The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-05-13
Press Opinions.
THE HUNDRED WORST BOOKS


Among the disappointments we
have met is paper on The Hun
dred Worst Books" by the Rev.
Samuel McChord Crothers, in the
Atlantic Monthly for May. The sub
ject invites. The title allures. Know
ing MIR. Cruthers by others of his
works. we felt that here might be
something coming even to pet literary
detestations of our own. Instead oil
which there are nine magazine pages
which neither name n Dook as being
among the worst nor furnish a real
standard of Judgment.
We learn from Mr.. Crothers only
that "the candidate for place on the
list must be bad not as a man may be
bad but as q nook may be bad" Ana
as to a book 'the lowest depth into
which 1t can fall is to be unreadable
so we are to Judge q book by the test
of whether or not we can read IT..
Yet Mr.. Crothers insists that in order
that our inquiry may be scientific we
shall bar works by living authors!
IL is relief to turn from the
phrases of she Atlantic's essayist.
which lead nowhere, and take up the
sharp announcements of a man who
names names. The editor of the
Memphis Commercial Appeal is such
man. Under the strokes of his
condemning pea literary classics fall
like tall trees before a ruthless woods
man. The difficulty in his case it ap-
pears. is to stop with only hundred
of the worst. His critical style if
vivid, as readsrs may perceive from
the following suggestions for the
blacklist:
THE Castle of Otranto," stilted
unreal, highfalutin romance, entirely
discreditable 20 it's witty author, Hor
ace Walpole.
Marlowes "Tamburlane", n turgid
bombastic drama containing about a'
much exhilara,ion as a mud-bath.
The Winters TaH," play thai
Shakespeare must have written wher
under the influence of liquor or neveI
wrote at all.
Pamela" IN which Richardson
succeeds i'm maintaining a dead leve
of stupidity through three weary
dreary volumes.
Pilgrims Progress" n book tina
lis the apotheosij OF gloom.
John Halifax" one of the grea
kill-joys in lltel ature.
The Don Juan" of Byron, that pos
sesses absolutely no raison de'etre.
Geikie's Life of Christ" that i
no more entitled to be called histor,
than Webster's Unabridged is to b.
considered a musical comedy.
Brownings Ring and the Book,
which is purely waste of time.
THE Brushwood Boy" in whic
l hiplng is the victim of nightmare
Uncle Tom; Cabin" an inartisti
untruthful book dominated by malic
and unfit for a place in the librar!
Except as a factor in bringing on tn
civil war it is worthy OF no mans al
tention.
E "The Deemstcr," the most diabol
cal book that Hall Caine or anybod
else ever tried to write, II there is
8 library in Hades this book ought I
be on the Sheollan shelves
Janice Meredith" the most absur
Q of all the Revolutionary romance
without one redeemng character {
8 feature in it.
Haeckels Riddle OF the Universe
is probably the worst of all the bool
we have mentioned. 1t was conceiv
0 ed in iniquity and propagated
mendacity.
"Rasselas" and THE Vicar
3 Wakefield" are not worth this editor
time Perish Vanity Fair" for Il
pessimism. so much OF Henry Jams
goes on the list that titles are n,
/. mentioned. "The Prince OF India"
dreary and clumsy and "Thaddel
of Warsaw reveals an opportuniI
3 that slipped ou; of grasp. AS Il
"Sandford and Merton" and "all sue
silly juveniles the dust-heap Il
theirs.
h The Commercial Appeal man turI
his sentences to finish somewhat b.
low that demnded by the Atlant
& Probably he does not expect ever,
body to agree with him. But fro
his point OF view he gives Mr.. Croft
ers n practical example OF how
@ arouse interest i'm a hundred Wor
books.-The New York World.