What books to lend and what to give

by Charlotte M. Yonge

Travels, biographies, not too long, poetry, histories of contemporaneous events, and fiction of the kind that may be called classical, should be the staple for them. It is hardly advisable to attempt to give a list for them. Their books belong to general literature, with which I do not wish to meddle, and besides, reading men mostly inhabit towns where there are generally Institutes from which they can obtain books. In the country, when the clever cobbler or gardener soars above the village library, he will generally have a decided notion of what he wants, and will respect a special loan from our own shelves. He may take to some line in natural science, or have some personal cause for interest in a colony; but in general, the labourer would rather smoke than read in his hours of rest, and even when laid aside in a hospital, newspaper scraps pasted into a book are often more welcome to him than more continuous subjects. Above all, he resents being written down to or laughed at; and calling him Hodge and Chawbacon is the sure way to alienate him.

Books with strong imitations of dialect are to be avoided. They are almost unintelligible to those who know the look of a word in its right spelling, though they might miscall it, and do not recognise it when phonetically travestied to imitate a local dialect, as for instance by ah for I. Moreover, they feel it a caricature of their language, and are very reasonably insulted. They do not appreciate simplicity, but are in the stage of civilisation when long words are rather preferred, partly as a compliment, partly as a new language. Complicated phrases are often too much for them, but polysyllables need not be avoided, if such are really needed to express an idea, and will do it better than any shorter word.

Though men either read with strong appetites or not at all, their wives, in these days of education, generally love fiction. They do not want to be improved, but they like to lose their cares for a little while in some tale that excites either tears or laughter. It is all very well to say that they ought to have no time for reading. An industrious thrifty woman has little or none, but the cottager’s wife who does as little needlework, washing, or tidying as possible, has a good many hours to spend in gossip or in reading. She may get cheap sensational novels, and the effects on a weak and narrow mind are often very serious. The only thing to be done is to take care that she has access to a full supply of what can do her no harm, and may by reiteration do her good, though the links between book and action are in many cases never joined. Sometimes they are not connected at all, sometimes a strong impression is unexpectedly made. But this class of women must have incident, pathos, and sentiment to attract them. The old-fashioned book where Betty rebukes Polly in set language for wearing a red cloak instead of a grey one, and eating new bread instead of old, will meet with no attention. But if the moral of the tale be sound, and the tone of the characters who bespeak sympathy, high, pure, and good, the standard of the reader, however frivolous, must be insensibly raised. At any rate, by withholding books because the cottage woman ought to be too busy to want them, we do not render her more industrious, but we leave her exposed to catering for herself in undesirable regions.

There remain the thrifty, sensible, good women who, if they read at all, do so in their Sunday leisure, and like a serious book. Neither variety of woman likes a book manifestly for children lent to themselves, though they do enjoy anything about a baby from the maternal point of view.

There are such different degrees of intelligence and civilisation among the women who frequent mothers’ meetings that it is difficult to make suggestions applying to all. Some of these meetings are attended so irregularly that it is not possible to read anything continuous, whereas in others a sustained interest promotes regularity. A little religious instruction or exhortation, a little domestic or sanitary instruction, and a lively or pathetic narrative seem to answer best, and I have endeavoured to collect the titles of books useful in this respect. The two first, however, are best given extempore if a clergyman will come for the first, and a lady who has attended ambulance classes can be secured for the second.

The lad or young man species comes next. There are a few of these with a thirst for information, and it is important to supply this in a sound and wholesome form. Some like poetry, but the general run can only be induced to read at all by adventurous or humorous tales.

Those who act as Sunday school teachers may, however, be led to study books bearing on the subjects they have to teach, or to get up for certificates, and thus may be brought to take an interest in religious literature, which may deepen as they grow older.

There is always, too, a certain proportion who have a strong turn for fact, and like to have solid truth before them. Of course all these can read the same books as the elder men, and even more difficult ones, as their education has gone farther; but they need more that is light, easy, and inviting, and a lending-library or reading-room requires a supply fitted for both.

It is a pity there is not more good biography suited for this purpose. The popularity of Miss Marsh’s ‘Hedley Vicars’ showed what a book written without too much detail and with general interest might be. Some of Smiles’s biographies come near the mark, also some American ones, and those shilling books of Cassell’s called ‘The World’s Workers,’ also some published by Nelson and by Blackie.

Good books of travels, too, are increasing favourites; also such books as ‘Her Majesty’s Mail,’ and ‘Engine-Driving Life.’ In fact, whatever wholesomely interests our own households may well be sent into the club-room, provided it do not presuppose too much culture. Many of these books may be bought second-hand at a cheap rate from the Libraries. And there should be a good stock of standard fiction: Scott, Dickens, Fenimore Cooper, are all to be had at almost any price, and would pretty well supply in themselves the requirements of reading-room fiction.