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Show NOTIONS n.BOUT NOVELS of democracy that produced the American and French Revolutions. The reaction to the romantic and historical novel, under Scott and his followers, was a revival of the aristocratic spirit. It took a historical form because the past had been made vivid to the popular imagination by the great historians of the eighteenth century. The purpose novels, which took the lead in the middle of the nineteenth century, were another reaction, and came out of the social ferment of the times. The general pictures of society and manners which followed were written for a public that was fairly well-to-do and contented with itself. The later realistic studies of life in its lowest forms were the offspring of the scientific spirit. And the latest reaction to the novel of adventure, with its emphasis on daring and virility, is connected with the remarkable revival of imperialism. But while fiction is specifically the most transient of forms, generically it is the most permanent. The~efore, our young Man of Letters must write a novel. That is what the public wants." "Yes," cried the Publisher, "a novel of adventure 230 NOTIONS ABOUT NOVELS in Cromwell's time. That period is up, just now, and has not been worked out." "A novel of purpose," said the Critic; "that is the highest type of fiction." uA novel of character," said the Cynic. "A change in fashion is due. Take the President of a Trust for your hero, and make him repent under the pressure of the Social Boycott. The public loves surprises., "Why not write the Great American Novel?" said the Doctor of Divinity. "I have heard several demands for it." "A good love story," said the Man of Business, "or perhaps a detective story, would be the best thing to sell." "The one point on which your friends seem agreed," said the True Story Teller, with a smile, "is that the public gives you an order for a novel." "Well, you know, I have written one already," answered the young Man of Letters, very quietly. "Why didn't you tell us?" chorused the others. "Why haven't you published it?" 231 |