Alcala 1958

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ag e do es dem and dif feren tqualit ies . You th apprec iat eac tio n,sen timen tand col or ; and so the y do no t see m to tir e of suc h work s as Iva nh oe and A Ta le of Two Citi es . The rea lism an d int ell ect ual stru ggl e of Anna Karen ina and Cr im ean d Punis hment pro­ vid e an en joyab leev en ing for the middle- ag ed . Th ose of mo re advanc ed yea rs, in the ir tenden cyto refl ectand to philo sop hiz e, would be ple ase d with Marcus Aurelius, Lie bman,Pe ale or Sh ee n. We sho uld allo w fo r con side rab leover ­ lap ping am on gall of the se gro ups , for the y ha ve no clo sed an d imp ass abl e lines of dem arc ation.Eve n at the far- from -advan ced ag e of 27 , I wa s a dev ote e of Lie bman, search ing ou t wh ate ver unp ubl ishe d writ­ ing s he had don e be yond hi s wid ely read Pea ce of M ind. An oth er gen era l pri nc ipl e we must not forg et is that the gre ate st art giv es the mos t las tin g be ne fit to the largest number of pe op le. Th e tru ly eff ect ive doe s not appeal me rel y to a small gro up of intel­ lect ual ly eli te. In the 16t h cen tury Ph illip Sy dn ey poi nte d ou t our ne xt yardstick: A book must con tai nenou ghbea uty ,truth or acti ve goo d to ma ke it wo rthwh ile. 3 Th is po int wa s rou nd ly sec onde d and almost de ifi ed by the lite rar y gre ats of the 18 th cen tur y and the Ag e of En ligh tenme nt. A fif th cri ter ion is : Do es thi s book lea ve any kin d of wh ole som eor fin e fee lin g in the mind of the re ad er ? Ari stot leand John Rus kin wou ld bot h be in our cor ner he re. To Ma tthewArn old is owed the enuncia ­ tion of ou r last ge ne ra lpr inc ipl e:The test of ge nu inerea din gis in me asu ring it, fea ­ ture by featur e, qu ality by qu ali ty, alo ng­ sid e the fin est wor ks of the same sort that have sto od the test of tim e. 4 It is to be expe cte dtha t the rea der wil l br ing some th ing to th e work , just as the 3 C f. Sydney' s Def ense of Po etr y. 4 Essa ys and Cr iti cis m (New Yor k: Macmilla n, 189 8). ies. iate , t ; oe l f es. li tual g le ina i e i ent • le i g l . ed , cy t il so hize, li , an, l n. l rable • i g , d able rcation. E -advanced , t e an, ing t ver lished • s l f i d. er l ciple t s ti g fit le. l ive ly ll ' - l y . ry illi ey i g t , ive t while. 3 i ly ed i ed y ts y l tenment. A fifth criterion i : Doe thi book leave ! so e ne fe g the mind of the reader? Aristotle and John i . tt l - ral i ciple: l i e i g ring - e, li lity, • l e. 4 cted i thing , f try. ys icism : f il n, t

work shou ld to the reader . He mus t have some ideaof the natu re of liter atur e. In such reg ard it is impo rtant tha t he look upo n it in a strict sen se as ha vin g some kin d of beauty and su ffi cient aim at art isti c symme try as to giv e aes the tic ple asu re. Th is woul d stir the reader 'sfin er emotio ns. Le ssi ng was among the fir st to tea ch us that ther e was little pla ce for the ug ly in art . That is, if we expe cte dit to provid e permanen tplea sure and val ue. I can , thus, fin dno del igh tin Baudel air e andhi s scho ol of Dec ade nts . Th ere is a cert ain fal lac y in the age -old mot to, Ars Gr ati a Ar tis . Art , andesp eci all y lite rat ure as one of its bran ches , mus t be bas ed upon an ide a or some de fin ite mes­ sa ge . Be sid es ha vin g some con cep t of what liter atu re is, the reader mus t be abl e to dis tin gu ishbetween con ten t andform . Do es he , for inst anc e, con side r that the con ten t ma tter mus t be ess ent iall y tru e? That it should be well cho sen and wo rthwh ile? That it shou ld inter est him or at leas t tho se for whom the book wa s int ende d? Th at it be sele cte d and con dense d? Tha t it ha ve or ig inal ity ? Look for a moment at the cont ent of a no ve l.Tha t con tent oug ht to dep ict cha rac ­ ter s tha t corr ectly represent human nat ure. Th e psycho log y of the novel should rin g true; the plot show inv ent ive powe r; its action be probab le. Cer tain ly the con ten t ou gh t to hol d inter est by use of rea lity , of lif e, of viv idn ess. If the aut hor is cre ati ve ly imagi na tiv e,the sce nes an d cha rac ters wil l be viv id ly por tray ed. As to form , ther e are the elem ent s of sty le, aesthetics , grammar, rhe tori c, log ic, pro sod y, verbal harmon y and con str uction . Ro undin gout the trio of what is exp ec ted of a rea der if a book is to imp ress him, we turn now to how well the reader is ab le to appraise life itse lf. Herehe mi gh tcond uc t a self -ex amina tion.Do es the aut hor put hi s hea rt sin cerely int o hi s work or does he a e. In uch i g i t istic try tic re. i 's i ns. g l . t d e e t p . , t ire and c o l t . i y t , a tis. , ial y re c , ite • . es i g t re guish t nd . , l e, r t ial y , ile? l ed? d d? i i ality? l. - r l e. logy l tive ; action b le. t i ly t t l use of reality, of , e . I creatively inative, ters l i ly t a ed. , t l , , r, ic, i , y, y uction. R ding i expected , e l l i lf. ere t ct ination. l

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