dred years of writing; there are no terms to cover it and it is realizable only in the reading. It is enough to make the ordinary observer 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 philosophy 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 unexplained, inexplicable, precipitating tragedy with flawless nonchalance. 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 enough to dislike such breath-taking emphasis on the unavoidable. He is also wise enough to know that such an impertinence 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.
