LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 206, 28 August 1920, Page 18

LITERARY.

Interesting light on the popularity of Dickens in America is supplied by the libra.-i.-Mi of the Chicago Public Library in a ii-ttc- to •'John o" London's Weekly " The number of copies of his bunk- in the libraries varies from 00 to lfiS. and every one of the copies is taken nut at least twice a month. Hardly a. month passes by in which they do no! include a great quantity of Dickens' titles in the orders for replacing lup-ics of bunks worn out in use. There cm be no question of his sustained popularity in America.

"A ._rc;r. number .* gallant fellow; who did tluir bit in the war have passed ■ir. tu IK a protest that is worth venti'..iling.'* --ays tiie "'Daily Chronicle." "Tliej vee published from time to time t'n.' stories and histories of the various armies that fought in the great war — the naval divisions, air forces, tanks, and so ur but very few of tiiese volumes n-o puhliidied at a price within the rca.ii of ihe average demobbed man. •Now this is a pity, fur the men whose life and ilreilri arc enshrined in one or inure of these .histories arc just the leaders to whom they should 'he accessible. I.i-'t in hope that some effort will be made lo is-ue them ill a. cheap form, hu that the heroes who helped to provide the material may be able to possess their o\\ n battie stories." A mere civilian iiiav e.-iiu tile hope. The ."hops are full of 'interesting books that one is unable lo buy.

'I'll -i-e wiio have been entertained by thai literary sensation "The Young \"i.»iters," written by Daisy Ashford at the a _c of nine—which by the way is in iis i:il~i thousand—will look forward toj reading other literary efforts of the j lady's childhood, now published under 1 the title "Daisy Ashford: Her Book."' The niuiirr contributes a preface, in which she i-ays her tales were written in solemn seriousness, and struck her as

funny when she disinterred them in after vear-. This is the charm of these stories, that they are life as a child sees it in all seriousness. The humour is so unconscious ami artless. For example, when Burke and Edith in the first, tale of this new book were married, "the strong and hold bridegroom wore a red swallowtailed coat, with a green silk sash tied in front. He had black knickcr-bockers and white woollen socks, and black dressing slippers, and he carried a. bowler in his hand." They had at the wedding breakfast "several cups of Bouillon Fleet and eight of Bovril," and "six Vanilla, ice-creams and strawberry ices for the score." They went to the South of India for their honeymoon, "and seven hours after they got there they had two twin babies, a boy and a girl, which they called Abraham and Sarah, because they were fond of those holy saints." The volume also contains a tale by Daisy Ashford's sister Angela, written at the age of eight, which Miss Daisy says will be voted the most amusing of the collection- It certainly is entertaining. Chatto and Windua publish the book at seven shillings net.

Some of our readers may have a personal as well as a literary interest in a discussion in two English literary journals about the inadequacy of bookshops and booksellers. A writer in "John o' London's Weekly" stated that he had daily evidence that serious literature could be bought only with the greatest difficulty in many towns of considerable size, and that in smaller oneß there was a complete dearth of facilities.

"Book-Post,*' a now journal for the trade and booklovers, invited the opinions of leading writers, nearly all of whom supported these comments. Mr. (.'. B. Shaw says: "Bookselling in this country is in need, not of reform, but of creation. In France and Germany the smallest country towns possess bookshops, iii which the most elaborate and expensive historical, scientific, and artistic publications arc in the window. In much larger towns in these islands the inhabitants may live to be centenarians without knowing that such books exist, or conceiving the possibility of a jhop devoted exclusively to the sale ol hooks. Stationers sell bibles and prayer books and illustrated newspapers, and perhaps a few cheap novels, just as oil-shops sell scrubbing brushes." Mrs. l-Tnra Annie Steel points out that in many bookshops the seeker for good literature is served by "flappers" who know nothing about books outside of the novels that are to their own taste. Mr. Joseph Conrad is of opinion that "nothing but a shot-gun will reform the modern bookseller." Mme. Sarah Grand has "mot cultured booksellers with whom it is a delight to talk, but such men are rare. . . . The inefficiency of salesmen, and more especially of saleswomen, whom, as a rule. I have found apathetic, apparently uninterested in, and for the most part ignorant of the contents ot books, is exasperating to deal with, and much better calculated to discourage buyers than to attract them."

Tt is one of the ironies of life that while, as a general rule, the less you worry about your [health the better, tho . number of books on health multiplies. | The author of the latest 'book on ncr- ! vous breakdown. "Nerves and the Man," , Mr. W. Charles Loosmore, a graduate of Glasgow University, quotes the wise re- i mark of Mr. Chesterton, that "the mere j pursuit of health always leads to some- j thing unhealthy." Realising this. Mr. Loosmore does his best to keep his book on the healthiest and sanest levels. It is a popular study of nervom, breakdown, its causes and remedy, in which the subject is dealt with simply and clearly and in accordance with new ideas. Tlie most interesting feature of a useful book is the stress laid on the mental and spiritual side of worry and its cure, on the importance, of taking psychological rondsHo the cure of mental lisorder. The author treats of the pla.e of nature, rest and relaxation, sleep, mental control, cheerfulness and recreation "in the treatment of mental troubles. "We oa.inot flout our ideals," lie says, "and bo at peace. One cannot ignore his conscience and at the same time hp jnn-ardly serene. . . Physical control, mental control an.d moral control, each plays its part in restoring and maintaining the nervous system, in yieldins; inward repose, and in bringing "back the light of hope and cheer to ttfiose living in the valley of shadows. But let it lint Ibe forgotten that there is something more, and that something is the bowing- down 0 f the spirit to the highest, the holiest, and the best that we know." Mr. Loosmore is a great believer in laughter. Charlie Chaplin to him is a public hi i, factor, because he makes us protest against the confining conventions of society. "We laugh, and are relieved nr relaxed, ar.d, so long as our laughter pains no one, we are doing a heaitihy and a necessary thing." To look down on Harry Lauder is "to narrow one's heaitihy sympathies,*' and "for those to whom these pages are particularly addressed, n little book like 'The Diary of a Nobody.' by George and Weedon Grnssmith, is worth nil that Hardy and his school ever wrote." A useful and wiholesome book. Mr. John Murray is the publisher.