SPECIAL ARTICLE.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16507, 26 April 1919, Page 7

SPECIAL ARTICLE.

_ * B OOK-TAKING. (From the "Spectator.") Vcrr few P™P le " r0 > or eTer wi " » Though-so many spend i d al of tuno in reading, they d< peat dcalot information 0 , not read to «o book a , ,itWr7 U tK; inid dn. B , and conrtlv°il- anv .tenser whom the; Btantly asl. • nd tham some •?« ?.clh readers like best to have fr fcS rc-ominended by someone * h ° ,S T rfrt in a remedy which they pot most.tnis eono not a doc haVe rrtvoE more series among tar- Ce * a . n ",;L an antidote to their ibcm seek m prmt n boen perhaps a narrow one, and tbeyn liso of the fact, « d 4it some ur , n a false them out of ihcm-rlres, as j common they havo been « B »" b or ha ro jovs of life havo f fJfVy do not U embittered to hem l fo y through want always £ took « of smnked T °They have nof the courage or Rl ves them ai true one Sugary sentiment is not seiaoiu and, though the effect of the drug may not bo lasting, it has at least no reaction. x__n To return to readers of another type. There are those who are very well content With life,'who desiro intensely■ tc drink their cup to the dregs, yet nnd the daily round a little .too for them. They want a sedative book; and choose the sort of sedative according to their cast of character. If they ar! cultivated people, they w«U peihag rend with avidity every word which was written at a particular penod, or-and we think this is very <» mmo mav read certain favourites of their vo/th over and over again believing that no book has its full «£J until you almost know it- by heait There are few. greater novelists than Miss Austen, but she has. com© to be in great request as a sedative, and. so has Scott. Perhaps all books whrch will bear constant perusal have a sedative effect. This is certainly true of all the.great works of devotion, not excluding the greatest. Thousands of decent people find ■ life not sad or strenuous, but simply very dull. Such is the result of their daily experience. They do not like theii work, thongh they do it as a duty; they have no taste for active pleasures, and they talie the ordinary domestic ones as, a matter of odurse. But their experience; they also hot the universal one. Their mud-coloured world lcoks to the chosen joyful few x like a glowing, orb, thei scene of .almost iriiredible adventure. "Oh. for o drtg," they cry, "to make us forget and find somo new sensation 1" Such : drug is to be had for a very small sum frpm eye,ry lending libra; y, without anj sense of gtiilt, any loss of dignity, 01 any' risk, of unpleasant consequences ai all. It does those who make a habit oi it, no appreciable harm whatever Again, how many of us find laughter tc be almost a necessary. Humorous peopie sometimes can get all they want oi it but of what we call the comedy oi existence. Others cannot. These lat tCT'can seldom appreciate a reallj humorous hook. It is too lifelike tc pleftse them, even though it be wha< might be called rollicking now and then. : Npjjfchey need comicality to shake them pp, of their gravity, and unless they are, constantly . shaken out of it thej become unhappy.' They can swallow ; -tflßcomic stufi by the chapter till theii normally humorous , friends wonder how their stomachs can stand it. Withoul doubt'it does them good; and they arc . &'• very large crowd, and their requirelnents .must be considered. It ia .'Natural that, deriving bo much benefii as'they-do from this form of literature, I???;*? 0 wish to try the drug upon ftheir children. They dose them accordingly -with little comic books and magasines'and little illustrated sheets of all sorts.n. These lie; about, take the . t ;? of the 'children, - and thus adver- ■ HW uiemselves till-eren those parent* who hare not 5 themselves contracted the Jrabit of 'comicality are tempted to buy them to make their little boys and girls j9«rry. : Second-rate children's books have always had a medicinal flavour Nowadays they are largeeft, designed to correct the spirits, to prevent moping o r too early development of' the /mind and conscience. A J nundred years ago they were directed to correct morals, and foster right thinking. In both cases .the specula--tvtras -which arise out of the child's ex- •' JjES? Were J if Possible, to be quenchW. The ordinary young child of to«?y is supposed to need a mental drug to prevent his reflecting that life is a very serious thing, while his little greatgrandfather was £iven a literary drug w; prevent his thinking that sometimes wrongdoing pays. A few days ago'the present writer picked up upon a book•wall two little books for children printep Jn 1801, and forming part of a long lat of improving stories headed "New°erye Juvenile Library." Here are a titles: "Trfies,or Friendij Mites towards Improving the Rising Generation"; "Pleasant Tales to Improve the Mind and Correct the Morals « louth"; "Elegant Pastime, or an c i?? u , r . s Instructive Conversation": > J™»U5, or the Deaf and Dumb Or--1 I* , , , T^ ulv St is a fa> CI 7 from J 7» te . >to Brom." The story °t Lucmda," the more entertaining , ef the two little old volumes which - lie at this moment before the present 5 1 . * er : relates the history of a little firl who always did right, nnd who -was S, consequence always fortunaie. She floutished in the garden of literature; ami every rising sun brought as her one the tribute of unceasing praise. At school she was loved to excess at — Home she was oerfectly idolised, and at v enurch her artless devotions obtained we admiration of the congregation." «er naughty little schoolfellow, on the othej. hand, was pursued by misfortune, omen by a dop,-tossed by a cow, made m> stand on a form with a dunce's cap on, and finally when school was over hissed from the door -with every mark °» disgrace," whilo Lucinda' returned flomo "with an unspotted heart and a same of triumphant innocence." What ttuld could trust to his own observation and experience after such sin antidote a» that! What, was the effect of such •wes of mock morality? Probably not •pry great for good or rvil. The y ung •re mentally tougher than is supposed, SP; Perhaps children brought up- to en13?y such unhealthy fare kept all their wes- a craving for the sound of moral •swing- which in some few instances produced hypocrites, just as we , should «w*tho present tendency of children's T? mnot,ent but very silly literature TV*'produce- somo objectionable buf-

The print, habit which n« 3 , seized upon a crowd, who care «»"j°* for lette s is a subject for lamentatiot among manv superior persons, thev themselves indulge from time » time in sedative reading. They wouK admit our theory that time gives to a* mcrt all great literature a ««« * quality, but they deprecate the poin l of view of those -who get a feet out of an inferior article, and witr tho other "book-takers" they have n svmpathv at all. The habit ten~s, the. think, to destroy originality., and ha. already blunted among the simple tna witty shrewdness for which the IJ '°"- T| bourgeoisie was at one time farooUS ,; ;n( . is id>e to deny that there is something to bo said for their contention. cor* a minds—ce; tain typically English mm J. —thrive better upon thinking tnar upon reading. • But if unsophisticated people wore at one time moro wni.v than they are now, they were also bo. prejudiced and less receptive. *'• • "thought for themselvrs,' as the •sy ing is/but thry thought a gieat d.al 01 whimsical stuff, and they were nine/ moro hnr:-h and bitter and ecceiUr than they now are, even though then talk was more incisive. As to arguments about "waste of time, we. taK< no account of them. The expression « a vague ono, and as a reproach it iseldom justified. Men. women, anc chilrlren'can do wrong with their trm< or right with their time, but only tut few will ever Kavo much time to waste and a little wasting of it is essential t< happiness and, we should say, t< growth of mind. , What would be the effect, we wonder upon the English world if a pf-P e] famine wore to. restrict the publishers trade to such an extent as to destroy tho second-rate book trade altogether! Tho voracious reader of sorond-rat< books likes them new. He would reac a few eld ones for a while, and then t.h< habit of idle reading would be broken This would perhaps mean an increas< in tho number of serious students oi literature. There 4re a fow people who though they do not care for the best books, will read thom sooner than hn.c no print at all before their eyes. Tnu change would no doubt be one for the better. There would, however, bo f great augmentat ; on of unhapp : ness ant nervous prostration, we aro sure. Th< habit of drink would return among tht educated. Long sitting over evemns meals would foster it. With drinfc wou'd come quavre's. and we shoulc perhaps see the duel back. Gn.mblinE would certainly be rifo among botr sexes, and women would smoke, not t little for good fellowship, but a greal > deal for the effort of the drug. "Bui all these things did not happen' in tht war," we hear someone say. Certain , ly not; but during the war the whol< world was gazing at the most interest ■ ing and ter.rible piny ever mounted or • the stase of the world. Now that we j have left the theatre we shall not bf I less but moro in need of borks. A flatness has succeeded the ever-risinf i excitement. No longer the loud noise: > of war drown the sighs and laughter o| ■ private life. We have time to .ittenc ■ to our mental aches and pains. Wo-aw > conscious onco more of the excitemeni i of the market and the monotony of tht I house, the-irritations of domestic life • and the loneliness which is its alterna • tive. Acute anxiety mav be over, .bin ; healing wounds huVt afresh, and th« ', fear of the future, whether it faster , upon money or the health, wealth, anc [ happiness of our children, is with us > still. Mankind demands an opiate. Th< > most harmless which" it hns ever ac t cepted is to be found in print. f • ====== ■ .