Goldbeck, it is like Chicago: vast, but not impressive. It lacks
artistic touch and symmetrical wholeness. The fourth paragraph is
excellent. The rest was unnecessary. The fragmentary mind of Mr. Kaun is
phosphorescent, produces tiny sparks which are soon lost in the
darkness. Higher mathematics is the best remedy for Mr. Kaun’s mind.
“The Spring Recital” is a bore. The author of _The “Genius”_ seems to
have a mania for torturing the innocent public. I read “The Spring
Recital” twice, yes twice; and when I got through with it I felt
extremely uncomfortable. I don’t understand it and it doesn’t mean
anything to me. I challenge anyone to explain to me: What does this
piece of “dramatic” “quatch” mean?
All the other articles—well, they are harmless.
_Woods Dargan, Darlington, S. C._:
I enclose a check for $1.50, and ask that you enter my name for one
year’s subscription—that is, if you will let one of the rabble creep in.
Frankly, I know no more about art (with a capital A or otherwise) than a
rabbit. I don’t even know what an “Imagist” is! And for the life of me I
cannot understand why the temperamental, fussy gentleman named Alexander
S. Kaun should not use a singular verb with a singular noun, just like
ordinary people. But when he says, as he does in the first line of the
fourth paragraph of his article, “the dearer a person or a thing _are_
to me, etc.,” I know there must be intellectual purpose in it, some
esoteric effect that gets to the cultured few but passes over my head;
so I bow before the unknown beauty of it, thinking, “Odd, but no doubt
it’s all right.”
Also, to my untutored mind, the frequent use of profanity in an
everyday, conversational way in two or three of the articles is amusing,
and makes me wonder. It reminds me of the days when I first took up the
art, and used to feel a shudder of delight when I ripped out a good,
mouth-filling, “Damn it all to hell!” Perhaps it has lost its charm for
me as a literary ornament because I swear so much myself, just as a
matter of habit without deriving the oldtime pleasure from it.
Other places where these boys put it all over me are in music and
Russians. It is one of my secret sorrows that I know I know nothing
about music. I like it, but it never occurs to me to fade away and fill
an early grave if I hear somebody’s nocturne murdered—that is, if I know
it is being murdered, which is highly unlikely. And as to the Russians,
old Dostoevsky is my limit so far, but I’m game, and am going in for all
the others,—the more gloomy and morbid the better.
Then, there’s this Mr. Theodore Dreiser. As we say in this neck of the
woods, in our uncouth manner, “He must be a bear-cat.” (By the way, I’d
give a lot to know what “demiurge” means in the sense in which it is
applied to him. Mr. Masters used it in _The New York Times_ some weeks
ago, and now I find it again in Mr. Powys’ appreciation. I don’t know
what they mean.) Well, I’ve had his book, _The “Genius,”_ for sometime,
and mean to read it all as soon as I can get round to it. Perhaps I’ll
know what “demiurge” means then—but I doubt it.
For all that I have said I would not have you think that I am wholly
lacking in soul. I have some things in common with these fellows, for I
have no religion or morals, and I enjoy getting drunk, riotously,
gloriously drunk, once or twice a year.
And now, after telling you at more length than any decent person should
what has puzzled me in your Review, permit me to say what I like. The
first part of your own contribution, “Life Itself,” strikes me as the
real thing. I understand all that, being a common person. For the last
part, as I’ve said, I know nothing of art, and life doesn’t mean those
things to me, naturally. But I like it. I can, after a fashion, see how
it _might_ mean them. The review of Dreiser by Mr. Powys that I have
mentioned already is good writing and good sense. How true it is, I am
not yet in a position to guess. Then, Mr. Edgar Masters always writes
vividly, deeply. I am glad to add “So We Grew Together” to what I know
of his stuff. It is almost as good a portrait and short story as some of
the best of the Anthology.
That fellow Ben Hecht can write. Personally, I have a sort of leaning
toward the dregs, but, as a general thing, I don’t know that there’s
much use in writing about them just so. But he’s certainly good. He can
write. I never heard of him before, but I shall look out for him in
future.
For the sake of what I find good I’m willing to put up with what I fail
to grasp, and so I look forward to much pleasure and instruction from
THE LITTLE REVIEW. Luck to it. As long as you, Miss Lowell, Mr. Masters,
and Mr. Hecht contribute, so long will it be cheap at any price. And,
who knows? I may yet learn from my friend Mr. Kaun the hidden beauties
of a singular subject with a plural verb.
_The January-February Issue_
On account of having no funds during January we have been forced
to combine the two issues. Subscriptions will be extended
accordingly.
FINE ARTS THEATRE
For TWO WEEKS, Beginning
January 17, 1916
THE CHICAGO PLAYERS
with
MME. BORGNY HAMMER
Evenings (Except Wednesdays and Thursdays)
and Saturday Matinees
“AGNETE”
by
AMALIE SKRAM
(First Time in English)
Wednesday and Thursday Evenings
and Special Matinees
JANUARY 20, 21, 26 and 27
“THERESE RAQUIN”
by
EMILE ZOLA
FINE ARTS THEATRE
BLACKSTONE HOTEL
French Room
Eight talks on Literature, Art and the Drama on successive
Saturday afternoons at half-past three, during the entire months
of January and February, beginning January the eighth.
Lecturer
JESSE QUITMAN
Saturday, January 29th, 3:30—Subject to be announced.
Saturday, February 5th, 3:30—Subject to be announced.
Saturday, February 12th, 3:30—Subject to be announced.
Saturday, February 19th, 3:30—Subject to be announced.
Saturday, February 26th, 3:30—Subject to be announced.
An Invitation Cordially Extended
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now, to use Consumers coal, because at some time in the future
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then and if they once use Consumers coal they will never use any
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You can call it either charity or advertising, it makes no
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Last year we distributed 70,720 fifty-pound lots of Consumers
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you choose. In either event we _know_ that we kept _70,720
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SEVEN SHORT PLAYS. By Lady Gregory. Contains the following plays
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THE DRAMA LEAGUE SERIES. A series of modern plays, published for
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THE THIEF. By Henry Bernstein. (Just Out).
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A WOMAN’S WAY. By Thompson Buchanan.
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GENERAL
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THE NEARING CASE. By Lightner Witmer. A complete account of the
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COMPLETE WORKS. Maurice Maeterlinck. The Essays, 10 vols., per
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THE AMETHYST RING. By Anatole France. Translated by B. Drillien.
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CRAINQUEBILLE. By Anatole France. Translated by Winifred Stevens.
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THE “GENIUS.” By Theodore Dreiser. Send $1.60.
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