Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-23

Reading is not a seasonal occupation,
thank heavenl but, II it were, no doubt
most readers would select the Winter
months as the best of the year.
During January, February and
March a reader may settle down to
uninterrupted happiness, secure in long
evenings which permit him to get
through many long work.
Books Of considerable size are best
put on to these months. Who but the
unusual individual would select Sum-
mer Tor going through Gibbons Decline
ana Fail OF the Roman Empire?" or
Prescott's Conquest Of Mexico?" or
Motleys Dutch Republic?
Yes, these books are still read; ask
any public librarian II you do not
believe 1t. Then there are the inter-
minable novels Of the mighty Charles
Dickens, which, to the thousands of
Dickens lovers, are still not long enough.
The books which comprise Balzac's
Human Comedy" may be considered as
one long, long work by an ambitious
reader bent on doing something worth
while IN the serious reading line.
surely one Of the vices of this age,
from the mental standpoint, is that Of
brevity. We ask for short books, shorter
articles, brief paragraphs. There is q
certain satisfaction, however, in mere
bulk.
There Is satisfying sense Of accom-
plishment about one Of Dickens novels,
Tor instance, which one will not find In
Burnetts Little Caesar" or more
recent Iron Man"
1t is significant that there is trend
now toward longer, and, one may hope,
better novels. Except for certain MASTER
pieces, such as "The Bridge of San Luis
Key" the long story has better chance
Tor success partly because it is long.
Length, In q book, amounts to the
same thing as physical perfection in
human being. Disguise the admiration
as much as we may, most human beings
md certain satisfaction, partly physi-
cal, partly mental, In being in the COM
pany OF physically wholesome people.
Granting to an author a certain
amount Of genius, 1t is manifestly easier
to work up atmosphere with many
words than with few. The reader has
time to put himself into the mood of
the moment, which is precisely the
mood of the writer.
The more time there is for this proc
ess. the more writer and reader will
become as one from a mental stand
point. It must never be forgotten that
reading is an intellectual proposition,
after all, despite the tendency to sheer
at 1t which IS part of the sophisti-
Gated attitude of the time.
A serious reader-and surely there
is no other worthy of the name-iS
just as serious today as Lincoln was
when he reclined on his elbows before
the log cabin fire and went through
Shakespeare and the Bible.
Today'S reader may not become
President of the United States, but even
Lincoln was surprised at it, Just as bust
ness men say they are when they find
themselves in positions which pay them
100000 a year salary. Who wouldn't
be surprised?
The outcome Of reading, one NAV
hold, has nothing at all to do with
the reading. We have little sympathy
with those worthy and worrying readers
who insist on seeing a dollars worth
OF good Tor every dollar spent in books.
Let such delve entirely into reference
books, so that they may be able to
quote statistics and other facts upon
demand. The remainder of us will
be content with wit and fancy, romance
and imagination, deep thinking, half
deep thinking and shallow thinking,
Just 50 long as each one is interesting,
Interest is the test, and upon it we
stand. Interest Is divine, in relation
to reading, for 1t means that the
miracle Of creation Is operating again.
Every time interest is created in a
human mind by means Of small black
marks on white paper, the divinity of
interest springs into being, illuminating
some period Of history, some bygone
peoples, some races, countries, sects.
life, love, happiness.
Through interest, and through In