Alcala 1958

ass umea po se? Su pp osi ngtha t the aut hor is sin cer e, doe s he show tem per anc ean d jus tice in hi s app eal to em ot ions? Do es the rea der fin d the book sti rr ing as a tru e pic tur e of lif e; or is ther e pos sibly jus t en ou gh sen sati on and me lod ram a as to cre ate ex ag ge ra tion? Do es the book mak e its aut hor appear a ma gn eti cor a repe llen t per son alit y,a man of bre adt h or bigotr y; of hop efu l or des pairin gnatur e, sel fish or sympatheti c?The me ssa ge tha t the book is to imp art, does it con formwi th the ba sic moral law s? Is the rea der lef t with a sen se of comple ten essan d sa tis fa cti on? If the read er has bro ught at lea st a por tion of thi s atte ntio n to the book, the aut hor will und oub tedlyha ve cer tai nef fe cts upo n him . A book should ma ke the rea der do one of thre e th ings :thin k, fee l, see . Th e be st lite rat ure does al l thr ee. In accom­ pli sh ing the se the mo st imp ort ant elem ent, how eve r, is the sti rri ngof the imag ina tio n. Th e inte llec t of the aut hor has a wa y of af fe ct in gthe inte llec tof the reade r. That is, if the book is log ica lly an d coh ere ntl y put tog eth er, if the aut hor dis pla ysa skil l in un ify in gfac t and eve nt, if h is tho ugh ts appe ar va lid , hi s ins igh tke en . Th e awak ­ enin g of the int elle ct sho uld ins ure the aw ak en ingof the imag ina tio n.Fo r it there ­ by enables the au tho r to bet ter pro duc e tho se emoti ons of thi nk ing , feelin g and seei ng . No book is wor th its sal t tha t doe s not en lar ge our though t or ou r sym pa thi es. No ne is gre at un less it can do bo th. Af ter all, tho ugh t and symp ath iesar e two of the func tio nsof the mind that gro w thr oug h rea din g. Th e min d grows in a wa y sim ila r to ph ysi cal and bio log ica lgr ow th. In fac t it is suc h dev elopmenttha t gi ve shope and mea ni ngto the wh ole of lif e. We are cons ide rin gthe ef fe ct s of the au tho r upo n us. Every aut ho r's work will have hi s own dis tin cti vesp irit. It wi ll be gr av e, sun ny , som bre , fla sh ing, aus ter e, wit ty, acc ordin g to each au tho r's nat ure . osing e, s ance ti l io s? i e ; l g ion a t ration? etic ll t s ality, h i y; f l i g e, tic? ge , i l s l tenes i faction? t ti s ti n tedly in e ts . i gs: , l, . t re l e . - ing a t t, r, ing i ation. ll t cting i t l ect r. l y ntly er, l ys l if ing nt, i ts r l , t . - g l ct l ening i ation. F it - r e s io s ing, g g. ge t thies. l . t athies tion h i g. r cal l ical g th. t ent s h ing l . i ering cts r r's i ctive i it. ll e, , , ing, t e, ding r's . e t ,

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Th e rea der wil l fin d it hel pfu l as well as int ere sting to sum up the trai ts of eac h aut hor he rea ds by br ief ,acc ura teest imate s of the domi nant tra its of cha rac ter and sty le. Th us can the rea der bett er evalu ate the aut hor 'sef fe ct son hi s emoti ons. Look a tBa lza c,fo r example . He is sord id, tra gic an d de pr ess ing .Th en ther e is Dick­ en s, wh o is clea n, sym pa the tic, encour ag ing . Th e spr igh tlin essof Steven son is counter ­ bal anc ed by the fata lism and glo om of Ha rdy. Willi am De an Howells is fill ed wit h wh imsic alhum or and fan cy . But then the re is hi s con tem por ary ,Hen ry James, ex hi bi tin gthe col d and almost me rci les s pen etr atio n of cha rac ter an d eve nt. Th e mo re we und ers tan d the aut hor an d hi s ef fe ct upo n us , the bet ter we und erst and how thi s pa rtic ula r bit of read ing ha s aff ec ted our mi nd. A dis cus sio nof how one jud ges a book wou ld be inc omple tewit hou t a few wor ds on style. Wha t is thi s th ing cal led sty le, but the arr ang ementof wor ds in a manner that at on ce bes t exp res sesthe ind ividu ality of the au tho r an d the ide a and int ent in hi s m in d? Styl e imme dia tel yshow s the per son ali ty of the author . It ai ds us in ma kin g the thumb nai leva lua tio nsof the aut hor s we rea d. Ev ery sty le ha s its own peculi artho ughtand dic tio n. Th ought is at the ba sis . Bu t it is not alo ne. Si nc er ity and chara cte ralso cou nt. Th ere are sty les and sty les . What in­ ter est s us is one tha t is good . It is bou nd to rev eal un con sci ou s turn s of though t and fanc ythat bet ray nobil ityof cha racter .Th e rea der can spot go od sty le in the aut hor 's sen se of form , the aut hor 's use of imagery an d ch oic e of wo rds . Wh at ma kes a sty le "g oo d"or , if yo u will , "p lea sin g,"is that the reader , wh ile rec ogniz ingthat the re is a sty le pre sen t, is not so cap tiva ted by it as to lose sig ht of the messa ge. From no les s than Mat thew Arn old 5 we 5 C f . S tu dy of C e lt ic L i ter at ur e and On Tran s­ lat ing Hom er (New Yor k: Mac mill an, 192 4). sting t i f, te tes nt it ter l . s ate 's e cts ions. t l c, e a ple. He is sordid, gi es ing. - is clean, thetic, encouraging. i tlines so - e lis y. il a l s i sical cy. rary, es, i iting ciles ation t . ta d t , and ti l r ing te . ssion l l te t t s i g l , ange ent r ses i i ality r d? e diately s s ality . i g nail tions s . l r t ti n. h . . rity cter t. l l . - ts . l scious t y ity racter. l 's s , 's i e . s l " , , l ing," i , il nizing t l t, i ted t ge. t Arnold' ' y of Celtic Li erature - fl il an, ). N

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