War to Bring Better Books

There will be a fresh burst of literary achievement after the war, but no trend of cynicism as striking and widespread as there was in the 1920's, Theodore Spencer, associate professor of English, stated yesterday, in an interview over the Crimson Network.

Professor Spencer said that since "most people are facing the present war with more realism than they did before," the chances of intense disillusion, and correspondingly, of serious cynicism are considerably lessened.

U. S. Will Lead in Literature

He stated that the most interesting literature after the war "will doubtless be written by people who have had an active part in the conflict," and there will be a notable increase of autobiographical fiction. America, according to the professor, will probably produce more successful literature after the war than Great Britain. British writers have so far produced no literature which is likely to last. It seems that they used up most of their feelings about war during the Spanish crisis.

Telling his Network audience that "slang is perhaps the best indication of the liveliness of a language," the professor pointed to the British practise of breaking down ordinary words, as distinguished from the American habit of invariably creating a new word instead of corrupting an old one.