It Needs To Be Said

J.V. Rahilly was an engineering librarian in Ontario.

This is a photographic reprint of the 1929 book as issued, together with an introductory essay by W.J. Keith, a cogent piece of work that explains how these “critical essays” by Grove came into being. Grove, ever a mysterious writer, claimed that this collection of essays was to be presented to a “certain literary association” (he meant the Canadian Authors’ Association), but in reality some were and some were not. Of those that were not, some were presented to other groups and some were never presented at all. But the eight essays were all published at the end of his third lecture tour, and more might have been published except that the book flopped in terms of sales, and the impending Depression reduced Grove’s touring to almost nothing. Apparently, according to Keith, there are lots more manuscripts of Grove’s critical works floating around, materials that just simply have not yet been published. Maybe they will someday, but for the moment — as long as Grove is thought of as being a very traditional writer with a staid style — I think not. The topics in this collection deal with literary criticism in general, realism, the novel, nationhood and “happy endings.”