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THE POWER OF SELF-CRITICISM
there are some things which an author cannot teach because he does not quite know how or why he did a certain thing. Often-times a novelist achieves some of his happiest results unconsciously,[1] and by sheer instinct; and then, again, a carefully planned chapter or in some cases an entire volume fails of its effect, and the reason of the failure eludes him.[2] These are the sort
- ↑ Thackeray, in Vanity Fair, writing the chapter describing how Rawdon Crawley, released from the sponging house, returns to his home to find Lord Steyne in Becky's company and hurls the noble black-guard to the ground, gives the final touch with "Becky admired her husband, strong, brave and victorious." After he had written these words the novelist dropped his pen and brought his fist down on the table. "By God! That's a stroke of genius!"
- ↑ Mr. Henry James's own confessions regarding The Awkward Age, contained in the preface to the "New York Edition," seems very much to the point: "That I did, positively and seriously—ah, so seriously!—emulate the levity of Gyp and by the same token, of that hardiest of flowers fostered in her school, M. Henri Lavedan, is a contribution to the history of The
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