But he
had no patience to develop his men and women in the clear, orthodox
way. He imagined that the ordinary reader could follow his lightning
flashes of illumination, his piling up of metaphor on metaphor, and
the result is that many are discouraged by his methods, just as nine
readers out of ten are wearied when they attempt to read Browning's
longer poems. His kinship to Browning is strong in style and in
method of thought, in his way of leaping from one conclusion to
another, in his elimination of all the usual small connecting words
and in his liberties with the language. He seemed to be writing for
himself, not for the general public, and he never took into account
the slower mental processes of those not endowed with his own vivid
imagination.
[Illustration: GEORGE MEREDITH WITH HIS DAUGHTER AND
GRANDCHILDREN--FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH]
Meredith's life was that of a scholar; it contained few exciting
episodes. He was of Welsh and Irish stock. At an early age he was sent
to Germany, where he remained at a Moravian school until he was
fifteen. He then returned to England to study law, but he never
practiced it. For a number of years he was a regular contributor to
the London MORNING POST, and in 1866 he acted as correspondent during
the Austro-Italian war. For many years he served as chief reader and
literary adviser to Chapman & Hall, the English publishers, and in
that capacity he showed an insight that led to the development of many
authors whose first work was crude and unpromising.
Pages:
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110