Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-17
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRAcEWELL.

| In the matter Of books the average
man Is better able to acuuit himself
to hiYnSelf-with q favorable verdict
He knows what he likes, unless he Is Z
June bug. and he knows reasonably vel
what he does not like. All this, OF
course, by the time he has come to be-
say 80 years Of age, at which year III
passes out Of Paradise.
! He knows q book that stirs his en-.
thusiasm often before he has read It.
What If he makes mistake sometime
well, what Of It? Who Is he that he
shall never make O mistake? The well
seasoned bookcase IL strewn with these
wrecks. The shrewd visitor who under
stands such things might trace the trail
Of enthusiasm from shelf to shelf.
&&&*
The booklover who jots down the
names OF the books he would like to
read as they are announced viii ind
himself deferring his purchases to an
other day.
It is q trifie rough on the publishers,
but remarkably easy on the booklovers
purse.
In the end the publisher gains, too,
because he has not violated that old
maxim of craftsmanship (prubably
always better observed in theory than
In DTdCblCeJ W IIlC CuCCt bhAhb 40 OAAU
should be sold anything which gen
timely is not for his own good.
In such impalpable relations as that
of the brain and the book, the mind
and the book, the intelligence and the
book, the heart and the book, there Is
no hard-and-fast rule which shows
beyond doubt what is good for the
purchaser.
That is why one may well resent
these young ladies who drift into the
home on the heels Of q brisk Autumn
breeze and proceed TO tell one just how
to spend ones money, where to place
it and with whom. They. call them
selves canvassers, but really they are
nuisances.
Here we see, In our note book, the
faded ink of two years gone by. It
spells the title Of book which was is
sued Just before Herbert Hoover was
elected President. It is THE Sanctity
of Law" No doubt it was q good book;
It seemed to voice our beliefs: we
thought we wanted It. After we jotted
it down, somehow the enthusiasm wore
off. We have never read The Sanctity
of Law" Unless we run into 1t some
where, or some one presents 1t to us, we
probably never will.
A little further on we discover Hell
first Crime Club poem" eve believe 1t
was the last.) Well, we got over want
ing that, without any hurt to us or 1t.
"Is Sex Necessary" was good hu-
morous book of last Winter. They had
plenty Of copies of it for sale over in
Union Station. 1t appealed to travellers.
We didn't travel, 20 we lost our hanker-
ing. evidently.
"Uncle Sham" seemed 70 appeal, but
the appeal wore on. Seriously, We
meant to get 1.-THE Building Of Book,"
but as far as we got was this nota-
ton.
Our latest list includes "A Writer'S
Notes on His Trade" by G. Z. Monta-
que; 1.-The Short Stories Of Saki;" "The
Water Gipsies," by Herbert, of Punch,
and 'The Bitter Tea of Gen. Yen."
The longer these title lie dormant
In our little black book, the less hkeli-
hood there viii be of us ever reading
the books.
II we do, well and good; II we do not,
the world will wag right along. We
still insist that II one or more OF those
books are meant for US, as THE Story
of San Michele" was meant for US, We
will bring them home ct last to our
heart and hearth.