The Dominion. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1909. IS FICTION THREATENED?

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 544, 26 June 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1909. IS FICTION THREATENED?

An observant critic, writing in a London, monthly,, expresses the belief that fiction is threatened. He is of opinion that, great as is tho,present.output of novels, and immense though the number of their readers be, other kinds of' literaturo are slowly achieving the supremacy of numbers.y For'many years, of-all new books published in England, fully one-fourth has consisted of fiction..The annual output _from the book-presses readily falls into divisions, and by means of this grouping* and by the aid of publishers' lists, the critic alluded to' has arrived at his gratifying: conclusions. In the;year 1905, we learn, 6817' new works were issued exclusive of reprints, Classified into six sections, fiction Headed the list, the number of individual works being so far in advance of the other divisions that, in a sense, novel-writers stood apart and alono. The difference in numbers among each of the remaining sections of literature was much less great. After fiction', a long way, came.theology and philosophy; history and biography, occupied /the third position;, art and scionce, the l;fourthpoetry and drama, the fifth; travels, being fewest, were the lowest on the register. But last year, though authors'" had been equally, busy, and original compositions had been published, almost a thousand in excess of those which saw the light in 1905, the fact was apparent, says the critic, that the literary inclinations; of the British public had.undergone an- extensive and a decided alteration.■■• Poetry y and drama had descended in public'favour, as had;theology and philosophy, i In the case of the. former,travels had .'taken 1 the fifth place, while art and sciencehad ascended into the second—that nearest to fiction., Theoutstanding feature of the publishing season, however, would seem to have been the striking' reduction in the numerical .difference which had. long so effectively separated fiction from all other departments of literaturo. There are, probably, as many novelists at work to-day as ever thoro_ were,' and tho. demand ,for their airy imaginings displays small indication indeed of. abatement. The truth, how'.ever, is obvious that, while the army of those who rea'd novels;, and'novels: alone, .13-being constantly recruited, beside it 'is an-ever-enlarging phalanx of .men and .women whose.ideals:and whose ; • mental proclivities guide them.to the more •ishing,: less '.epheme'ral forms',of English :literaturc.X ;, ..,-.:-;-,"-■'- 'v.- : ;>, : ' ■'.;Ste.veksoNj/among other, of ■■■ his entertaining obiter dicta,. says that to read a novel that was conceived with'any ■force is to multiply experience arid, to '.exorcise' the sympathies.; Was it Darwin who declared that there was. no such', thing, as, : a bad novel? But men of the mental calibre of Stevenson, tho polished man of letters, and Darwin, tho .profound scientist and thinker, read for an Object different'from that, of the avoragc :dcvourer of fiction. Too frequently tho-la'ttor'poruso stories of sensation only, to .'occupy time and to* be amused. .-iWhen/'/CARLYLE's ; inanuse'ripts had bben • accidentally s destroyed, in a spirit bordering 6n ; ■'despair' l he;'' soygh't rofugo in tho country-and in solitude. For S W^- S read n ° thin 6 but: novels--The King's Own'' and "Newton Forster" wore among them-arid,,at the end of the 'fortnight, returned; to.'- his desk ■ soothed and, fortified, ?, A very-: different man, Napoleon, a recent memoir records; keenly appreciated''. Fielding and ''' : 'BicHAitp'sb'N. To Malmaison ho; fled after': Waterloo, and, while; dangers closed around him, he continued to,linger within'his .library. :"I,_do ,'the claimcd QuEHafHOttTENSE, .'/instead of deci^i n 8 : ;.pne; thing .about .his.i: doparturo, thoroho'sitß noyokeading." .How .many of the, world's greatoßt men, and women •too, in-tunes; of stress'and strain, have found relief'and solace'within some faroff, fairy realm!vCalming as the waters ofLethe .has manyV a,, woll-told story •proved.:.: There aro'work's of genius that promise to be. cherished as long as 'men ■ •are able to read and are capable of thinking.. Scarcely possible is it tocpneeivo of ■ a .time whenX novel-writers: like XDejoe, Goldsmith, Scott; "Gleokcie Eliot,: Thackeray, Dickens,' will be no longer read, esteemed, and 'venerated. : . They will liveby ■ .reason of 'their .kindly. humour, their sorene harmony; their/wisdom, their faithful ■■ presentment of: other, days. ; But the glamours of science are to'capture and enrapture where,'- before, tales touching the lives of men and women held fie minds of the people captive. Knowledge comes and wisdom may linger. At the present time is apparent an ;almost : impetuous eagerness to plumb afresh :the deeps of the world's marvels. Theories,! new and startling, are in the" air; doctrines unknown to. our fathers are. being taught: discoveries have been made, sufficient, we aro; told,-to revolutionise our conceptions concerning all things terrestrial. .Within.the domain of science, -in all branches bf accurate knowledge, fiction as we know.it, can occupy a place only small and -of minor importance.' 4 But as mondo not live by bread alone, so humanity as never likely to forsake altogether the regions: of fancy for the bare; realities of this hard and materialistic, world. Therefore, the novel will live and will adapt itself to its environment. The Literary . Year Book prints the names of moro than six hundred' authors who, in England, are now actively engaged in the production:of'fiction. Popular demand supplies tho raison d'etre.: Probably as the.minds of men are broadened, the demand will grow for works other than the mero product of tho imagination. Then the ominous gap which at present divides fiction from all other, kinds of. literaturo should become less great, less conspicuous. No harm will befall us if wo take more readily to a literary, diet'more solid and nourishing : than that wherewith our novel-writers provide us. Some of our modern novols, Daewin's charitable opinion, notwithstanding, seem as barren of nutriment as tho discarded shell, of tho cocoanut. In the future, it mav bo, more writers may direct • tiioir energies into channels moro usoful, if loss ornamental Our existing stories of fiction can scarcely be considered as being in urgent need of replenishment.' Tho.past, opulent with a literature inferior to none the world has over seen, offers, and too frequently in vain, its greatest, and most valued,'treasures. For many reasons, the neglect of the classics and devotion to prcscnt-djy spinners of tales are extremely .regrettable. Tho iiwulne of wnliwit wprkfl »t priocj

marvellously low will, however, do good/ Wo aro convinced that the beneficial effects of tho reprints, now found, everywhere, have been as yet, but inadequately realised. Those classics must have entered innumerable; homes, and their uplifting influences cannot but have permeated tho intellects of thousands of. the younger, as of the older, generation. It is with studies of this kind, as when public schools aro established, the mental improvement is visible, not immediately but in time. New Zealand is an oxcellent'icustomer of the London publishers. Tho contents of public "and circulating libraries and of. booksellers' shelves indicate not unclcarly the variety of literaturo most favoured by the Dominion. •Fiction has here a long lead, but the phenomenal sales of great authors seem to mark ,'a healthy departure,' akin to that observed in England. . '■