"Here is one of the fundamental defects of American fiction—perhaps the one character that sets it off sharply from all other known kinds of contemporary fiction. It habitually exhibits, not a man of delicate organization in revolt against the inexplicable tragedy of existence, but a man of low sensibilities and elemental desires yielding himself gladly to his environment, and so achieving what, under a third-rate civilization, passes for success. To get on: this is the aim. To weigh and reflect, to doubt and rebel: this is the thing to be avoided."
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Original Language: English
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Sources
H. L. Mencken, "The National Letters", Prejudices: Second Series (New York, 1920), pp. 39-40
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/American_literature
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American literature
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