The World Of Chance
William Dean Howells
- In
- 'A
- Hazard
- of
- New
- Fortunes'
- Mr.
- Howells
- took
- for
- his
- hero
- the
- editor
- of
- a
- New
- York
- magazine.
- In
- 'The
- World
- of
- Chance'
- the
- leading
- character
- is
- a
- young
- journalist
- of
- Midland,
- a
- town
- indefinitely
- located
- a
- day's
- journey
- west
- of
- New
- York
- City.
- He
- goes
- to
- the
- metropolis
- with
- the
- manuscript
- of
- his
- first
- novel,
- "A
- Modern
- Romeo,"
- in
- his
- pocket.
- The
- adventures
- of
- this
- manuscript,
- making
- its
- way
- from
- publisher
- to
- publisher,
- and
- finally
- returning
- to
- the
- first
- one,
- who
- had
- wished
- to
- publish
- it
- despite
- the
- adverse
- opinions
- expressed
- by
- all
- his
- "readers,"
- are
- of
- extreme
- interest.
- The
- book
- is
- finally
- issued
- by
- Mr.
- Brandreth,
- of
- the
- Chapley
- firm,
- as
- an
- almost
- desperate
- attempt
- to
- retrieve
- the
- fortunes
- of
- the
- house.
- In
- the
- two
- critical
- points
- for
- the
- author
- —
- the
- acceptance
- of
- his
- manuscript
- and
- the
- first
- important
- review
- of
- it
- —
- chance
- here
- plays
- the
- leading
- part.
- The
- leading
- characters
- of
- the
- book
- comment
- repeatedly
- on
- the
- apparent
- importance
- of
- mere
- luck
- in
- such
- matters.
- But
- the
- insistence
- of
- the
- book
- is
- upon
- the
- extremely
- large
- part
- which
- apparent
- luck,
- and
- luck
- only,
- plays
- in
- the
- literary
- world.
- It
- can
- hardly
- be
- said,
- however,
- by
- anyone
- who
- is
- well
- acquainted
- with
- these
- matters
- from
- the
- standpoint
- of
- the
- publisher
- or
- the
- author
- of
- experience,
- that
- Mr.
- Howells
- has
- greatly
- exaggerated
- the
- element
- of
- fortune
- in
- the
- case
- of
- authors
- who
- have
- their
- reputation
- to
- make.
- What
- it
- is
- that
- makes
- a
- book
- sell
- ;
- why,
- when
- it
- has
- reached
- a
- certain
- large
- sale,
- it
- stops
- just
- where
- it
- does;
- and
- will
- sell
- no
- longer
- ;
- and
- why
- the
- shrewdest
- publishers
- are
- again
- and
- again
- mistaken
- in
- their
- opinions,
- favorable
- or
- adverse
- to
- a
- manuscript
- —
- all
- these
- things
- are
- mysterious
- indeed.
- Mr.
- Howells
- does
- not
- write
- as
- a
- practical
- moralist
- but
- there
- is
- a
- very
- large
- audience
- waiting
- for
- 'The
- World
- of
- Chance',
- consisting
- of
- would-
- be
- authors,
- who
- will
- probably
- learn
- the
- force
- of
- some
- very
- hard
- and
- disagreeable
- facts
- in
- the
- matter
- of
- publishing,
- and
- take
- home
- the
- moral
- to
- themselves
- with
- much
- more
- thoroughness
- from
- a
- novel
- like
- this
- than
- from
- volumes
- of
- advice
- by
- publishers
- or
- authors
- of
- experience
- The
- socialistic
- element
- which
- has
- been
- so
- prominent
- in
- Mr.
- Howells'
- works
- before
- is
- seen
- here
- in
- the
- Hughes
- family
- —
- the
- four
- members
- of
- which
- offer
- as
- many
- careful
- studies
- in
- character
- of
- a
- typical
- reformer's
- family.
- Mr.
- Howells
- appears
- to
- have
- turned
- at
- length
- from
- the
- discipleship
- of
- Tolstoy,
- Bellamy
- and
- other
- social
- reformers.
- 'The
- World
- of
- Chance'
- is
- in
- many
- ways
- one
- of
- the
- most
- thoroughly
- interesting
- of
- Mr.
- Howells'
- novels,
- as
- well
- as
- one
- of
- the
- best written.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
