The Selected Writings of Thomas Hardy [antikvár]

Introduction Irring Howe Ordinarily we do not think of Thomas Hardy as a writer of short stories. He lives for us as the author of several distinguished novels dramatizing the clash between a long-settled culture and invading spokesmen of resdessness, and also as a lyric poet, master of the contemplative elegy and local vignette. In recent years his reputation has become unsetded, among writers and critics if not ordinary readers. Taking their cue from Henry James and T. S. Eliot, both of whom condescended toward Hardy, influential critics have charged his novels with coarse melodrama, rudimentary psychology, and an overly-calculating reliance upon rural charms. As a poet, however. Hardy's standing has risen, for his homely diction and contemplative rhythms have made him seem attractive to a generation of writers wishing to roughen their verse with the abrasives of common speech. Yet amidst these controversies almost nothing has been said about Hardy's stories, and in a time of popular reprints they have not, until this present volume, been easily available. I do not wish to exaggerate. That Hardy's stories are littie read is not a scandal, it is merely a pity. Most of his stories, serviceable products for magazines, are not worth salvaging; seven or eight are very fine; and one, "The Fiddler of the Reels," can be called great. To write a history of modern fiction or modern poetry without seriously considering Hardy would be unthinkable; to omit his name from a study of the modem short story would be plausible. I would only add to this dominant judgment of our literary criticism that the best of Hardy's stories can still yield a distinct pleasure. They have little to do with the main line of the modern short story. Hardy cannot be said to have anticipated such masters as Chekhov, Joyce and Hemingway in the short 11