Fiction

LETTERS IN CANADA: 1942 315 MacLachlan (Alan), Rhymes of Montrealer (Montreal, author, 4736 Victoria Ave., 60 pp.). Marriott (Anne), Salt marsh (Toronto, Ryerson, 16 pp., 75c.). Morley (E. L.), Watchwords of liberty (Toronto, Crucible Press, 28 pp.). Perry (M. E.), Headng far call (Toronto, Ryerson, 12 PP'J 60c.). Porter (J. E.), Furrow in dunes (N.Y., Henry Harrison, 63 . pp., $1.50). Ritchie (C. T.), Sprigs of balsam (Upsalquitch, N.B., author, 15 pp., SOC.). Roberts (Sir C. G. D.), Flying colours (Toronto, Ryerson, xiv, 126 pp. ,60c.). Rody (M. V.), Gleanings (N.Y., Poets Press, National _ Poetry Centre, Radio City, Rockefeller Center 32 pp., $1.00). Saskatchewan Poetry Society, Saskatchewan poetry book) 1942-43 (Regina, Society, iv, 32 pp., 35c.). Sharman (Lyon), Town and torest (Toronto, Macmillan, 73 pp., $1.00). . Swan· 80n, (R. E.), Rhymes of western logger (Vancouver, Lumberman Printing Co., 56 pp.). Wallace (J. S.), Night is ended, thoughts in lyric (Winnipeg, Contemporary Publishers, 92 pp., $1.00). Ward (J. E.), This England (Toronto, Longman~~ 48 pp., $1.00). Wheeler (J. A.), Ways of pleasantness (Knowlton, P.Q., N. F. Smith Printing Co., 57 pp.). Wright (L. M.), Victory verses (Shaunavon, Sask., author, Box 279, 36 pp., 25c.). II. FICTION J. R. MACGILLIVRAY This has not been a very good year for Canadian fiction. The ri.umbe~ of books published -has been somewhat smaller than the average since these annual surveys were first undertaken. Once again one observes, the ·preponderance ofrqmance, the common lack of interest in the Canadian scene and contemporary .life as . imaginative material, and a cauti'ousness about trying any fi~tional technique which has not been tested elsewhere for at least a hundred y~ars._ Sev'eral creditable and interesting novels have appear~d in 1942, but i doubt if any measured up to our ordirfary best, for example to 'Mr MacLennan's Barometer Rising of the year before, nor does it seem likely that any will be much read ten years from now, or even five. The life-expectancy of almost all fiction is, of course, very brief, in Canada as elsewhere. Most of it is written, I should suppose, to stock the lending libraries and gift counters with a constant supply of "the latest books" for the solid feminine trade. The standards set up by these dependable patrons of contemporary fiction are not severe. The_outcome ,of the story must not be too obvious from the second chapter and the situations should not be quite the same as the novel read last week. The ordinary cash-customer does not demand characterization that penetrates below th~ epidermis, rich and memorable language', criticism of life and society, experiments in technique, nor any serious practice of the difficult and fascinating art offiction that might raise it in any way beyond the interest and capacity of all persons w~o read. This general dependence of fiction ·upon people 316 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY who have no literary interest does very little harm in a country where there is a large ~nd varied reading public and enough systematic and pos'itive discussion of books. The serious writer of fiction can expect to be read, understood, and appreciated by a not inconsiderable group. But if he writes in Canada, and especially if he writes for Canadians, he is under a grave disadvantage. He will have few local readers; he will find himself without the intellectual stimu1ation of systematic criticism; he will be tempted to imagine that the winning ofa publisher's prize or the successful develop.:. ment 6f a salesman's campaign makes him a master of the art of fiction; and neither his feHow-writers nor the professional patrons of our national literature will disabuse him of this idea. Under,these circumstances is it any wonder that our novelists rarely give us more than the most ordinary reader expect~ and the patrons of literature deserve? There is, of course, at least one means of escape from the-dilemma, that is, to ignore entirely the local situation and address one's book to a public and criticism beyond our national borders. This has been the attitude of Mr Morley Callaghan 'and of a...