Literature in the Making, by Some of Its Makers. Various

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      Literature in the Making, by Some of Its Makers

      Published by Good Press, 2021

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664609847

Table of Contents

       INTRODUCTION

       LITERATURE IN THE MAKING

       WAR STOPS LITERATURE

       THE JOYS OF THE POOR

       NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND ART

       ROMANTICISM AND AMERICAN HUMOR

       THE "MOVIES" BENEFIT LITERATURE

       WHAT IS GENIUS?

       DETERIORATION OF THE SHORT STORY

       SOME HARMFUL INFLUENCES

       THE PASSING OF THE SNOB

       COMMERCIALIZING THE SEX INSTINCT

       SIXTEEN DON'TS FOR POETS

       MAGAZINES CHEAPEN FICTION

       BUSINESS INCOMPATIBLE WITH ART

       THE NOVEL MUST GO

       LITERATURE IN THE COLLEGES

       CITY LIFE VERSUS LITERATURE

       "EVASIVE IDEALISM" IN LITERATURE

       "CHOCOLATE FUDGE" IN THE MAGAZINES

       THE NEW SPIRIT IN POETRY

       A NEW DEFINITION OF POETRY

       LET POETRY BE FREE

       THE HERESY OF SUPERMANISM

       THE MASQUE AND DEMOCRACY

INTRODUCTION

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      This book is an effort to bridge the gulf between literary theory and literary practice. In these days of specialization it is more than ever true that the man who lectures and writes about the craft of writing seldom has the time or the inclination to show, by actual work, that he can apply his principles. On the other hand, the successful novelist, poet, or playwright devotes himself to his craft and seldom attempts to analyze and display the methods by which he obtains his effect, or even to state his opinion on matters intellectual and æsthetic.

      Now, the professor of English and the literary critic are valuable members of society, and the development of literature owes much to their counsel and guardianship. But there is a special significance in the opinion which the writer holds concerning his own trade, in the advice which he bases upon his own experience, in the theory of life and art which he has formulated for himself.

      Therefore I have spent considerable time in talking with some of the most widely read authors of our day, and in obtaining from them frank and informal statements of their points of view. I have purposely refrained from confining myself to writers of any one school or type of mind—the dean of American letters and the most advanced of our newest poetical anarchists alike are represented in these pages. The authors have talked freely, realizing that this was an opportunity to set forth their views definitely and comprehensively. They have not the time to write or lecture about their art, but they are willing to talk about it.

      They knew that through me they spoke, in the first place, to the great army of readers of their books who have a natural and pleasing curiosity concerning the personality of the men and women who devote their lives to providing them with entertainment, and, in some cases, instruction. They knew that through me they spoke, in the second place, to all the literary apprentices of the country, who look eagerly for precept and example to those who have won fame by the delightful labor of writing. They knew that through me they spoke, in the third place, to critics and students of literature of our own generation and, perhaps, of those that shall come after us. How eagerly would we read, for instance, an interview with Francis Bacon on the question of the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, or an interview with Oliver Goldsmith in which he gave his real opinion of Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Boswell! A century or so from now, some of the writers who in this book talk to the world may be the objects of curiosity as great.

      The writers who have talked with me received me with courtesy, gave me freely of their time and thought, and showed a sincere desire for the furtherance of the purpose of this book. To them, accordingly, I tender my gratitude for anything in these pages which the reader may find of interest or of value. Their explanations of their literary creeds and practices were furnished in the first instance for the New York Times, to which I desire to express my acknowledgments.

      Joyce Kilmer.

LITERATURE

       IN THE MAKING

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WAR STOPS LITERATURE

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      WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS

      War stops literature. This is the belief of a man who for more than a quarter of a century has been in the front rank of the world's novelists, who wrote The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Modern Instance and nearly a hundred other sympathetic interpretations of American