Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

What Is the quality IN novel which
makes one want to read it over again
Not every work of fiction, even among
the acknowledged great. creates this
desire.
Perhaps the quality lies not SO much
in the book as in the reader, and not
so much in him alone as in the COM
bination of the two.
Thus the book which one reader de-
lights to read a second or third time,
another will find not to be worth his
attention again.
In this Judgment he casts no reflec-
ton whatever on the book. A work OF
fiction is a slice of life, If it is any
thing, and the particular reader may
not care to repeat the experience, that
Is all.
There are many persons who love to
read and reread the fictional works OF
Charles Dickens, or Walter Scott,
whereas the next reader Is unable to
do SO.
He may delight in the hearty fun OF
the "Pickwick Papers" as well as any
one, but somehow feel no urge to re-
peat the performance.
There are, undoubtedly, many read
ers who do not grasp all they read the
first time. Realizing this, and trusting
in the fame of the writer, they are
willing to read the work one or two
times more, in order to be sure OF re-
ceiving the maximum amount OF enter
tainment and profit.
These are honest readers. They
know themselves, and are willing To
abide by that knowledge. Like the
opera goer who returns time and again
finding new beauties at each perform
ance, these readers discover certain
| felicities in the second reading which
they overlooked at the first.
Perhaps this Is inevitable. Even the
swiftest and Surest readers may ano
undoubtedly do fail to catch some OF
the finest made points in most written
| works. Not that every one always works
in perfect coordination with writer.
1t is impossible. There are certain good
readers, however, who attain the luxury
of rapid and reasonably complete read
ing. They put themselves not so much
In the attitude of readers OF novels as
participators in them.
These latter readers are not suffer
| ing from the inferiority complex sc
prevalent among a certain class, who
even though they read fiction, seem to
believe that what they do Is unworthy
of them.
We read recently that a famous IN
ternational parsonage had not read a
work of fiction for three years. Evil
IDENTIFY the tremendous publicity which
he had received had given him certain
ideas of his own prestige in the world
and he had been so occupied that he
had failed to divert his mind and heart
with the lives of others.
The story form is too old in the world
to require any apology or defense al
| this time. AS long as mankind has been
able to think, as thinking animal, il
has found a remarkable satisfaction in
the telling and hearing of stories.
Whether such tales are all true, OF
part true and part made up" or en-
tirely composed, makes little difference
in the delight with which they are
heard
Jules Verne's account Of the trip OF
PhineaS Fogg around the world "in
eighty days" was quite as good reading
as the recent flight of Post and Gatty
The element of adventure was just the
same in both trips. In some respects
the fiction outstripped reality.
The reading world has little cared
whether its stories were real or not Sc
long as they managed to work up in
readers the sense of the passage of
time, the illusion of real human beings
and certain amount of physical ex-
ultation and mental exaltation.
X X x
Those are the three necessities OF a
good work of fiction, and every novel of
merit will possess all threat least, IN
some degree for all readers.
The sense of the passage Of time Is