Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

large and imposing volumes, he should
have seen boy with Roman Hollands
Beethoven" He was reading away
contentedly on the street car. A gentle
man sitting beside him remarked: 81
see you are reading q book have beer
intending to get. Do you like it?" The
boy looked up calmly. 81 like 1t very
much" he replied. There Is one
chapter in particular which appeals to
me-" And he went ahead and tolc
about it in words which no one many
years his elder could have chosen better
The point is that this Is q booky age
when every one reads and most write
1t will not impress your neighbors to be
seen reading an expensive, large, beau
tiful life" Of any man or woman. No
body cares. One must read for HIM
self and without thought of others. Sc
far this slight tinge Of snobbery has
chung to the reading of large biog-
raphies. Many feel that such reading
is a mark of distinction. When this
balloon Of egotism Is punctured one
may see different appraisal.
II + r Il
The gathering impetus Of the detec-
tive story seems to have some connec-
ton with the playing up of crime in
American newspapers. Just how much
|
Criminal news is hot of the griddle
Of life. The tremendous interest In
some Of the lamentable local murder
cases outdoes anything in the expert
ence Of newspaper men of many years
standing.
Realistic fiction of the past has moth
ing more to offer than much Of the real
life which goes on in every American
city.
The detective novel, long a favorite
with the few, has become the preferred
reading of the millions. For many
years there have been weekly and
monthly magazines specializing in the
detective story.
Scores Of the Serials published In
such magazines found their way into
board covers, but other thousands re-
manned in the magazines. Today all
that Is changed. Thousands of such
stories are written for book publication
to be serialized II they go over" with
the general public.
England possesses in its Edgar Wal
lace a writer who almost outdoes Alex
andre Dumas in productivity. His de-
tective novels are being published three
to one volume, and q new one appears
almost every month.
Based upon the appeal Of the detec-
tive story, various types Of books deal
ing with the criminal and criminal &C.
tiVities and criminal catching are being
published. A most successful one Is the
recent you Can Escape" of Edward H
Smith, telling of escapes from American
prisons.
One may safely predict that the next
thing to appear in this line will be the
story Of prison revolt en- maSse, as dis
played In New York and Colorado. Here
is q whole new opportunity. 1t Is In
teresting to recall that CASTOR Leroux
pioneered in this field several years age
with his Chert-Bibi stories, the action
Of which had its beginning on French
prison ship, in which the convicts re-
volted and impersonated the officers and
crew.
While the public laps up detective
stories and biography as its preferred
mental fare, q booklover may be for
given for wondering how long the vogue
will last. There always will be detec-
tive stories, there always will be biog-
raphies, but If history repeats itself
there will come decline in their great
popularity. Such things 60 in waves
and what Is on top Of the heap one
decade goes into eclipse, temporary OF
permanent, in the next. And one must
remember that there are 5000 books
being published, 30 that every reader
has plenty Of choice If he does not join
the present hue and cry for biography
and detective stories.