Author: Hamlin Garland

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 9781330163276

Excerpt from Crumbling Idols: Twelve Essays on Art, Dealing Chiefly With Literature, Painting and the Drama This book is not a history; it is not a formal essay: it is a series of suggestions. I do not assume to speak for any one but myself, - being an individualist, - and the power of this writing to destroy or build rests upon its reasonableness, simply. It does not carry with it the weight of any literary hierarchy. It is intended to weaken the hold of conventionalism upon the youthful artist. It aims also to be constructive, by its statement and insistent re-statement that American art, to be enduring and worthy, must be original and creative, not imitative. My contention is not against literary artists of the past, but against fetichism. Literary prostration is as hopeless and sterile as prostration before Baal or Isis or Vishnu. It is fitter to stand erect in these days. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.