READING

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 June 1922, Page 7

READING

DISCLOSURE OF CHARACTER.

‘‘Whenever I wish to discover the personality of a new acquaintance,’’ a well-known man of affairs recently confided to a friend, “I turn the conversation to books.’’ Consciously or unconsciously, we all are constantly being subjected to this subtle" test, and it is a fair question to ask of ourselves how successfully we meet it. What a man does in his office may or may not express himself. His vocation may be of his own choosing, but, in most cases, it is a matter of chance rather than selection. If ■when he camo out of college, the opening had been in some line other than the’one ho discovered, he might easily to-day be selling bonds instead of shoes.

But our reading is absolutely an expression of our own taste, and our friends have a right to judge us by what we select to gratify it. The titles of the books we read form a pitiless index to the working of our minds, ) from which we cannot escape To confess that one docs not read, is equally significant; such a confession emphasises, rather than prevents, his char- , actor from being disclosed When the habit of is really x so self-revealing, it is curious fliat the average person is so casual in the selection of his books. If we depend ’ wholly/ upon the judgment of the re- ) viewer, we limit ourselves to his mqods or whims, and may be either lured to a volume unworthy of the time required , to read it, or influenced by some liter--1 ary treasure which was lost in the mass of books accumulated on the re- , viewer’s desk, thus receiving too scanty consideration! “But how,” you ask, “is the average reader to judge, except by. the opinions of those whose business it is to pass judgment upon current literature?” A fair question, but it has its simple answer. Read more than the reviews. Learn, something of the writers themselves. With this knowledge, judge whether the personalities are such as would be likely to express,. in their written messages, something ■ which would appeal to you. AVhen you ' read the review, have the author in ■ mind as much as the subject, and fre- ■ quently you will discover in the » viewer’s most caustic criticism that ! which makes you certain that the book in question is well worth reading, whether you agree with the critic or I with the author. The average • review of a volume too frequently an academic statement • as to whether or not the author’s viewpoint agrees with the critic’s. If the author has presented his case fairly be it fiction or biography—his volume is worth.. reading by anyone interested in the subject. To differ from.him may be th c greatest intellectual stimulus. When you read, form your own conclusions. Otherwise, you lose the real value of your intellectual exercise. If . you like a book, say so fearlessly, m- ’ stead of losing confidence in ’ literary judgment, when someone you think ought to know mor© about books expresses his disapproval. He may be 1 a better critic than you are, yet you verdict ma v be nearer the truth; for, 1 after all, the message from th© author is to his reader rather than to his critic’