doubtful when 'Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard' appeared in 1881. It at
once established his reputation; 'Sylvestre Bonnard', as 'Le Lys Rouge'
later, was crowned by the French Academy. These novels are replete with
fine irony, benevolent scepticism and piquant turns, and will survive the
greater part of romances now read in France. The list of Anatole
France's works in fiction is a large one. The titles of nearly all of
them, arranged in chronological order, are as follows: 'Les Desirs de
Jean Seyvien (1882); Abeille (1883); Le Livre de mon Ami (1885); Nos
Enfants (1886); Balthazar (1889); Thais (1890); L'Etui de Naire (1892);
Jerome Coignard, and La Rotisserie de la Reine Pedanque (1893); and
Histoire Contemporaine (1897-1900), the latter consisting of four
separate works: 'L'Orme du Mail, Le Mannequin d'Osier, L'Anneau
d'Amethyste, and Monsieur Bergeret a Paris'. All of his writings show
his delicately critical analysis of passion, at first playfully tender in
its irony, but later, under the influence of his critical antagonism to
Brunetiere, growing keener, stronger, and more bitter. In 'Thais' he has
undertaken to show the bond of sympathy that unites the pessimistic
sceptic to the Christian ascetic, since both despise the world. In 'Lys
Rouge', his greatest novel, he traces the perilously narrow line that
separates love from hate; in 'Opinions de M. l'Abbe Jerome Coignard' he
has given us the most radical breviary of scepticism that has appeared
since Montaigne. 'Le Livre de mon Ami' is mostly autobiographical;
'Clio' (1900) contains historical sketches.

To represent Anatole France as one of the undying names in literature
would hardly be extravagant. Not that I would endow Ariel with the
stature and sinews of a Titan; this were to miss his distinctive
qualities: delicacy, elegance, charm. He belongs to a category of
writers who are more read and probably will ever exercise greater
influence than some of greater name. The latter show us life as a whole;