11. The Shepherdis Pipe box 35/10
610
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
dred years of writing; there are no terms to cover it and it is realiz¬
able only in the reading. It is enough to make the ordinary obser¬
ver correctly sceptical, even as he will be blindingly convinced, and
the critic is in a fair way to become a salesman.
Unfortunately there can be no money back guarantee. The
editor in his introduction points out the fact that Schnitzler’s phil¬
osophy is not pleasant, all the more not pleasant because he can
endow what he chooses to create with a crushing convincingness.
There is a monotone of pessimism which pervades his work and
which will prevent it from capturing a large audience. Like the
traveller in the story of The Blind Geronimo, life appears unex¬
plained, inexplicable, precipitating tragedy with flawless noncha¬
lance. The ordinary observer, who will be filled with a holy joy by
the sheer niceness and powerful excellence of The Blind Geronimo,
will be at the same time reluctant to accept the dejecting doctrine
which is Schnitzler’s offering to later reflection. He is intelligent
enough to estimate the best of all possible worlds accurately, but
he is wise cnough to dislike such breath-taking emphasis on the un¬
avoidable. He is also wise enough to know that such an impertin¬
ence as mediocre Continental philosophy cannot affect his sincere
appreciation of ability which must be universally recognized. So
while the ordinary observer is not going to like The Shepherd’s Pipe
and Other Stories as well as Casanova’s Homecoming, he is going
to understand the genius of Arthur Schnitzler very much better,
and no one can do that without admiration.
Curnnzar Waichr