This book is an almost-heretical book of exciting and unusual work; the author''s sole criterion for the goodness-badness
of a work is the image of man, and hence mankind, that the book, play, or story presents and elucidates in the course of the narrative. He states that there are basically two viewpoints in modern fiction (roughly late 1800s to mid-1950s for this book and author and edition)--a kindly, yet heroic, Classical and Judeo-Christian literary tradition, where man is a responsible, yet imperfect, being, capable of redemption, who lives in relation not only to his fellowman, but to the Creator/s, the Divine Being/s, who have an interest in his life, thought, and love and/or worship.
The second
viewpoint the author falls afoul of: a pointless, ABSURD (in the existentialist sense),
essentially atheistic life, where Man is the only measure of what is to come. He feels this viewpoint leads to despair and desolation--spiritual, emotional, and ultimately physical and material, as well.
The author makes, essentially, a plea for the return and/or resurgence of the heroic model and ideal of human nature, for he maintains that true tragedies and significant tales can only be written from this perspective. There are many examples and analyses of both sorts of plays, stories and novels. This is an excellent book of criticism. The essays are deep and thoughtful, and cover an enormous amount of ground in a relatively short space, and many works, as well.