Page:The Craftsmanship of Writing.djvu/181

THE GOSPEL OF INFINITE PAINS Pains, you will still find some changes to make in your proof sheets, some further amendment to work into your second and third editions.

But, of course, it is possible to carry anything too far, even such an apparently limitless thing as Infinite Pains. Flaubert was the signal instance of this. His pursuit of perfection verged upon mania; his tireless zeal in connection with every detail of whatever work he had on hand for the moment was in the nature of a fixed idea. Zola, in his Romanciers Naturalistes, has given an admirably detailed account of Flaubert's methods of work in pursuit of "that perfection which made up the joy and the torment of his existence." When he had once got a rough draft upon paper the "chase after documents" began with as much method as possible:

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