Frank Norris by Warren French (review)

Reviews 65 his selfish attitude toward members of the expedition preparing accounts pos­ sibly to be published before his. And the author admits that Lewis was far less successful in governing the territory once he arrived than he was in leading the expedition. The interpretation of the events surrounding Lewis’s mysterious death coincides with the views of Bakeless, Vardis Fisher, and Reuben Thwaites — that Meriwether Lewis was probably murdered, although there is no extant evidence to prove the point. Some readers will take issue with parts of Dillon’s study. He avoids com­ menting on the controversial role of Sacajawea and treats briefly the winter in Oregon. Quotations from original sources are frequently lengthy and some­ times unwieldy. This reviewer wishes the author had chosen to footnote his book. Since it is likely to remain the most exhaustive study for some time, specific documentation would have added to the book’s value. On the whole, however, Meriwether Lewis is a solid, well-written biog­ raphy and should serve as a useful source for students and scholars of Western history. R ic h a r d W. E t u l a i n , University of Oregon Frank Norris. By Warren French (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1962. 160 pages, $3.50.) Frank Norris is number 25 in the Twayne United States Authors Series and is Warren French’s second contribution to that project. By now everyone is familiar with the Twayne series and recognizes the convenience of the short, inexpensive volumes. For advanced students of American literature these volumes may be cursory reviews, but for others they are valuable. The form of French’s book is standard for the Twayne series: a chronology followed by a biographical first chapter and succeeding chapters dealing with various phases of Norris’ career. His thesis is that Norris has been called a naturalist in the tradition of Zola for too long and that he should be recognized as a romantic reformer who made his novels into tracts for moral reform and who, as a descendant of the transcendentalists, merely borrowed the technique of naturalism to give new force to the “irrepressible tradition of American romanticism.” French’s interpretation of Norris’ work is neither new nor in opposition to what has previously been said about the novelist. Norris was indebted to Zola, but he was also indebted to Kipling, Stevenson, and Scott; in calling Norris a moralist, French has only repeated Zola’s announcement in Le Roman Experimental that the naturalists were, in fact, “experimental moralists.” Fur­ thermore, we should recognize that Norris interpreted Zola’s naturalism as a form of romanticism, so it is natural to expect Norris’ work to show evidence of romanticism. It is difficult to believe that any serious student of American literature would unequivocally call Norris’ novels naturalism. We have all been brought up to believe that Garland, Crane, Norris, and London were not so 66 Western American Literature much naturalistic writers as they were writers trying to find something better than the realism of William Dean Howells. One who has not read the works of Frank Norris would probably be more confused than enlightened by French’s study, but for students of American fic­ tion the book is rather basic. It does not add to the Norris scholarship, but it does elucidate it. French places too much emphasis on Norris’ so-called trans­ cendentalism, especially when he claims that Norris was “ . . . A Far West answer to the call from Concord. . . .” And one wonders whether or not French’s attack upon Granville Hicks is completely objective. While there is nothing especially new in French’s discussion of Norris, his style is clear and enjoyable. He does not argue with the facts, but in his anticipation of arguments from his readers, he becomes so frank that one ques­ tions his consistency. But he is consistent. He takes one through the works of Norris with enthusiasm and candor, and he does not hesitate to show the failures — as in his chapter on Norris’ short stories — but he emphasizes the successes. It is to the credit of Warren French that he was able to complete the task of condensing and presenting his...