Richard Eaton

“ Like the city of New York, the Continental short story is an anomaly, the reflection of the traditions and customs of a score of nations. Just as the emigrant from Poland, Albania, or Timbuctoo is influenced from the very day of his arrival by American ideals, so the Continental short story, whether Spanish, Lettish, or Danish, represents the life and culture of the Continent still at the pinnacle of its artistic triumph. ”

“ Psychologically the public is able to obtain the same reaction from a well constructed short story as from a novel ten times as long. This represents an economy of time and money for the reader. The writer has learned to depict a life story whether tragic or comic in twenty odd pages as vividly as in two hundred and fifty. Moreover the short story, by reason of its brevity, permits the author to revise his work in a way which the exigencies of modern life render difficult in the case of a novel. ”

“ Throughout contemporary literature there is a pronounced absence of naturalism. Allegory and fantasy have assumed a rôle far more important in the creation of the short story on the continent than in the United States or Great Britain. ”