Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-29
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Of the book. where colors are brighter,
everything CLOSED over with unreal
hues more natural than life itself.
| y
The real mark of q reader is the
| ability to stay submerged, as 1t were
beneath the spell of the work. Every
time he becomes story-consciouS he is
coming up to breathe. and every time he
breathes he Is no longer a reader, but
a human being. Thus reader Is sohae-
thing other and different. something
at once not wholly human. any more
than the spectator at theater
precisely q human being ana nothing
more. Every one who has come undei
the spell Of a great dramatic work
realizes that for the duration Of the act:
at least, he has become disemoooleo
spirit a kind of god looking down from
olympus upon a scene Of humanity:
Words. as such. cease to exist lor
the reader who comes under tneir
woven SPELL In order to put himseil
into this enviable position ne must
read quickly, smoothlessly. enortiessiy.
It may be said that this facinty ~
a possession Of the many. not OF INC
few. There Is no snobbishness IN read
ing any one who can read In this man
nsr IL the equal of the best. because
there is nothing greater in reaoing
than the spell. It was this magic wnlcn
the mind Homer dispensed upon those
Greeks who sat listening to him slng
The "Iliad." He conjurad. out OF WORDS,
deeds emotions, thoughts. the living
hodv Of narrative which has surVlveo
to this day In various forms. h.'
listeners. inasmuch as they zen ~
meath the spell, were readers; wnat Clley
underwent Is precisely what snou
reader of a good book experiences Voo"S'
One Of the most curious experience
which can come to a reaoer Is .ls
awakening from the spell, and the gonis
back into 1t again, He no ioigei -, &c
conscious of the chair in Whlcn ne
sits mr. 81 the book which he holds his
RIGHT foot may go to sleep beneath MIN
and he will not be aware OF II, ne
does not see the light in the wlnooW OF
the shade beneath the Sill; outsiue
noises make no impression upon MS
mind or muscle.
suddenly no more than o curious
word. never seen by him before, breaks
the spell as II with q sledgehammer
blow. He becomes aware OF the cnaI
in which he sits, and mas ]! un.
comfortable; he wakes UP to md ina!
MS IOOL has kOilC w eASSP'
circulation hampered by eonstraln.
somewhere; he sees that too much sun
in coming in, and he is aware tnal
children are making o great noise
beneath his window. o.,
The feeling which comes over him
is diflcult to describe, but every reaoef
knows II. and has experienced II IN
every book. The less. the better reader
he-or the more fortunate, 1t is difhcult
to say which. The wordy spell is
broken, the golden bowl OF narrative
smashed to smithereens. The fortunate
happy thing Is that he can pick the
bowl I'D and put 1t together again IN
a page or two. The spell may be maze
as good as new by diligent apph-
cation. And Just as few. II any, have
ever caught themselves going to sleep
at the exact second when they slid into
Inconsistencies so few readers, nc
matter how good they think themselves,
are able to tell at just which word the
SMELL took possession Of them again. II
they could, 1t would not be the spell
And. as the best readers read by whole
clauses. sentences, or even paragraphs
instead Of word by word. the thing is
impossible, anyway. The spell OF a
good book closes In imperceptibly
quickly, surely. and q good reader shall
not be released from 1t until he puts
the volume down, and maybe not even
then.