hooks and Auduoi
"THE CRITIC AND THE DRAMA" less valuable because of this fact.'
By George Jean Nathan acting is not an art has long been
(A Review by C. J. D.) of his favorite contentions, for
Our dramatic critics are coming to ample. In the present volume he
serve an important and unique func- devotes much space to the suppi
tion in the life of that mysterious ani- this interesting theory.
mal, the General Public. They as_ But in spite of the fact that
some the task of doing its thinking, of Nathan devotes much space to tb
forming all necessary opinions for it rading of his pet theories and to p
on questions pertaining to the theatre. ing out that the other critics
Now this is al very well, but who is amount to much and that lie is p
to do the thinking for the critics? good himself, the volume cor
Our newspapers, and publications of many profound and discerning
a higher type,-which should know vations on the drama and dray
better, are everywhere infested with criticism. Especially when he c
a species of reporter-critic who,'being to the question or journalistic
quite incapable of accomplishing an cism does he warm to his task.
indeendet thugh or ormig anin-takes _off his .coat, rolls up his sl(
teigent opinion proceedsrmin ma in and plunges into the subject, sma
teliget oinin, rocedsto askhispopular idols' and ideals right
ignorance tinder any one of a number left.
of well-known devices. He says that "the keynote of
When among this cheerful brother- Hersay tha sthe keynote o
hood of genial asses, essayists on the American journalistic attitude to
trivial, literary shoplifters, and klep-
tomaniacs of criticism, we discover a commer ia praul attac o
few men who can really form orig- acterises the typical metrop
final, independent opinions based on
clear, honest thinking and a broad, newspaper, which in preventing
thorough experience, and who can ex- inifrom expressing their si
press such opinions in an; entertain- new ands seopny o
ing fashion, it is indeed a time for new and valuable developments
general rejoicing, for a slaying of fat- contemporary drama. He goes
show that the popular belief t
ted calves, a tapping of kegs, and critic must have honesty, enthu
other procedure indicative of great detachment, sympathy, that he
merriment. But certainly such cele- exhibit his personality, and mus
brations would never occur with suffi- e
cient frequency nowadays to seriously duce a "constructive" criticism, a
reduce the supply of-veal or make absurdly without justification.
dangerousThe book is written in Mr. Na
dangrou inoad onourpriateusual entertainifg style. His
stock. One may count all the really mixture of quaint slang weird si
worthwhile critics in the country on x
one hand, and still have one or two stinging satire, broad humor, ch
iconoclasm, n rfudpio
digits to spare. On this hand of critics nve s, and profound philo
the strongest (perhaps the index) times, however, he carries hisc
finger is George Jean Nathan. bit eyond he limis o
The chief reason for the supremacy taste and I believe a little res
of Mr. Nathan is undoubtedly the fact
that during the whole of his critical would greatly e hanccabulare
career, now extending over a period of nessia of o his ed vocabulary.
some eighteen years, he has confined William Lyon Phelps regrets t
himself entirely to criticism of the critic of Nathan's caliber shoul
drama. Through such specialization press himself m "dialect, in the
he has become generally recognized, on musical comedy," but most r
by his dramatic criticisms in the foi' the srightly, unique way inr
Smart Set and by his various books they' preityd y
on the theatre, as one of 'the most they___presented.
discerning, stimulating, daring, and
consistently entertaining writers in his CALVARY
field. By Octave Mirbeau
In his latest book, "The Critic and (A Review by R. D. S.)
the Drama" (Knopf), he again sets Although the Vizetelly transl
forth his pet theories on aesthetic jur- of Zola have been widely read
isprudence, drama as an art, the place number of years, and "Manon
of acting and the place of the theatre, caut" and "Sapho" have ! e
as, well as expressing a few opin- almost as well known 'as "Rob
ions on dramatic criticism in Amer- Crusoe" and "Uncle Tom's Cabii
Ica. recent publication by Lieber
Most of the theories expressed in Lewis of "Calvary" marks the
the first sections of the book he has translation of a nove4 by Octav
put forth again and again in different beau. It seems strange that Mi
articles, but the ideas are by no means has remained so long untrar
for, while his genius is naturally less about toe art of Lrat, woo, by t
than that of Zola, or Provost, or Dau- way, resembles the Claud of Zola
det, he has much in cosinon with all "L'Oeuvre"; and there is an espei
three. And, what is more, his writing ally colorful impressionistic pictu
is of a quality that far exceeds a large of the crowds in a large Parisia
That part of the foreign books that are cabaret.
n one being constantly put into English. While retaining in )ill this an o
ex- Mirbeau is in many ways a follower jectively comparable to Zola. Mi
again of Zola. He uses both naturalistic beau injects a fire and a passion in
art of methods, his story is based on elabor- his story that reminds one of tl
ate psychological analysis, and his feverish amours in "Manon" ai
t Mr. pages are crowded with masses of ar- "Sapho." The story, too, resemb-e
e pa- resting minutiae. to some extent these earlier nove:
point- l It is in this descriptive ability that especially the former.
don't he excels. In. "Calvary" there is a Jean Minti6 is the son of neurot
pretty short war description that makes parents. The father has a strong sa
itains "Three Soldiers" sound like an ac- istic strain; the mother is a visio
bser- count of a minor skirmish of the S. A. ary woman, the subject of stran:
matic T. C.; there is a picturesque bit hallucinations. Jean. inherits tI
nomes
criti-
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