my own point of view, however, I prefer, at the present time, to seek for a plot and incidents as remotely connected with the events of the. last live years as poss:hle. That is to say, virtually that while the great upheaval in our social and . political life must be indicated in any work of fiction which is to be in the least convincing, con-vincing, it should supply neither the nugn d ofro nor the incident for an acceptable story. 1 do not consider that the picture rlaces are serious rivals to the writer of fiction. Sincerely yours. E. THlLLirS OrrENHEIM. pROM E. W. Hornung came the fol-lowing: fol-lowing: Midway Cottage, Partridge, tireen. Sussex. To Raymond (1. Carroll, Esq. Iear Sir I have found your letter awaiting await-ing me on my return from (.ermany. and beg you to excuse the necessary delay iu acknowledgment. ac-knowledgment. Of the three very interesting questions which ou propound, the second is the only one I can pretend to answer with any con- ielion. 1 feel very strongly that fiery jorieius modern novel, for a considerable time to rome, will have to be iu some seuse a "wartime story." In so far ns it reriecls or depicts routempoi nry life, it cannot ignore the incidence and influence of the war upou the rtrejnint prrjotior. ThM w hieh has al-tTrd al-tTrd all our lives can only be avoided, in n uludy of eonteinpornry life, by nuledM ing the .a-.l ''"ux; but the inimedi.it ' nj r dnr, are now chiefly interesting in contrast with the days of the war itseif. and this particular par-ticular contrast has already been somewhat overworked in fiction. The medern novelist w-ho would avoid the incubus altogether had best go back a generation or so and write a semi-historical novel, nore Mr. Arnold Bennett. Ben-nett. On the other hand. I cannot think that a wartime story of the oar itself a novel of trench w arfare would now stand any chance of success vnlcst a work of real genius. In every village there is a man who could cap the hero's most tremendous adventure out of his own eiperirnce: iu fact, so much authentic au-thentic adventure is in conversational currency cur-rency that tne fictitious type is likely to be discevunted for many a long day. The trouble is that it is difficult to conceive con-ceive of a "hero" who has not fought in the war, but still more difficult to make him stand out in a w-orld of heroes! I doubt whether the gist of all this is of the slightest use for your purpose; but it is what 1 feel on almost the only points of interest in-terest that remain in life. Yours Tory truly, E. W. 110RNUNG. MARIE COKELLI sharply rebukes the tendency of the times in her caustic answers to my questions, which she seta down seriatim as follows: Mason Croft. Stratford on-Avon, Warwickshire. First Not a "sensanounl" press. The press should be a bettering influence; not a purveyor of evil and foolish suggestions as it is now. I cxiusider half the mischief and discord between natious is the work of the picss; of the lies it circulates, the jealousies it fosters, the wretched nttilnde it holds toward religion and education, apart from the pure silliness it encourages iu women with regard to dress aud behavior. Immorality Immor-ality is openly encouraged by the press; pru -rient literature, low pursuits and indecent pietorinl nintler; the worst posmMo "rending" "rend-ing" for the "world's m.nsses." v b,- are to be deeply oom n n sr;i t oil tor serving hs the rili ill l!11 grinding null of commercial exploitation, which takes no account of the degradation of human mentality but only of the dollars it can wring out of the destroyed matter. The press was the chief criminal cause of the war; it will again be the chief criminal cause of dissension between the Allies should such dissension arise. Second "Wartime stories" bave forvthe most part been written "lor tne moment" in slipshod English aud bad style. War is too terrific a thing to be dealt with by writers writ-ers who hurry a tale off the typing machine to make a few dollars. They are not the "proper sort of literature" as written nowadays: nowa-days: a rrni "wartime story" needs the pen of a Sir Walter Scott, a Pickens, a Thackeray Thack-eray ; men who thought before they w-'-otc; rot the men of today, who write before they think. The "wartime" story of the present epoch w ill not be written perhaps for a hundred hun-dred years. Meantime the public, which is still lashed aud stung by the griefs and bur-deus bur-deus of battle, should be given some other subjects to cheer, strengthen aud uplift its mind. Third By "serious writers." I presume you mean writers who love their profession and seek to hold up its rfii,-i ifw. But for those there is a Ivor chance and I do not think they would trouble to "bestir" themselves into competition with the picture theatre. The "average public" is being thrust back by n greedy commerce into old savage ways of ignorance, when "signs" or "pictures" were the only way of making them understand under-stand events. Moreover, this "average public" pub-lic" is forever "on the go" -ou wheels, in the air. iu motors, etc. if timer rr..r. aud its braiu. perpetually shaken to ami fro iu the whirl of machinery, i8 Uiore or less addled, (hie bas but to consider the delicate convolutions of the huiunn spine .uul braiu to reali.-e th piiyjici if,,..,.,,, ,.;,,., of (.fsr '.iiiriej or comprehensive readme wtieu that spine and brain are continuously jogged, shaken, pushed at high speed and '"rushed'' as they were never intended to be. "Serious writers" renhre that the majority are cco... i'h.) to ired (saxc for hurried gl:iu,vs at (he nforo-mentioned "sensational" press!, nnd they do not 1 1, , p to wrile Cor (he "soii'l--vel in a iso1" lurn.'ihout nin or woninn. |