WHY BOOKS BECOME POPULAR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 6, 10 February 1909, Page 2

WHY BOOKS BECOME POPULAR.

Mr. G. K. Chesterton, in the “ Bibliophile.” explains why books become popular- The real explanation is, he says, that the books perform certain functions which books were never meant to perform at all. ‘‘And if the books truly fulfil these other functions, ■” he says, “it is really unfair to ask them if they also fulfil the Junctions of books. A man reads a detective novel because he cannot inducts his old nurse to tell him any really long riddle. He reads a horsey novel because he has no horse to ride • or, perhaps, having one, does not know which end to elimb up. He reads war-like novels because his country has not been at war seriously for a century; and he reads religious novels because his country is perishing for lack of a religion.” Reading Miss Corelli’s novels is really, Mr. Chesterton says, a sort of substitute for going to church—“a very inadequate substitute, as 1 willingly concede.”