PAGE SIX THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 12a
Htis style is very simipte and rather taresw ear unity; swe munsi not expect
A nthony T rollope une ven at times One is not i.re-1te. sminuteanalsiofs ca
G. SMITH-HAMILTON quently rather irritated by some of Yet Thollope has lived and will
his Victorian conciets. He uses sut- continue to be read because of his
Tay. car ea stalls are crowded eration the result would have just- ple English, but he is not always pure realism, ranking, not in the first
It te fi etiput of the contemporary fled the expenditure of time. He i correct in his grammar. He finds it class of the great novelists, but lead-
school of nea-realists, an output far from poetic, and he lacks any difficult to maintain the same person ing the second.
which is indeed a vain apology for
realism, one that is fast becoming spiritual quality. He, deficient in arI throughout and constantly asks the His chief merit lies in his portrayal
distasteful. To be considered a auc- tistic temperament and devoid of aes- reader to witness this or that. of the England of his day, and, as
cessful novelist today one must write thetic inclination, is very material j Lord Bryce says that "he crowned Henry James says, his appreciation
either the wierdly impossible extra- minded, a fact quite evident in his his canvas with figures; he pursued gf the usual He is unsurpassed in
vaganzas of the pseudo-novelists of work. He admits that he could not the fortunes of three or four sets of
the type of Zane Grey and Harold Bell formulate an intricate plot, and never people at the same time, caring little the depiction of his conteporary life
Wright; or the sordid, coarse, dis- but once attempted to do so. Like a how the fate of the one set affected and manners.
agreeable "realistic" novels of the child, he cannot wait to tell his story that of the others; be made his novel In summing him up in a recent article
type of Sherwood Anderson's "Many and as a result we do not feel a sus- a sort of chronicle which you might in the Nineteenth Century, Michael
Marriages." A recent book seems to tained interest in the action of the open anywhere and close anywhere, j Sadlier says: "He is intensely Eng-
indicate the possible future of the plot. But he does succeed In holding instead of a drama animated by one lish, with the quiet humour, the shy
novel. Louis Hemon's Maria Chap- the interest to the very last page idea and converging towards one cen- sympathy masquerading as indiffer-
delaine was a success, even in Amer- through his delineation of character, tre. He neglected the art which uses ence, the delicate sense of kindliness
ica, where only the sensational can be not so much by means of actual word- incidents small in themselves to lead and toleration, the occasional heavi-
safely counted a success. This aim- description, as through a subtle meth- up to the denoument and make it ness, the occasional Irritability, that
pe, unexaggerated tale of the Cana- od, all his own, of permitting them more striking. He took little pains mark a man or a book as English. But
dian north woods, realistic in the to portray themselves through their] with his diction, seeming not to care if to these qualities he owes his place
true sense of the word, is comparable very personalities, their conversation how he said what he had to say." We in our proud heritage of literature,
to The Warden of Anthony Trollope. and their actions. His people are: must give up many things to enjoy] to them also he owes the tarrying of
The Warden i. representative of rarely drawn in caricature; rather, him: we must cease to concern our- true recognition, for they and the art-
Trollope at his best. It was written they are the English men and women selves with artistic effect; we must iss who possess them are of all qual-
during his earlier phase of more per- whom he knew, with whom he came not demand style; we must be satis- itics and of all artists the most diffi-
feet work. Previous to its appearance into daily contact, whom he met In fled with simple phrasing, unassum- cult to impress upon the sceptical
he had published three novels, all his tours as a postal inspector. They ing and clear, yielding its meaning outsider, seeing that their very beau-
miserable failures. But with this one: live, and will continue to live for- upon the first reading, lacking bril- ty and profundity and power lies in
he caught the eye of the English read-: ever. liant epigrammatic turns; we must their elusiveness."
ing public, which he managed to hold
until his death in the early eighties.
The setting is Barchester, a purely
fictitious section of England, which
presents, however, a faithful picture ('i Think of it not as a Christmas suggestion merely.
of the country during the reign of V I
Victoria. Trollope himself says that Make it part of a year 'round creed you have. Practice
he knew thoroughly all the county Toward M en
of Barset, the country lanes, the it daily. You'll find yourself the greatest beneficiary.
hedge-rows, the manor houses, the
pavements of the city, its spires and
towers.
Arch-deacon Grantly is quiteu - But Christmas time, when the spirit of goodwill is
man, and in him we find an accurate most in the air, and in the thoughts of men, is a goo
portrayal of the mid-Victorian clergy-
cman, a man quite material minded, time to consider it carefully. Carefully lest when the
who knew and enjoyed the good things t
of life, and yet one who had the in- holiday spirit is over we again neglect goodwill. For
terests of his professions very much .g. . .
tt heart, who was sincere in his devo- the her tage of goodwill to thiie vdual is content-
tion to it, even though he does not m
quite reach our expectations of a it rowthand a good name.
prist in matters spiritual.
Mr. Harding is, of course, the main
character of the book. Ie is a sim- Without goodwill toward men, no individual may con-
ple man, very sincere in his beliefis
and in his sympathy, very benevoent sider himself a success, He has missed a great op-
and kindly, completely enwrapped In
his old church music and his violon- portunity. All that he has is a mess of pottage. He
cello, fond of chanting the churchhi f
service from the vaulted sanctuary ofhas lved for himsealone.
the old cathedral, because lie knew
he did it well. His is a most imprac-
tical mind, one which little under- Nor can an institution long exist without goodwill.
stands the business of life. But he is
ecnscientious and when the fact oc- Goodwill is the firm foundation upon which every
curs to him that the source of his in-
come is not exactly legitimate, n- great industry is founded. It is the power behind
thing, not even the threats of his
practical son-in-law, cam shake his governments that makes them strong.
determination to resign his post and -
voluntarily reduce his income to such P
an extent that it Will mean privation oodwill is a quality within the hearts of men that
to him.
His daughters, the Bishop, John makes them great-that makes friends for them.
Bold, and the other subordinate char-
acters are drawn very lightly but suf- From Bethlehem comes the greatest lesson in good-
ficiently to produce the right effect.
In his Autobiography Trollope has will. It is Christ's birth that we celebrate. He laught
given us, with disconcerting frank-
ness, his method of writing. He de- us the lesson of "Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward
liberately arose at five-thirty a. m. n
and wrote his twenty-five hundredMe
words every morning before break-
fast, re-reading always in the first
half-hour that which he had written So we'll enter into the spirit of Christmas. Maybe a
the day before. He defends this meth-
od with great vehemency and had few will carry some of it with them into the new year,
nothing but contempt for the author and into the years to come.
who waits until inspiration moves any s
him to write. He fails to see the

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character more conscientious consid- .