Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-29

Nothing will take the Joy out Of read
ing q good book quite 90 effectively a
the unspoken thought, Now I am be-
| ginning TO read"
He who wants to kill a book instantly
has only to assume this self conscious
attitude. and watch the interest Of thu
work expire.
The only way to read is to fall II
without thought or care. Then thu
Joys, expected and unexpected sprini
up on every page, like fresh flower:
along q winding road.
Every book is bright journey dowr
. path which perpetually hides from
view, but which as persistently open:
up new vistas every moment.
1t is only when one stops to admire
to realize to himself, why, now 1 an
seeing something" that the pleasure
goes out of reading.
The one sure way, then, of enjoy
ing what one reads is to plunge into
a book as q diver does Into water
without thought Of humping ones head
or strangling.
This takes little experience, un.
doubtedly. Every one Is not O gooC
reader, simply because he knows one
word from another, any more thar
every one who can swim is q good
swimmer.
To go haltingly through so many
pages Of text-that is not reading, in
the best sense. 1t Is work, and read
ing is never work.
Even technical matter, filled with
formulate, is interesting, replete with
excitement. to those who have any bust
ness reading 1t.
The good reader begins with his Sc
lection Of a book. II he trusts toe
much to the opinions of others he may
1nd himself fooled. Nor can he put
any too great reliance In the name OF
an author. Many q writer, urged OF,
by an ambitious publisher. who wants
to cash in on a former success, comes
out with a new book not half so good
as the old one. The reader must be-
ware such pitfalls which lie in wait
for him. Reading is not the easy, eff
fortress thing 1t seems, but If one APP
proaches 1t from the standpoint of a
duty. or task. or a genuine effort, he
is likely to get boredom for his pains.
Il y \
The number of people who do not
seem to know how to read is astonish-
ing. In the majority Of instances they
are like would-be horticulturists who do
not 60 into the garden often enough
to become familiar with their plants
One cannot garden so, nor can one read
Az ASoN N.lJNy Az Az
than not to read at all. perhaps, but it
Is not very much. after all.
One will have to have read enough
and for a long enough period, to be-
come familiar with the mechanics OF
reading, before he will be entitled to
call himself good reader. One can
not fool himself in this any more than
in most personal matters. Even the
most boastful person knows when he is
not the great shakes, as the saying Is
which he sets himself up to be. and so
It is in the kingdom Of books, where
! there are great readers and great pre-
tenders, too.
The mere matter Of quantity has
little to do with 1t. although one cannot
escape the belief that he who has read
many books has a decided advantage
over the slight reader A wide famil-
iaritv with authors and their works is
beneficial. but not absolutely necessary,
II one makes up for the lack by GER
tain thoroughness Of spirit in his read
ing.
The less q reader is conscious of
his reading the better reader he Is.
This means that he will have few. II
any. intervals, while reading. when he
wakes from the spell into which the
book casts him. Children often are
great readers because their imagination
helps them escape wholly from the hum
drum real world into the vivid world