They cannot be judged, all
of them, on the top plane of perfect excellence; and if we judge
them all on any other plane, good, better, best get inextricably
mixed.
For example, consider once more a novel which at the moment of
this writing is a best-seller, and which with reference to its
popularity I have discussed in an earlier essay. I mean Mr.
Hutchinson's "If Winter Comes." This book is essentially the
tragedy of a good and honest soul thrown by harsh circumstance
into an environment which is bound to crush him. He has the wrong
wife, he has the wrong business associates, the girl he loves
is separated from him by moral barriers. If he breaks through these
he injures irreparably his own sense of what is due to his God and
his fellow man. His instincts of charity, humor, and love rebound
upon him. He is too Christian for England, and too guileless for
life. This is a worthy theme, and yet if we judge this novel on
the highest plane it fails miserably. For Mr. Hutchinson stacks
the cards. He gives his hero his way and his salvation, after much
suffering, by a series of lucky accidents. He destroys the problem
he creates, by forging an answer.
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