A.B.’S ARE B.A.’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 638, 15 April 1929, Page 11

A.B.’S ARE B.A.’S

What Sailors Read

MEN OF CATHOLIC TASTES

M'hat kinds of books do sailors read? The question was asked Wh “ t * l . er Nobody knew. hat should landlubbers know of a seafarer’s literary tastes? But visits to the crews' quarters on a number of vessels in port, and a that with the “ships' bookseller" tile waterfront vendor who goes aboard ail the boats with books tor sale—have brought interesting details to light.

J>OOKS of all kinds find a prominent place in the fo’c'sle. The modern seaman's literary taste is truly catholic. Ranging from the lowpriced edition (sold at sixpence in Lunnon ), ro works on trigonometry, his bookshelf is a revelation. As a rule Hnglish authors and English magazines predominate (even though he is not. a Briton himself) the exception being a few of the better American magazines and periodicals of the "Biterary Digest” and “Saturday Evening Post” type. Usually bearing dates of the remote past, these publications pass from hand to hand and from ship to ship. “The ‘Tatler,’ the 'Sketch' and the ‘Daily Mirror' are universal favourites,” said the ships' bookseller to a Sun man, “but ‘Punch' and the ‘Bulletin’ are poor sellers.” AMERICAN LITERATURE DISLIKED

There is a strong prejudice against most American literature. This; noticeable feature is akin to the j sailor's contempt for articles bearing ; a German or Japanese trademark.; With the exception of the better-class j publications already mentioned,; American literature is seen only on I American vessels. The übiquitous Edgar Wallace -and Joseph Hocking, William J. Locke. Stephen Leacock, Rider Haggard, William Le Queux, Zane Grey, Seltzer. James Oliver Cut-wood and Harold 801 l Wright are authors that are seen on all ships. Women writers in general are not popular with seamen, but Baroness Orezy, Bertha Ruck and Elinor Glyn are sometimes In evidence. CULTURE IN THE FO’C’SLE The seafarer of to-day is by no means the ignorant individual he is j generally thought to be. These are j days of enlightenment. In the old days ho could neither read nor write —to-day he has the benefits of a compulsory education and the habit of reading all manner of hooks during his leisure hours. Of the classics lie prefers Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott, Joseph Conrad and Kipling are firmly established, although the latter, like Marie Corelli and Hall Caine, is waning in popular ity. These days “A.B.’s" are “B.A.'s". Last week a SUN reporter found two “huskies” In a fo’c’sle arguing heatedly on political economy, one of them indicating passages in a standard work in support of his views. On another ship he came upon the bo'sun avidly reading George Eliot’s “Romola.” This latter, on investigation, proved to he the result of having seen “Romola” as a film. The cinema and tins stage bring works like this under a i sailor's notice, where otherwise he i would perhaps never hear of them. I Thus introduced to them he buys them in large numbers, according to I the ships’ bookseller, i In fiction the demand is for more : action, more adventure, and light, ' breezy stories. Hodder and Stough- ! ton's “yellow-jackets” are popular, and sex novels make an appeal to a few. TECHNICAL WORKS ALSO A sprinkling of technical works and text-books is generally found in a sailor's book collection. A dictionary is regarded as indispensable, and sometimes a Bible is to be seen In 1 unexpected quarters. But above all the seaman likes his mathematics, i Books on algebra. Euclid, trigonometry. arithmetic, and the mathematics of the sciences are special favourites. An inspection of various fo’c'sle libraries has revealed works on travel, advanced geography, sociology, economics, political economy. Socialism, many atlases, an occasional medical treatise, and one or two biographies and collections of memoirs—outstanding works such as Henry Ford's.