Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-04-21
The Books TO Read.


what shall we read? This ~
question hard to answer. indeed ~
| would seem easier to say what we
should not read. There is much OF
the former. There is three times as
much Of the latter. There are many
who regard the reading Of novels az
nothing short Of sinful waste OF
| time: there are others, able, wcli-in-
! formed persons, too. who view with
regret the increasing popularity OF
what they term frivolous and light
reading. They are wrong. Fiction IS
the young st. but nevertheless the
| greatest branch of literature. 1t is
| powerful because Of its very bulk. 1t
! is great because Of the possibilities
embodied in ii. 1t not only serves to
9muse but it also instructs; indeed
artsemcht Is the smallest part of the
usefulness OF 2 novel Through the
reading of carefully selected novels
we are brought into tOuch with widely
! divergent classes cf s0ciety,-we
! travel about from place to place, we
become familiar with th1 customs ana
pecularities Of other races and other
, classes, our languag.s II improved, our
Voca bulafy enlarged and our IDEAS
, broadentd almost as much AZ pV
actual travel.
Fiction should not b. condemned be-
cauyc Of the publication OF thousands
of useless and even dangerous books.
In Judging fiction let US look at both
sides Of the question. Why, There IS
no llml to the number f things we
learn from novels. Love. hate. ambi-
ton. marriage, the relations Of men
and women in all the different walks
Of lifc-all these things and more We
study in novels. In view Of these
facts and especially as the novel I'M
doubt .diy " eds a subtle though pow
crful influence. does 1t not seem that
fiction is worthy Of our consideration
ara thought? Merely as matter Of
public morality are we not bound to
Civ the matter our earnest attention
in order that serious harm may not
result from the universal reading of
improper books?
Novels dealing with the adventures
If impossible heroes. questionable
hernines and fast life generally should
BE- discouraged There Is no doubt that
many a boy has been 50 fired with
zeal at the exploit Of some high
Colored. bushwacking border hero or
50 fascinated BY the imaginary ac-
complishmcnts Of some shady ind-
vidual as 70 commit some act of folly
long to be regretted. II is likely. also.
that many q young woman has been
Influenced toward Il wrong view Of
life through reading Of the dazzling
triumphs ~ some beautiful girl whose
"scapad"s ar" somewhat astonishing
r. say the last. St~r.,s If rich young
men, high In the cial scale who
marry poor hut invariably beautiful
young women " the lower classes and
thus elevate them to the level Of the
upper crust are very numerous in fic-
ton but strangely inf-oquent in real
life. Such literature is not to De con
sidered in fair judgment If fiction
The books we should read must b.
written with a definite object.
they must correctly depict the
various conditions of life with
which they deal. as they are
not a. as they appear from the out
side nor yet as We would have them. !
That one should be cI-vating. the
moral such us to encourage our belief |
in and our appreciation Of virtue and !
soundness of thought ana action.
How can we intelligently sift the !
bad from the good? How can we
choose that which is desirable and re-
jet that which is undesirable? |
CHIEFLY by a careful study 81 authors !
An authors personality is sure to
dominate his work and when we have |
learned n writer's ideas of life and |
views on certain fundamental matters /
through the reading Of one or two Of |
his books We are able to judge |
whether or not We should continue tl I
read and be influenced by his works /
Attention must be given to detail 1t |
is highly important that a story /
should be correct in construction as
well as principle. Otherwise erro- |
neous ideas may be accepted as fact !
and then once acquired be difficult to
get rid Of. When after finishing a
book we can truly feel that we have
acquired some useful knowledge
through reading it. when the charac-
tiers suggest suitable ideals. and the
plot is reasonable and sound, then we
are on the right track in our search
for proper fiction.