WHAT WE READ.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13918, 1 June 1909, Page 3

WHAT WE READ.

MELBOURNE'S TASTES. Any invesligation of the question of what the public read must of necessity (says the "Argus") be attended by more or less, interesting discoveries. Tastes charge iti literature as iii dresses, and the fashion in books is no less liable to fluctuation than the fashion in hats. In fashions, the Parisian influence, guided by Paquin and Worth, has to be reckoned with; in fiction, the American invasion, led by David Graham Phillips," Winston Churchill, and Robert W T . Chambers.

These are but the captains of a great army, whose soldiers are drawn from the newspaper offices df New York and •Chicago, the logging camps of Canada, the fields of Indiana, and the green hills of Vermont. For one good English novel there are twenty fairly good American novels —bright, virile stories of successful action ; society novels, full of surprisingly good dialogue and sustained interest, and books of the vivid and voracious commercial and industrial life of the American of to-day. And yet, despite the American invasion, " there's hope, there's hope for England," when such a writer as William de Morgan arises, in what for a novelist is old age, and when the names of H. G. Wells, William J. Locks, J. C. Snaith, and John Galsworthy find their place in publishers' circulars.

. Another fact which was elicited was that there is not one of Marie Corelli's works on the shelves of the Public Lending Library, which, after all, renews one's occasionally • shattered faith in our boasted civilisation. Further, "Trilby" is dead. The girl with the feet of alabaster and the voice of a syren is no more, and the fate has overtaken her which is silently awaiting " Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Pateh " and " Vesty of the Basins." Apart from fiction, the demand for serious literature fluctuates little, although there is increased enquiry for biography, worts of travel, and belles lettres. As for poetry, it is the Cinderella of tUe book shops. Except for it slight revival of interest in Swinburne, and a continuance of the steady regard for Browning and Tennyson by those who loved -them most and knew them best, the music is "lovely, yet neglected, like an old and silent song."

Concerning the Public Lending Library, let it be admitted without reserve that it does not pretend to supply the demand for current fiction, it is largely the resort of the student who desires to be informed upon bookkeeping and accountancy, and the reader who has use for text-books and works of reference. Its clientele includes the admirers of Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, Jane Austen, Charles Reade, George Meredith, and others of the permanent' force. G.eorge Meredith, here and elsewhere, is coming into his own, for the number of those who desire to have spee.ch with Dianaof the Crossways and Richard Feveral is increasing year by year. At the lending library the proportion of fiction read shows a decline. In 1901, 63.1 of the books borrowed were works of fiction, whereas the latest data show the proportion to be 48 per cent, of the total circulation. The influence of the evangelistic mission lias apparently not yet penetrated to the library for the percentage of religious works asked for in only 3.35.

Turning to the circulating libraries, the strength of the invasion is at once apparent. It. W. Chambers, "Winston Churchill, and David Graham Phillips are always in demand; and this experience is borne out bv that of the representative booksellers". A demand for plays, especially those of Bernard Shaw, is manifesting itself; but poetry is almost a drug in the market. As' to Australian books, "The Little Black Princess" and "We of the Never Never," by Mrs Aeneas Gunu, at present lead in popularity. G. B. Lancaster's books have their admirers, but in some quarters inquiries for this lady's short stories are falling off. "My Brilliant Career," Mylcs "Franklin's one story of promise, "is almost forgotten. All of Rolf Boldrewood's and Mrs Cross s books are read, not only in Australia, but in England and America. -These two authors are in that respect of the fortunate ones. The era of prosperity for the Australian author will only dawn in earnest when he can command as wide a public as can Ins American fellow craftsman. 'Steele Rudd" (Arthur Hoey Davis) holds his own with his Selection stories, and Edward Dvson's books find an occasional inquirier. Walter G. Henderson's "Norah Conough," a thoroughIv healthv Australian story, « oeconiing more sought after, as it Hecomes known. It is a gratifying sign that the prejudice against an Australian book, as such, is dying. Jt it be good, it will sell—for a. good book has in this sense no nationality. Divergent opinions arc expressed as to the popularity of the sex problem novel. These are the words of a huly librarian:—"There is a class of book of which we have had numberless examines latelv, and I am sorry to say that it is popular. The sod part of it is that these books are nearly all written by women, and read by women. A man verv rarelv asks for them. . .

People read now "who in the last generation did not read at all, and that mav account for the (jitantitv of trash iu the market. For one De Morgan

we hnve twenty writers oMighj, frothy novels just made to sell." ! A more hopeful note is strirk by a bookseller and librarian of Vide experience. "1 do not notice," be says, " any sordid desire on the jpart of young people for books which inght be regarded as pernicious. As for men and . women of the world, tlpy must be allowed to exercise their choice without submission to anything m the nature of literary dictatorship But the flood of novels of the kaid you describe has led to a revulsnn, and there is a distinct upward liovement in the direction of higher reading. A. healthier tone is manifestos itself, and the rush for literary garbage is becoming a thing of the past Press reviews have much to do with this, tor we have found that newspaper and magazine criticisms, which aip usually exercised in the right directioi, largely determine the popularity of; a book, Authors:-' An author's nam« does not mean as much as it used to ;7o in dictating the reader's choice o; a book. The tendency is to read jthe book which everyone else is readiig, largely irrespective" of its authorsh.p—and a good book will always sell.?