THE MODERN NOVEL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21987, 23 June 1933, Page 16

THE MODERN NOVEL

INFLUENCE ON THE COMMUNITY RECENT TENDENCIES DEPLORED. I An outspoken indictment of certain undesirable tendencies in modern fiction recently' appeared in the editorial columns of the Melbourne Age. Among the chief faults condemned by the writer are the cynical tone adopted by many present-day novelists and the readiness with which they make excurisons into the slums of realism and naturalism, abandoning decency and becoming a public menace. The effect of this class of writing on the mental and moral outlook of the community. and more especially the younger generation, is examined and a forceful plea is made for the raising of the public taste -to such a level that it will demand more wholesome fare. One of the features of the present age, says the article, is the phenomenal and unprecedented increase of novels. Their fecundity surpasses that of rabbits. The tremendous circulation of this class of literature cannot but have profound influence on the community. Whether consciously or unconsciously it cannot fail to leave a mark on the mental and moral life. It is not only legitimate but the bomicien duty of every worthy , citizen to raise the question whether the influence of the novel is as wholesome now as in the days of Scott and Dickens. Even when their works came out in parts, or in ponderous three-deckers, they were read with avidity and without any fear or qualm. The i«Jea of keeping the books out ot the hands of the young never seems to have been mooted. There was no dread ot such writers penning one word which would countenance, or even remotely hint at, plucking the rose from the fair forehead ot an innocent shame and setting a blister there.”

Some modern novel writers apparently never exercise any self-restraint, or keep in view the effect of their work upon their readers. What too many of them aim at is big circulation and the hope of producing a best seller. The result is a Niagara of novels which contain a large proportion of what is mere trash and something very much worse. Hap-, pily- there aYe many self-respecting authors whose output is beyond suspicion, but the publication of inferior and undesirable matter is far too great for the well-being of the community. One does to be puritanical to be aware that evil influences are af work through the wide circulation of the modern novel, .the most broadminded among us cannot but think and fear.

.hold no brief for the angelic purity of the Victorian age. There was a fleshly school of poetry then, and there is a fleshly school of prose to-day. The spirit of is abroad, and finds expression in the novel with its insistence on basic essentials.” An illustration comes to hand in a recent work in which one of the characters declares that life is a continual progress to higher things. The rppjy_is, “Life, you fool, is a continual progress to more complicated lies.” This cheap cynicism wearing the eternal sneer_ is one of the outstanding characteristics of representative modern novels so greedily read by multitudes. Cynicism and pessimism are twin sisters, and there is a realism which is another member of the family. Nothing is sacrosanct.: No shock absorbers are deemed necessary. Writers of this school are suffering from intellectual measles, or moral growing pains, and geek' relief by putting their groans into print. They have no idea of what is nieant by consuming their own smoke or fighting down their doubts. And so they write in this fashion:—“What is love but a cheat of the senses? Or friendship but an echo of our egoisms? Or honour but vanity? Or fame but a little shouting in an ante-room.”

Imagine people writing this kind of thing as if it had not all been written long years before and corrected by those who passed triumphantly through the Slough of Despond. It i s part of the pathos and tragedy of life that novelists write what has been thought before they were born, discussed in [scores of serious books, and had its fallacies exposed. The trouble is that the fallkcies are dressed up in new clothes, set forth under a plea of directness and truth, and the poor readers are served with the poison and never given the antidote. The novel is viewed not so much as a branch of literature as a manufactured, article for which the highest motive i s claimed. The modern novelists of the realistic school write as though they kept the keys of all creeds and of all knowledge. They are the people, and wisdom will die with them. They denounce all dogma with a dogmatism as inflexible as that of a famous General Council. They make daily excursions into the slums of realism and naturalism, gloat over their discoveries, and proclaim them to the world. This large and popular school has abandoned decency and become a public menace.

What can be done? asks the writer. It" is proposed in Australia to try the doubtful experiment of a censorship board. With the utmost respect for the motives which prompt and support this remedy, one may point out the difficulty of setting up comprehensive canons of decency. The responsibility for undesirable novels must be shared by authors, pubishers, and the general public. To publish an Index Librorum Prohibitorurn would be to create a demand for the very books we wish to burn, and that would burn well. The most effective of all methods of combating evil fiction is by raising the public taste to a higher level. In that undertaking every worthy citizen will bear a hand, and every parent will take his place in the universal though informal Vigilan e Committee. Leaders of youth and influential organisations concerned with public questions will not he unmindful of their duty in this regard. Press, pulpit, and platform will co-operate in the slow and strenuous task of nullifying evil by filling the minds of people with good. Our young generation especially must he so occupied with whatsoever things are lovely and of good report that they will have neither time nor inclination tor what is base. There is in industry a process called

“planishing,” which means smoothing out a piece of metal by beating it. Sometimes the workman finds he can succeed by using his hammer not directly on the part that is at fault, but at some distance from it. Something like this may he done in the campaign against demoralising books. We right the wrong by bringing influence to bear indirectly, but none the less positively. We use the sound psychological principle of exciting admiration for the good rather than holding up the bad and pointing out its horrors. The skilled teacher puts the best writing on the board, and is very careful not to exhibit flaws too frequently. The Great War slew its millions, th* l article concludes, and left morals in a sagging condition which is still reflected in literature. No one need be surprised however deeply ho regrets the disaster. It remains for this generation to undo the evil, and the task is by no means easy. All the more need, then, for a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together to lift the moral tone of the community and overcome evil with good. We shall kill bad books by killing the demand.