Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-06-15

that there Is something IN
the world for him to do and that he
he receives may give an entirely new
direction to his career. lilo viii have
been set right with the real
tiles That is really what he
was, this is what he Is! Behold, what
a great matter n little fire klndlethl"
Depend upon Il. then, Il does mako
Il difference whether a boy acquires
the reading habit or not. It does mako
Il difference, too whether no reads this
or that book.
WHAT TO READ.
Tho other point promised to speak
of before taking up the manner In
which We should so about our work.
concerns the question of wholesome
reading What is wholesome readiug2
Nowadays the question narroWs itself
down 10 fiction. II has little meaning,
indeed, II asked concerning history or
biography The only thing that We ask
about these Is, was the event worth re-
cording, the life worth writing. and ara
they truly recorded and written Tho
question is ofteneU asked OF poetry but
since boys do not care much for rhyme
the question so far as we are concerned
Is ruled out II has. however, peculiar
significance if asked respecting fiction
The query what Is wholesome hctlon2
80 F'A' va tAAN Wal NAAAslSS al l-eNAAlA5
and In life.
know that among some Of our peo-
pie there Is prejudice against novel
reading. but ! regard 1t as based on A
misunderstanding OF the purposes OF
the good novel. At all events. the ques-
tion confronts US and will always con-
front US; we cannot ignore It, Bows
have natural craving for stories. Mar
rative is almost the only thing In read
Ing they can understand. The feeling
for action in some form or other r. at
the high tide, their power to grasp
ideas IN the abstract has little more
than begun to develop How foolish
then II must be to ignore this fact The
better way Is to assume that we can
not change the boys constitution, and
to endeavor TO make use Of it or TO
modify It TO suit our purposes. BE as
sured, however, that If a boy roads at
all, stories are what he will read
stories Of adventure first. then of love.
But II is as unwise to condemn all kinds
of novels because some are bad
as II Is To reject all kinds OF
argument because some argu-
ments are poor or TO refuse TO ac-
cept any money because there are
counterfeit prices aloat, The better
thing to do is To discriminate between
good and bad fiction Just as we dis
crininate in everything else In life. \
good many people however, object 10
fiction reading on account of the time
IL consumes and the appetite 1t de-
Velops for more. No doubt this can
be carried to the extreme but the thing
10 do is, not to try to stop all reading
of stories, but to limit the quantity;
Just as, IL a boy should be in the habit
of eating too much, we should cut
down the quantity instead OF refusing
the boy any food at all
WHAT is GOOD FICTION.
/ We still have the question What is
| good fiction: In general ] should say
| that we may tell a novel as we tell a
| bit OF food-whether It is good or not
| by its effects. Food that deranges the
| stomach and brings on a headache we
| may think, set down as improper for
US. The same Is true OF a story; II 1t
| upsets our notions of right and wrong,
| or tends 10 upset them, II is bad book
| no matter who wrote It. There are, to
be sure, literary merits or dement's
| ponte of construction and style-but
| the only thing that really concerns US
\ here is Its moral tone. No book is good
for our purposes unless It is morally
good. Here Is a story. for example,
| which throws a halo OF light and in
terest around the wicked hero or The
wicked heroine. while a morally good
character is made commonplace and
unattractlve by comparison and are
unloveliness. Is that good book? I
should say. on hand. not for boys.
Here Is another that takes for granted
certain social vices; the main charac-
tiers drink and smoke, for instance. and
these appear virtues, or idleness in the
hero does not seem to be vice. l
should hesitate before recommending
such a book to Mormon boys. In so
many OF the stories written today GER
tain infractions OF the moral law are
viewed as matters of social eXpedi-
ences; and II Is this unwholesome at
mosphere that poisons the young mind.
1t was not so In the earlier fiction
and II is never so In the best fiction
OF today. To read Scott is to breathe
an atmosphere Of virtue and honor and
genuine nobility: and no greater SER
mon was ever delivered Inf the pulpit on
the text, Whatsoever thou sows t,
that shalt thou also reap" than IS
preached in George Eliot's fiction; GER
tainly few sermons have been so ef.
fective Care must he taken though
TO get the total effect OF the book. not
the effect alone of any single incident
or passage. Judged by glimpses Para
disc Lost" would be condemned, for IN
the first Two books Satan appears a
really admirable hero, and there seems
TO be nothing Mt all out OF the way in
his rebellion against God. But no one
can read the whole poem without hav-
ing an unspeakablc loathing for the
degenerate Prince OF Darkness in the
end.
So then, a good novel viii leave us
with a love for the true in life and a
hatred for the untrue. and no harm
can come from reading II.
The most important question for this
convention, however. Just now, is
How can we lay this whole matter of
reading before our boys in such a way
as 10 induce them TO read2 The general
board has recommended four or five
books to be read this year by the Mu-
tuAl Improvement associations. These
are all good books--inHpirationai books
and the question IL. What can we do
and how shall We do It? 10 carry out
this recommendation. 10 get tho young
men to read and like these books? on
this point have the following practic-
al suggestions 10 make
All the officers, stake and whrd,
should read all tho books. OF course,
all the members of the general board
have already done so, II an officer
finds that he has read these hooks nj
ready. let him read them again, Ger
tainly every officer win do what he
requires Others TO do. Moreover, there
win follow these two practical effects
FIRST the officer will be more likely 10
think OF pushing the matter with tho
boys, and second. he win have more
enthusiasm about II. or course there
VIII not be an officer or teacher IN all
the associations I'm the Church who viii
say that he has no time to read Ave
small volumes I'm nine months be-