READING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 102, 2 May 1931, Page 1 (Supplement)

READING.

MATTER AND METHOD.

A WOMAN'S ADVICE TO WOMEN

(By IN A BACKWATER.)

As women are supposed to be ruled by intuition and not :by reason, I cannot, much as I would like to, use the well-worn phrase that tells of reason tottering on its throne'. Instead, I will say my brain feels like the bowl of batter I have, just been beating., Unthinkingly a well-meaning friend ha 3 just brought ,my grey matter to "a creamy consistency;" She subscribes to a local library. In rapid succession she sent me three novels by popular authors. The only positive impression they left on me was a wild hope that the next official our Government sends abroad, for up to date notions will be 'our censor, and that, he will make a bee line for the Irish Free State. Whatever that country may be lacking in, it certainly is not courage or consistency. It does not trumpet about, its high moral and intellectual aims, and, at the' same time, allow its people to feed on debilitating garbage. ' . . New Zealand Conditions. I found on coming to New Zealand that conditions for reading are very different from those in an English city. There, domestic help was always available at a modest cost and gave us early leisure. I think women particularly do not understand the necessity as well as the satisfaction of letting the body "slump" when reading. An attempt at serious reading does more harm than good if the nerves are under any kind of tension. Another thing to be considered when reading is light. It should be as soothing as possible without imposing strain. ' Too strong a light is an unconscious irritation and, consequently, a distraction. There are, of course, an odd few minutes now and then during the day; when the hand turns to pick up something to read. It is well to_ have a magazine convenient then. I find' that if one 'keeps one's eyes open when shopping they may be picked up here and there second-hand for a small sum. i At home in a country town, where I lived for a time, a dozen of us had a magazine club. For the cost of a. rew pence a week we had, every month, an astonishing amount of sound pleasure and sound information of. great range and variety. My "serious" reading here js done for about an hour and a half after lunclieon if no one calls and I am not "going out." The house is at its quietest then. I find it the best time ror reading something new. Stretched restfully on my settee _ with the blinds half drawn, I can get inside a book deliberately and' with comfort. Reading in Bed. As a fitting end to the day's work, I read for an hour in bed. A shaded reading lamp for the purpose is an excusable extravagance.' It is, I need hardly say, the pleasantest of all the waking.hours. It is a time for old friends. Scott is then my stand-by. He holds you iip on a high and placid level, and you know he will never "let you down." ' I think women, as a rule, especially busy housekeepers or housekeepers who ought to be busy, read too much and in too great a hurry. They- give themselves no tiuie for choice. The result is that they get like dram-drinkers. 'Any sort of stuff in print will satisfy them.' In the end they can only absorb "moonshine" with a double "kick." Don't. We women are coming into our own.- We -owe it to the men to give them a lead. If we can't be intellectual we can; at least be intelligent. We don't want men to say of us that we shortened our skirts so that we could with greater ease mess about in the sort of farmyard filth that some printing presses turn out. We have, school holidays, business holidays, and (sometimes) naval holidays. I would sincerely recommend for many, especially for my own sex a reading holiday. Say a month. After that we might begin again with a healthier appetite and. a cleaner palate.