THE LENGTH OF NOVELS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 954, 22 October 1910, Page 9

THE LENGTH OF NOVELS.

' ..vCompßmenting.Mr. 'Pett:Ridge ;';on\ ;his, '.conciseness in.his. new novels /the' ■"British' 'Weekly^recently;declared that ': "a ■'.. hundred: ; thousand' words, '•'■' or > 350 ;: pages'; remains' the'comfortable limit of. '•]-. a story."..; Haying abundance of', space 'the /'Westminster. Gazette" : proceeded ;2 ; t6'!obtain'-'sbme opinions on:the question ji-of : length,'for novels.., ': •.'"'; Mr.'Wniiani da Morgan,.whose.recent inovel'.'"lt;:'Never "Can. Happen Again" to", upwards of':3Uo,p,oo-.,words, ;!when ; asked.'by; a; "Westminster 'Gaz- ; ette" to express '■:■ his Wpinion uponrthe;subject, >said;he iliad \ referred. to' it'; in that' novel. ■'. He picked : :' lip'.'one .of theiv-two": volumes, searched '/.down';the' list .of -chapter-headings, and "rfouhd-the.page/.'":., •'■■■'■:■■:.;' ;•'• y Mr.VGhalliSjV tie \author," ! said' Miv \de.\Morgan.; tiext'to: a lady v; at' dinner"—Mr. 'de' Morgan;, commenced :;to ! ; iead:v.''His .thoughts- got': into shoal .;water,'and. -his. neighbour' pursued the' i -i»pic; ; unaccompanied 'until ..she found she.had left him' behind..,'Then'indig-. • nation.'mantled, Mt subject to'.good : breeding.' ;She would:'put -a test ques- "- tion,; ; though, to, see j how. much atten- ■• -tioa this;gehtleman,h-.id -been, paying.'"; ■':'.• "' 'How: many, .words, are.there! in '■'/. a : .b^k?';,The.question came, with- sudden .severity and Challishad; to'pull. i-Jiiin-self together to..replyj' •; '':-.•; " ".'Of course,', he. said,,''there- is ~'. not' always -the saino number, but I; should -My V hundred, thousand, more or less.' ''■It/was a, good- answer, and embodied the'feeling current iri the. book trade." .Mr. de".Morgan thoiignt that'a great deal depended upon: the nature-of: the - b00k. '. .'.-.' 'If,-, a-', story.,' is uninteresting,'' J l ?.' **&> ' "the' sorter, it is 'thejbetter."' ;A- mass*of correspondence■ha's~ reached his hands upon this;,very point since , the \ issue of. "It Never Can Happen Again," and the-great bulk of it, he > says, does not take the. form of,com-plaint-.on the .'"grounds;, .of. 'the undue', length of his book. "Some people say: ;. .'Your.-book;, is; a ..great deal too long, ■ bnt lavished for more,'"' he told our :'.representative. ■ ■- Mr. H. G., Wells was.very contemptuous. . He ■ wrote: "Dear Sir,—lt is; quite characteristic ■' of the 'British "Weekly' to decide that a- novel ought ■to be a -hundred'.thousand.-,'words , in , length, arid assume that a'novelist who. runs to greater lengths than that 'spins ont| ;■ his. story, but I do' not see why you should expect me to discuss anything so silly; No doubt that representative organ of British criticism will go .on to tell the world the right size of a picture. Why not let it?— Yours yery. sincerely, H.G. Wells." , ■.;. Mr.'Edmund Gossesaid amongst other things: "Of those to whom you have put your question, I can hardly hope to be the only one who answers: A good novel should be long, a bad novel should be short. Yet, seriously, I can- ■ not understand how the- subject can bo otherwise approached: Should a poem be long' or short? Should a picture 1 he 'little or,big?. It depends on the nature of the picture'or the poem. 'Tlic Vicar ' of Wakefield' and 'Silas Marncr' are very short; and no' one wishes them to be one' page longer. The noblest work of fiction of the twentieth century, : 'Jean Christophe,' already contains over 200,000 words, and i 6 'wt yet finished.

Bub nobody wishes it to be one chapter shorter.'.' To whom is'your question addressed? If to.: the ordinary 'novelwho fetches parcels of. new novels every three days from tho public library, and to whom ono book is precisely as,another, I neither care nor guess what is the reply. But if you 'appeal.to-those'who recogniso that, debased and abused,and hackneyed'as the novel is, it may .still, on occasion, enter into the'fold of literature, then the answer can .only bo that genius is not concerned with 'number of words,',but works out its ..own evolution in accordance, with- the. natural principles : of growth.. One: seed grows.up into -an oak tree, -and another into a.-rose tree; both "attain the: size for which providence designed, them.": .■ Mr. ; Andrew Melrose, the publisher,, .quoted the •wordiness and popularity of Mario Corolli and Hall Caino as proof that the.public';like long 1 novels. -A, representative of Macinillan-and Co, calculated the number, of words in Winston Churchill's latest novel,'and found that it was about ,182,000 words,; contained in 524 pages/ Another recent book,' by an American : author, Mary, 5..:-Watts, comprised 600' pages. .He showed-.that allauthors did not work by: rule in this respect, and pointed out .that, while in "The Queen's , Quair" .'-Mr. wrote a'-very longbook,m ''Open'''Country!'.: there were;, onlyiyabouty:BsJooo words—on 316 pages.yßut,-looking, at "the general run" .of hovels, lie; didnot think the questionof length ca'riie largely into consideration. '".':'- ■■■'.-. -. Mr. 'Phillips Oppeuheim phjeed; the limit at .90,000' words. Mr': .Rider'j.Haggard 'thought the public'should get ; a good, lot 'for..;its;, money.:' 'Mr.,' Andrew Lang ,had ho opinjoivisa'v'e -that- most, novels/could be; cut .down.,.: "A, good book 'cannot be too long, : ;nor a bad one too short," was- the brief and" cbmpendious reply of Sir A: Conaiv Boyle. , Mr... Hilaire Belloc was .discursive;; "To .be. at .thd pains of buying ; a book nowadays a /man''must •'desire ..it as . a .possession. And ;if ,he; ; desires;it-as; a possession .he; will,desire; it 'because ;ofsome pleasure it 'gives .him .which, so •far : as I- caiii s"i:c, has. hardly/aiiy - rela--:tion:to. its;lengtliT'^r'.takd:.six books in; 'ah' example.' 'Were ;I 't0...105e: any^ioiie;of. them,l should replace. iC • Wbftli.er tljg cost were.five shillings, Or, teii or' or a pound, I should irepla'ce'i'.itjybeo'ause the posses'-. sion;-,of ; :thb:'bbokris i&] liper'm'anent, pleasure.. I only''possess. it in : order to be able to; read; it;-pyer and over again. These books' are :'Sir. Francis Burnand's 'Strapmore,'.'.:TKe':W' allet -<>f Kai Lung;', , 'TheyDiafy ' of;' W;; Nobody,' Church's 'Stories.from .Homer;'.':D.asent's 'Tales fronv. theVNorseJ! ".'Mop Fair.':' -There is. rip.C(jmriion':;den6mih'ator;,;of jlength;. , in these-books;/ It is;.true-that" if one .of theirj ; .were,:-so':sliort that I could easily retain;!it" by, heart,*if it .consisted of only'a"page or.jtwo, there:would';be'.;'.no .'need':.to: buy -,ity and; 'it;';isiGqually true that if I 'it were,;,eiid'rm6usly; long, there \vould'be.mccli!»nical difficulties;iii;;,rcad-; iiig.it'-as :oiie:b ! obk;;jb'ut;shof.t;'of:these two 'extremes':;X.';'.dp^'hoty^see; : . , -w]i'pre-the-fact6r.,'or;kugtn?<Mines-in::.:-If it vis'ob-jectedi-thatViiond.ofetlie siif'books 1. havo quoted:.is";':properly,vspeala'ng, a noyel, then -let hie,; quote ■ .two■'; books,''both 1 in niy.opinion.on'.tlie'liighest.tevel as novels;: ;'The" Necromancers, 'and, "i'he'Lord of the World,' -both by .Father Berispu. If,;;I'lost-my Copy,of either of;these I Would .iat once .replace. as; I have said;before',.'a : 'sliilling'dr;five or ten-or. twenty. i-But..'when I; consider- the length-r.nnd-that, though they are the same-length;more or.less'j.ono seems to "mo a; little, too long for .its theme,.and the "other, -a little too short., A ; good book,.'like;any,.other work', pf.;.man's .creation, : should .be" -fitted. to its . end and he •;within a framework- that .gives it utility. .No.real workman .will-have much sympathy. ;with '■■'the'.-' 'tempera; rhent' 'which-,- cahlibt ..work;;, .within. r '.;a 'framework and.jyitliinvconyentipn.. ; :.and limits.-,' But ih ; the .case of a book the utility ;is the'.pleasure ,of the reader,' and. I .'repeat I ~do 'not 'see where—-at ] lea_st,'. 'where 1 very extreme limits—the questionof length:coiiiesyti' If a book : is ;tob : long for its theme and 'is spun .but'.'.delibVratelyy' -tlieiii the writer of it; has, deliberately''broken, the rules of-his trade, or .art ! 'and 'has' done bad work.,' If itiis .unduly ;compressed to suit' a business;.; requirement,'; which concerns, neither him'rior his reader, he;is guilty, of tlio same, fault, and literature, suffers;"' •: ■' yy;- :' ' y Mr. ;Wy J.yL6ck./'favours 100,000 jsvords ■':;:' 'The; modern'/ hovel ■of :_IOO,OOO words, is .the result .of. ...evolution.', A. century's/ experience; has,;. shown/that, the', average;: lioyelist.: cannot' /express himself honestly in '.more.' The giants left out of the.question, it is a blazing fact that; : ,the; average novel. of to-day is .infinitely':superior,■ as'a work of art, to the' average three-volumed novel "of fifty. j ; ears. ago/v/The noyelists. then ' were bound to put a : minimum' of 60,000 words 'iuto ( each .volume/;.of. a;.threevolume novel;'- making a 1 minimum total of 180,000 words. '..Hence the/mid-Vic-torian reproach of-.', -'padding.' .Who hears of ''padding' nowadays? The word is. practically,-obsolete. '-'''-'We''have ar-, rived : at this-,,.beautiful 100,000-w:prd form'. ".'ln Heaven-s name let us keep to'iti»''.yy.-; :.:;-,'-.v»y:■■■;;/ y..',- ;/-: -.' Mr. ..Chesterton; phrases his opinion as follows:—;/ ;';',. ;„■/. ;//' '~"■'•;, ./"I think: that": most-.-moderri writers (and, Heaven knows, ■ I include myself) .ought;, to/be. short'.; The/reason is this —that iiiva sceptical;age"one can.only. get those snapshots of . instantaneous, attitudes which, tiresome people call 'aspects ,-of. the truth.'/.We are. all forced to., have ■ what ,we ■ call • ,'pbints of viev/'-^a'dreary, fate'.- But some of the old fictitious figure's .were solid like .statues';'.you.could walk; all round;them./ .-You.-..could, walk all-round. Falstaff or Tony Welleryit/might take sonid days ;to , dp, but. you .'could do/ it. • Having once/established "thd- brute .existence of somebody'in an impartial universe, we .must; be,;interested'ln' that;; somebody through-forty volumes. : But a modern book; would so probably'not concern Falstaff, 1 . but one trivial, angle of; Falstaff (if Falstaff had any.angle)'; a modern book might study/him as a tragedy, of age or a tragedy of drink and leave out . all the rest of him. , Such studies of the accidents and.wrong.aspects.of Falstaff I like to have.brief and brilliant, and not tod many of them. ;But Shakespeare; who; knew the whole of Falstaff has brought-it out in 'King Henry the Fourth, Part- II'; and. if he were now bringing out" 'King Henry the Fourth,/ Part CCII,' .1 should still.be reading it.'' •-.. ~