Archibald Malmaison

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Archibald Malmaison by Julian Hawthorne, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Julian Hawthorne ISBN: 9781465555496
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Julian Hawthorne
ISBN: 9781465555496
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have the best of it. To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to be found who would not rather die than do that. No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have the best of it. To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to be found who would not rather die than do that. No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Talmud by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book In the Far East: A Narrative of Exploration and Adventure in Cochin-China, Cambodia, Laos, and Siam by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Price of Power: Being Chapters from the Secret History of the Imperial Court of Russia by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book Roumanian Fairy Tales and Legends by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book Donald Ross of Heimra (Complete) by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Treasury of Ancient Egypt by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Adventure of Living: a Subjective Autobiography by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Hittites: The Story of a Forgotten Empire by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book Helbeck of Bannisdale (Complete) by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book A Visit to Java With an Account of the Founding of Singapore by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book Los pescadores de Trépang by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Kopje Garrison: A Story of the Boer War by Julian Hawthorne
Cover of the book The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation by Julian Hawthorne
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy