Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-05-07
Books and Authors.

|
| Among those who suffered heavy loss
| in the san Francisco disaster was
| Charles Warren 5toddarL, the author
Mr.. Stoddard was living as san Jose
at the time of the earthquake Out
| escaped personal injury. and retired l"
| a mission at Saratoga. Sc fe IN the fo"'-
hills of the Sierras. From there ne
| plans to return to Monterey. AS soon
as the railroads are Dcbuiit.' as ne
| saws. Mr.. Stoddard's San francisco
| nubIisEer was burned out, and Mr..
| Stoddurl's novel, For the Pleasure Of
His Company" and another book. In
the Footprints of the Padres" are lost.
The plates, and printed copies of these
| works were destroyed. and the loss Will
he a severe one to their author, as both
| we're porular over the West coast. In
addition to these, Mr. StOddard lost
manuscript sketches upon which he
had been at work for a long time. and
| which he fears he may never be able
| 10 reproduce.
| Here is a bit of advice from the
Lewiston Sun:
| Why do people read? Because they
feel a mental hunger that calls for sat
| isfaction?
| The more reason, then, that they
| should select books that really satisfy
| that hunger. Cheap frothy literature
| never satisfied anybody. 1T is like try
| ing to live on the foam of a glass Of
| soda-you may want more of the fZZly
stuff; You may even take enough Of it
| to destroy tn" healthy appetite nature
gave ycu,-that is the mischief Of fizzIy
| thinSs-but you will get no nutriment
from il.
NourahinE books that feed the mind
and cna bic il to grow--that is the kind
we must choose il We would ever cnt
beyond the jelly-fish stage of mental
| development.
| If q book arouseS us to no sort Of
| mental effort, if il slips off our mind
without leaving any mark, we may be
| sure it belongs to the fizZly class Real
| books arouse and stimulate; possibly
| they awake our wrath and opposition
| but if they have given us something to
| think of they have done us the best
| turn book can do.
So seldom are real and living person
ages introduced in the pages of fiction
| that Robert Bars utilization Of Edison
for the evolution of the plot of THE
TriumrnS of Eugene Nalmont' is
somewhat surprising. The hero. Il
great French detective meets the in
ventor in a hotel in Paris. and then
gives the following as EdiSon's own
modest story of III" invention Of the
inCandesccnt electric light: 1T was
not an invention. but a discovery.
We knew what We wanted: q car
bombed tissue which would withstand
tho electri" current in a vacuum for.
say. thousand hours. If no such
tissue existed. then the incandescent
light as we know it was not possible.
My assistant started out to find thi,
tissue, and we simply Carbonizei
everything we could lay our hands on.
and ran til" current through it in a
vacuum. Al last We struck the right
thing, as We were bound TO do if we
Kept on long enough, and if the thing
existed. Patience and hard work will
overcome any obstacle" Edson's
closing sentence is thereafter used by
NaImont as text whenever a difficult
problem is presented to him
Here is the list Of books selected nv
an author for his entertainment and in
struction during his stay in tho woods
where he went to lead the quiet life
and finish his new story: Roget's
Thnsarus. Webster's dictionary. Omar's
Rubaiyat BurjOn's kasidah. six Of
Shakcspcare's plays. Thomas play Ar
iona and the New Testament.
While Mrs. Wharton's work has oh
NiouSly been influenced by the reading
and study of great writer's life itself
is he" most powerful teacher Tracos
of Henry James of Meredith. of Thack-
cray and of many other great ones NAV
be readily discovered in both her novels
and her short stories. hut it is life alone
that she follows ardently and initiates
discriminatory. And it is moreover. her
artistic insight. artistic sense and ar
tiStic taste that have enabled her to re-
produce life so clearly and truthfulIv
in terms of fiction. Not until the pres
"nt moment. when a seven volume I'd
ltlon of her writings comes in uniform
style from the press of Charles Serb
ncr$ Sons. has The reading public, been
able to view her point as a whole. These
volumes have appeared one in each
year since 1929, and they COMPRISE The |
Greater Inclination.' THE Touch
stone. Crucial Instances" The Val
ley of Decision. Sanctuary" The
Descent Of Man" AMI The House Of
Mirth." With the exception Of "The |
Valley of Decision" and "The House
OF Mirth" they are exclusively made up |
Of short stories. 'sSanctuary" being
merely a brief tale in volume by it, |
sci, and the others a series Of collect |