ANATOLE FRANCE

Evening Star, Issue 19614, 21 July 1927, Page 10

ANATOLE FRANCE

LECTURE BY DR THOMPSON Ur G. E. Thompson last evening gave an interesting account ul the great. French novelist, Anatole France, before the Otago University Literary Society. Anatole Franco died so recently tbathe could still he called a ■•uiiiemporary, and it behoved them t-o exercise caution lest 1 hoy should make their statements too absolute and their praise or censure too sweeping. Perhaps titty wars hence he might settle into his, permanent place in the literary hierarchy-. At the present, moment' his finalities might be too near to gain a true perspective, lor the more imposing 1 lie work of art, the more necessary it "was to stand hack to secure an adequate view. It could safely he said, however, that Anatole France was the outstanding literary figure ;f the last generation. The first, quality of Ids works was W’eir personality, by which, the speaker said, lie meant the extent to which the figure nt the man himsell, Ids life, his mental outlook, his philosophy. and lus ideas protruded through nearly every page of Ins writings. And one of the greatest sources of the charm of these pages was the unity which this fact gave them. They seemed not to bo reading, hut to ho listening to him as he discoursed pleasantly on every topic on earth, in heaven, and cvmi under the earth. Anatole Francois Thibanlt was horn in 1841. For an account of Ids early years there was no lack of information, as Ids ‘ Bjerrc Nozicrc ’ ami Ins ‘ Be Tiivre do Ainu And ’ were practically autobiographical. His father’s name was Tldhanlt, but lie was generally known to his intimates by the pseudonym of “ Franco”; and hence the nom dc plume adopted by his son. Tlnhault, senior, was a bookseller, and, as many booksellers seemed to have done in France, he turned Ins shop into a meeting house for choice spirits, and in the old shoo met many great writers and original thinker-. It could safely be concluded, there! ore, that young Anatole sal. many a time as a listener to not- a few of the discussions that echoed through the pages q! his later (looks—such as the disquisitions of the Abbe Coigmrd, the gentle i effect ions of old Sylvcstre Bonnard, and the ideas on church and Statu of M. Hergeret. As a- bay Anatole France was dreamy and contemplative in disposition, living for the most part in sheltered solitude, given to brown studies, forming Ids own opinions, and already taking up the mental attitude of a spectator of life. When they considered such a hoy. wiio had no playmates and no games to divert his attention, let loose in a bookseller’s shop to browse where he liked, they would see the starting point of his immense store of general knowledge. _ There should also lie mentioned the influence of the city of Paris. Ho loved Paris as Dr Johnson. Charles Lamb, and Dickens loved Bondon, and ins knowledge of the city was intimate. Apart from a schoolboy production, it nas not until 1.807 that he wrote anything, and Ids entrance into literature took the form of contributions to various periodicals ft was not without significance that Anatole France in his early years enrolled himself among the Parnassians —that group of poets who favored form and artistic beauty, and whose motto was “ Art for art’s sake.” At an early period lie became a sceptic or an agnostic. How he loaf- his faith was not. quite clear, but two of the contributory factors were undoubtedly the influence of the scepti ai environment in which ha was placed and the peculiar cast of ids mind. He looked on life with an amused eye and in a ’detached manner. Ho smiled gently at the absurdities and injustices that ho saw around him, and described them humorously, ironically, and benevolently. He admitted his inability t-o accustom himself to the traditional conception of the novel. He could not confine his study of a subject within the narrow bounds of a definite plot, and he could not: endure any barriers to the I ree, movements of his thought.

Anatole Franca published his liM. work of creative prose at the. age nf thirty-five, but his first great work was ‘Bo * Crime do Sylvesfre Bonnard,’ though opinions differed as to whether it was his masterpiece Old Bonnard reappeared in later books in successive reincarnations. It was one, ol his favorite devices to introduce as n character in his honks a dog or a cal'. M lien Bonnard had some philosophical reflections to express lie ivied it on his catold H.nnilcar—wiio guarded the “ city nf books.” To Hamilcar are addressed sonic of the best- thoughts in the hook. The lecturer went on to deal with the author’s other great creations, paying special attention to ‘Thais,’ ‘ Bos Noccs Corinthionnes.’ ‘Histoire do Joanne d'Arc,’ and ‘L’lle des Penguins.’ The lecturer was accorded a hearty vole of thanks