Evening star., 1932-02-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

had died, but that he "had lived" The
living was the important thing. Expert
tence comes with living.
1t must be manifest that when
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the mathe-
matician, turned himself into Lewis
Carroll, the writer of childrens stories,
he could not divest himself Uf Charles
l.. DodgSon altogether.
Nor could Prof. Dodgson keep out OF
his eyes something of the look OF Lewis
Carroll. They were different facets OF
| the same fellow.
Into his most f1ippant gayeties there
crept something Of the adult person
which only another adult person could
quite grasp.
Just what this something is will
! always be hard to define, but that 1t Is
ventures in Wonderland" and its sister
book, to say nothing of the less we'll
known juveniles by the same writer, will
for moment dispute.
Because 1t Is there, eminent political
gentlemen are constantly using images
out Of Alice's book Every 10 years or
SO some political writer draws up a
satirical attack on the enemy in the
form and after the manner Of Alice
In wonderland
Despite these heavy handed dippings,
the book remains essentially children S
classic, with, alas, all that the word
classic" means.
1t means. in the first place, that many
little ones will be scared away from
| this book! If the classic" end of the
matter is borne in too heavily upon
them.
There have been more good books
spoiled for good readers by the brand
OF classic than perhaps by any other
one label. This seems to be particu.
larly true Of children. The one sure
way to keep essentially bookish boys
and girls from reading a book is to tell
them that the thing is Classic" That
one word. and the book is ruined for
them They may read it, but it will
never be quite the same book it would
have been for them If teacher had
never recommended it as a classic.
The only book Of Dickens which the
writer here does not like is "A Tale OF
Two Cities" and the only real reason
he can see for his dislike is an en-
forced reading in school You can lead
horse to water. but you can't make
him drink" Especially if he has q
stubborn streak in his disposition,
perhaps.
Good books Of the best sort need no
high-pressure saleSmanShip on the part
of teachers or others. They will make
| their way! If the brands Of classics
and essential books" and recommend
ed reading were junked once and for
all the cause Of good literature would
be served.
X X
or course, the word classic" does
mean something, after all 1t means
Just what Alice in Wonderland" makes
it mean, what any good book makes
it mean. Our belief is only that per
haps the conscious use of the term is
sometimes a mistake
A classic is a classic, one likes to
/ think, because somehow it meets the
needs of humanity. Alice in Wonder
land" does 1t, by showing the world
once and for all, that Weighty, heavy
, subjects are not the only subjects, for
books or daily life.
A true classic, such as this old book
the world delights to honor always
contains a quality above the words
| themselves 1t leaves a feeling OF
honesty and worth in small things as
we'll as in important affairs" It
makes us realize that life is larger and
greater than Scme would have us
believe