The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-12-12

, tiNity and even the mood of-thc man
who reads them-not 10 SAY his ahihtA
10 understand. Rants "Critiqut "t
Pure Reason Is a mastery Work OF rs
kind. but 1 challenge majority o.
you 10 read IL not only with pleasni,
but with understanding. IL Is true
you; inability 10 grasp the author
thought through yout eparedhcsS
for Philosophical discussion, does NOT
dctThct from the worth Of the BOOK As
such. but 10 you u Is worthlts.'
nevCrtf elrss. And what rods OF
work If philosophy = as true "i sonle
OF the master creations In ali depart
merits OF Literature. Dante llNlhe
CoIaedy ami Millions Paradise Lost
are not the less classic bt ca use YOU az
not understand them, hut the tact that
they are classic does not make th'h
fruitful reading To the Ghtltlhcu
reader That's why lbsen end brow IL
ing and MacterlinCk ana even some OF
the gruat novelists, read 30 often be
cause "eveTybod!s reac,hg them N"n
know" are utterly duh ma without
helpfulness To many. Better slmpiY
written book within the range OF your
understanding aad sympathies IMAM the
most ambitious piece Of literature that
YOU cannot really follow. No more
than that the nOstrums. Mhlch, pre-
sCribed for one patient. will be "ulc~
Cious for all men. IL II true that an
the books that are good foI one set OF
men viii oe of real value To another,
OF course, there are certain canons -
criticism ~ which books are 10 DC
Judged TneV must conform to certain
well-established rules OF harmony. De
Quincy may rank as a sty1ist par eA-
cellency. 6ut because Van 10y he
writes in "A style different from DE
Quincy and ktpling IN way that
has nothing in common with either OF
these. shall one say that even from the
stylistic standpoint the books OF IN"
last-nameu TWO ere unworthy NOT
does this apply only 10 the formal anj
technical side OF authorship The moral
implication Of one book may be OF tre-
menuOusly greater value TO one man
than to another. Just as music loses
its real charm 10 the Que VINO mas no
soul for music. although for the mo-
ment IL mag entertain him, just as art
has no very deep appeal u him whose
artistic sehse is undeVeioped though ne
may enjoy looking at pictures, So
books. in order TO do their highest
service unto men, must he read and
judged by those whose souls are
attuned TO the intellectual. the spiritual
and the moral note which the author
wishes 10 strike.
1t is. therefore. hold. utterly i'm
possible TO say TO group OF men and
men and women whose sympathies.
whose abilities and whose advantages
represent such I wide range, just what
books they shall read For some, like
Montaigne. may find the most in books
In which they see Themselves reflected.
books whose characters mirror TO
themselves the emotions. the senti-
ments. the passions. the ideals. the
longings that nave stirred their own
hives. and of which they can say when
they have read them. This book is
true because II IS my life" such books
To such people are as q mirror TO the
soul and il is good occasionally for
men and women who are none too seri-
Gus in their determination, To go
through a process OF introspection ii
is well tor them TO read such books.
Put, on the other hand. there are men
ana women whose lives are too much
upor themselves, and who are con-
they have failed to reach that goal uf
happiness toward which ultimately each
man Is striving, but why as they
imagine, their lives are failures In all
things. To such persons books that
become mirrors OF Il -1selves are not
the best 20 read. 1t seems TO me. 1C
such | wouid rather recommend that
literature that Will taxi them out OF
themselves into environments that are
strange to them, Introducing them to
persons and TO places OF which they
never DIRE AIMED. and thus arouse in
them new interests AM new desires as
well as new standards of self-measure-
mept
OF course, / assume in what am
saying to you. that all men and women
should do some -eadlns I think IL was
Balfour who said that $50 long az we
have good health AMI good library
life cannot be altogether dull" And
II was an Egyptian writer who as early
as the thirteenth century before the