SOURCE: "Realism and Idealism," in Essays in European and Oriental Literature, edited by Albert Mordell, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1923, pp. 16-18.

In the following essay, originally published in 1886, Hearn decries the "revolting realism" prevalent among the works of his contemporary writers in France.

We have frequently drawn attention to the increasing tendency toward a revolting realism which is manifested by the leading authors of France. Indeed, the methods of the dissecting-room are growing in favor with the literateurs of the world. French authors have been the chief sinners in this regard, because they have to cater to a peculiar public taste, and because the French language is peculiarly adapted to embalming with exquisite literary art the most awful forms of human depravity. No English writer dares to treat the topics which give life and color to the masterpieces of Emile Zola, Alphonse Daudet and Guy de Maupassant. With...