FICTION.
In modern times much that is best in literature has gone into the pages of the novel. The men and women of genius who would in other days have been great poets, philosophers, dramatists, essayists, and humorists have concentrated their powers, and poured out all their wealth to set in gold a story of human life. Don't neglect the novels; but be sure to read good ones, and don't read too many.
In fiction, England, America, and France are far ahead of the rest of the world. Scott may well be held to lead the list, considering the quantity and quality of what he wrote; and Dickens, I presume, by many would be written next, though I prefer the philosophic novelists, like George Eliot, Macdonald, Kingsley, Hugo, etc. Fielding, Richardson, Goldsmith, Sterne, and Defoe, Jane Austen, Cooper, and Marryat all claim our attention on one account or another.
The United States can boast of Hawthorne, Tourgée, Wallace, Hearn, Aldrich, Warner, Curtis, Jewett, Craddock, and many others.
France has a glorious army, led by Victor Hugo, George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, Gautier, Mérimée, etc. But the magnificent powers of these artists are combined with sad defects. Hugo is the greatest literary force since Goethe and Scott; but his digressions are sometimes terribly tedious, his profundity darkness, and his "unities," his plot, and reasons for lugging in certain things hard to find. Balzac gives us a monotony of wickedness. George Sand is prone to idealize lust. "Notre Dame" and "Les Misérables," "Le Père Goriot" and "Eugénie Grandet," "Consuelo" and "La Mare au Diable," "Capitaine Fracasse" and "Vingt Ans Après," are great books; but they will not rank with "Tom Jones" artistically, nor with the "Vicar of Wakefield," "Ivanhoe," "Adam Bede," "Romola," or "The Scarlet Letter," considering all the elements that go to make a great novel.
Germany, Italy, and Spain have no fiction that compares with ours.
No doubt many will be surprised to find Fielding, Balzac, Tolstoï, and others placed so low in the list as they are. The reason is that the moral tone of a book is, with us, a weightier test of its claims on the attention of the general reader, than the style of the author or the merit of his work from an artistic point of view. There might be some doubt whether or no we ought not to exclude from our tables entirely all books that are not noble enough in character to admit of their being read aloud in the family. The trouble is that much of the finest literature of the world would have to be excluded. So there seems to be no course but to admit these men, with a note as to their character.
One who wishes to make a study of the novel will be interested in Dunlop's "History of Fiction," Tuckerman's "History of English Prose Fiction," Hazlitt's "English Novelists," Lanier's "Novel," Masson's "British Novelists and their Styles," and Jeaffreson's "Novels and Novelists."
The best fiction should be read: R. D. G.
[213] "Heart of Midlothian," "Waverley," "Ivanhoe," "Kenilworth," "Guy Mannering," "The Antiquary," "Rob Roy," "Old Mortality," "Red Gauntlet," etc. Scott is by very many—and among them some of the greatest—loved more than any other novelist. The purity, beauty, breadth, and power of his works will ever place them among the most desirable reading. (Eng., 19th cent.) Hutton's "Sir Walter Scott," Carlyle's "Essay on Scott," Hazlitt's Essay in "The Spirit of the Age," and other books referred to in the head notes to Poetry and Fiction will be useful to the student of Scott.
[214] "Adam Bede," "Mill on the Floss," "Romola," "Silas Marner," etc. Deep philosophy and insight into character mark all George Eliot's writings. (Eng., 19th cent.) Lanier's "Development of the Novel" is practically only an enthusiastic study of George Eliot.
[215] "Pickwick," "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," "Martin Chuzzlewit," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc. Dickens needs no comment. His fame is in every house. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[216] Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," "Marble Faun," "Great Stone Face," etc., are by universal consent accorded the first place in the lists of American novels, and are among the best to be found anywhere. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[217] "Vicar of Wakefield." One of Goethe's earliest favorites. (Eng., 18th cent.)
[218] "Rienzi," "Last Days of Pompeii," "Last of the Barons," etc. Most powerful, delightful, and broadening books. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[219] "Malcolm," "Marquis o' Lossie," "David Elginbrod," etc. Books of marvellous spiritual helpfulness. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[220] "Esmond," "Vanity Fair," etc. Very famous books. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[221] "Westward, Ho!" "Two Years Ago," etc. Among the best and most famous pictures of true English character. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[222] "Ben Hur." This book has been placed close to the Bible and Bunyan. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[223] "Hot Plowshares," "The Fool's Errand," "The Invisible Empire," "Appeal to Cæsar," etc. Books widely known, but whose great merit is not fully recognized. Tourgée, though uneven, seems to us a writer of very great power. His "Hot Plowshares" is a powerful historical novel; and few books in the whole range of literature are so intensely interesting, and so free from all that is objectionable in subject or execution. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[224] "Les Misérables," "Notre Dame de Paris," "Les Travailleurs de la Mer," etc. Wraxall's translations of these great French novels are most excellent. (France, 19th cent.)
Some critics think that no characters in Shakspeare are better drawn than those of Dumas. "Monte Cristo," "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" (Stevenson's favorite), "The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," "The Marie Antoinette Romances," etc., are powerful and intensely interesting novels. (France, 19th cent.)
[225] "Robinson Crusoe." There are few persons who do not get delight and inspiration from Defoe's wonderful story. (Eng., 1661-1731.)
"Tom Brown at Rugby" and "Tom Brown at Oxford," by Thomas Hughes, are delightful books for boys. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[226] Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was God's bugle-call to the war against slavery. Her "Oldtown Folks" and "Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories" are very humorous sketches of New England life. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Cooper's "The Spy," "The Pilot," "Leather Stocking," "Deerslayer," "Pathfinder," etc., are books that interfere with food and sleep, and chain us to their pages. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[227] "Prue and I," by George William Curtis, is one of the most suggestive stories in print, and is in every way a delightful book. "Potiphar Papers," "Our Best Society," "Trumps," "Lotus Eaters,"—in fact, everything Mr. Curtis writes, is of the highest interest, and worthy of the most careful attention. (U. S., 19th cent.)
The same may be said of the works of Charles Dudley Warner,—"Being a Boy," "A Hunting of the Deer," "In the Wilderness," "Backlog Studies," "My Summer in a Garden," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[228] T. B. Aldrich, while perhaps not destined to rank with Scott, Eliot, and Hawthorne, is nevertheless one of the most wholesome and interesting of living authors. "The Stillwater Tragedy" is his strongest book. "Prudence Palfrey," "The Story of a Bad Boy," "Margery Daw," and "The Queen of Sheba" will doubtless be read by those who once become acquainted with the author. (U. S., 19th cent.)
The first part of Hearn's "Chita" exceeds in beauty and strength any other piece of descriptive writing with which we are familiar. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[229] Ebers' "Homo Sum," "Uarda," and "An Egyptian Princess" are very powerful studies of Egyptian life and history. (Ger., 19th cent.)
"With Fire and Sword," and its sequels, "The Deluge" and "Pan Michael," by Henryk Sienkiewicz, are among the greatest books of modern times. They are historical romances of the conflict between Russia, Poland, and Sweden; and their power may be guessed from the fact that critics have compared the author favorably with Scott, Dumas, Schiller, Cervantes, Thackeray, Turgenieff, Homer, and even Shakspeare. (Poland, 19th cent.)
[230] Miss Austen's "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" (Eng., 19th cent.), and Charlotte Bronté's "Jane Eyre" (Eng., 19th cent.), are all noble and renowned novels.
[231] Louisa Alcott's "Little Women" is a lovely story of home life; and its exceeding popularity is one of the most encouraging signs of the growth of a taste for pure, gentle, natural literature. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Mrs. Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" deservedly met at once a high reward of popularity, and was placed in the front rank among stories of child-life. As a teacher of gentleness and good manners it is invaluable. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[232] Cable's "Grande Pointe," "The Grandissimes," etc., should be read by all who wish to know the best living novelists. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Craddock's "Where the Battle was Fought," "Despot of Broomsedge Cove," "Prophet of Great Smoky Mountain," "Story of Keedon Bluffs," and "Down the Ravine" are fascinating stories, the last two being fine books for children. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[233] Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's "Sights and Insights," though somewhat too wordy for this busy world, is worthy a place here, because of its spiritual beauty and its keen common-sense in respect to marriage and courtship. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Sarah Orne Jewett has won a good name by her excellent stories, "Deephaven," "Betty Leicester," etc. Her "Play Days" is a fine book for girls. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[234] Fielding, Le Sage, and Balzac are writers of great power, whose works are studied for their artistic merit, their wit, and the intense excitement some of them yield; but the general moral tone of their writings places them below the purer writers above spoken of in respect to their value to the general reader, one of whose deepest interests is character-forming.
Fielding's "Tom Jones" is by many considered the finest novel in existence; and it undoubtedly would be, if along with its literary skill it possessed the high tone of Curtis or Scott. "Jonathan Wild" is also a powerful story. (Eng., 18th cent.)
"Gil Blas," by Le Sage, is one of the most famous and widely read books in the world. (France, 1668—1747.)
Balzac's best are "Le Père Goriot" (and especially the magnificent preface to this book), "La Recherche de l'Absolu," "Eugénie Grandet," "La Peau de Chagrin," etc. (France, 19th cent.)
[235] Rousseau's "Emile" has been called the greatest book ever written; but we presume that bias and limitation of knowledge on the part of critics (not rare accomplishments of theirs) might procure a similar judgment in respect to almost any strong and peculiar book. Rousseau's "Confessions" are worth some attention. (France, 18th cent.)
Saintine's "Picciola" is a beautiful story. (France, 19th cent.)
[236] Coffin's "Boys of '76," "Boys of '61," "Story of Liberty," etc., are splendid books for young people. The last describes the march of the human race from slavery to freedom. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Charles Reade's "Hard Cash," "Peg Woffington," "Cloister and Hearth" are fascinating stories. (Eng., 19th cent.)
Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year."
[237] Landor's "Imaginary Conversations of Great Men." (Eng., 18th cent.)
Turgenieff's "Liza," "Smoke," and "Fathers and Sons." (Russia, 19th cent.)
Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew."
Manzoni's "I promessi Sposi."
[238] Cottin's "Elizabeth."
Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." (Eng., 19th cent.)
Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." A book that teaches the danger of giving way to the evil side of our nature.
[239] Mrs. Ward's "Robert Elsmere" is a famous picture of the struggle in the religious mind to-day. (Eng., 19th cent.)
Margaret Deland's "John Ward, Preacher," is a book of the same class as the last, but is not as interesting as her "Florida Days" or her Poems. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" is the autobiography of a noble horse, and is tender and intelligent. A book that every one who has anything to do with horses, or indeed with animals of any sort, cannot afford to neglect. (Eng., 19th cent.)
Bret Harte's "Luck of Roaring Camp" is an interesting picture of Western life, and opens a new vein of fiction. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[240] Green's "Hand and Ring," "Leavenworth Case," etc., are splendid examples of reasoning, without any of the objectionable features usually found in detective stories. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Miss Mulock's "John Halifax, Gentleman," is a great and famous book. (Eng., 19th cent.)
Disraeli's "Lothair," "Endymion," etc., are strong books; requiring the notice of one who reads widely in English fiction. (Eng., 19th cent.)
Howells' "A Modern Instance," "The Undiscovered Country," "A Hazard of New Fortunes," "A Chance Acquaintance," "Lady of the Aroostook," etc., are not objectionable. (U. S., 19th cent.)
Tolstoï's "Anna Karénina" deserves mention, though we cannot by any means agree with Howells that Tolstoï is the greatest of novelists. The motive and atmosphere of his books are not lofty, and some of his work is positively disgraceful. (Russia, 19th cent.)
[241] George Sand's "Consuelo" is a great book in more senses than one; and although it deserves a place in this lower list, yet there are so many better books, that if one follows the true order, life would be likely to depart before he had time to read a four-volume novel by an author of the tone of George Sand. (France, 19th cent.)
Black's "Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," "Princess of Thule." (Eng., 19th cent.)
Blackmore's "Lorna Doone." (Eng., 19th cent.)
Olive Schreiner's "Story of an African Farm" is powerful, but not altogether wholesome. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[242] Bremer's "The Neighbors." (Norway, 19th cent.)
Trollope's "Last Chronicles of Barsetshire." (Eng., 19th cent.)
Winthrop's "Cecil Dreeme," "John Brent." (U. S., 19th cent.)
[243] Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa Harlowe" are interesting, because they were the beginning of the English novel; but they are not nice or natural, and have no attractions except their historic position. (Eng., 1689-1761.)
Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker" is his strongest work. "Peregrine Pickle" is very witty, and "Adventures of an Atom" altogether a miserable book. Smollett possessed power, but his work is on a very low plane. (Eng., 18th cent.)
Boccaccio's "Decameron" is a series of splendidly told tales, from which Chaucer drew much besides his inspiration. The book is strong, but of very inferior moral tone.