MR. A. E. W. MASON AND THE NOVEL.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 98, 22 October 1904, Page 11

MR. A. E. W. MASON AND THE NOVEL.

» Mr. A. E. W. Mason, the novelist, in the August Young Man, tells something of his literary career. To a question of hie interviewer as to what he considered the "dominant note" ia modern fiction, he made answer : "I do not think that there is any dominant note in novels or in plays either, unless the managers specially demand one. I do not believe ir what is called 'the public ' — that is, I do not beKevo it exists as an indivisible whole, demanding from time to time some particular subject or treatment of a subject, and not satisfied unle&s it gets it. There is always a public demand for any good example of any particular type of work." Mistakes are made, good books overlooked, Mr. Mason admitted, but on the whole, supposing there is a flood of a certain claste of work, the best examples do all right; it is the inferior ones that suffer. Mr. Mason further gave it as his opinion that there ia no particular unity of purpose in the modern novel, but he thinks definite changes arejhappening in method and style of writing, which is certainly less diffuse : "If Thackeray himself were alive now he would curtail a good deal. Of course it is difficult to say Tiow far methods ha,ve been affected. A little time ago there was a great cry for the right word, and thia perhaps waa carried to an excess. Authors were always in search of a striking phrase, a clever turn, which would catch the reader's attention and compel him to admire. I doubt if the really great writers were very much troubled by that search for the right word. . . . The ideal chapter in fiction, in my opinion, is the one in 'Vanity Fair' which describee how the citizens in ' Brussels received the false report that Napoleon had won the battle of Waterloo. There is not a phrase in the whole thing that you feel you want to quote, not a sentence that sticks in your mind as a particularly fine thyig, and yet the cumulative effect is immense."

Mrs. Haggard — "Do you know, myself and my daughter are often mistaken fo» sisters." Mrs. Gray — "Ah, the dear girl must lje studying too hard, don't you think?" Fatter — "What are you crying about, Bobby?" Bobby (between sobs) — "I don't want to go to school to-day." Father — "Why not?" Bobby— "Sis jilted the teacher last night."