Ours is pre-eminently the age of story-reading and of story-writ-
ing. It is rare to find a novel nowadays which has not some merit ;
but since, amid such abundance, one cannot possibly read all, it is
best to keep to the great masters whose works have borne the tests
of criticism and of time. Life is too short to read every new novel
to find what there is of nourishment, pleasure, and mental profit in it.
It is best to be guided by those who have read the book and recom-
mended it. Hence Emerson said that he never read a book until it
was twenty years old. Sir Walter Scott's novels are wholesome
reading. More recent novelists too often write down to the frivoli-
ties of their own time, instead of up to the humanity of all time.
And of books that inspire us with power, and are not merely a re-
source for killing time, it may be said that, " no one who has tasted
old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better."
In the judgment of Archbishop Trench, the greatest master of the
English language among modern autliors was Thomas DeQuinccy;
and in the judgment of Anthony Trollope, the greatest novel in the
English language is Thackeray's " Henry Esmond." Mr. Trollope's
126 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
own novels are very widely read, both in America and in Englarid ;
many persons of good taste are enthusiastic about " Orley Farm,"
and " Barchester Towers." Yet there are people of good taste
who confess that they never felt power or stimulus from any of
Trollope's novels.
The ground' one treads upon when offering advice to others as to
the selection of a home library is so crowded that no matter what
selection may be made, others will suggest a better and others a
better still: The guiding principle of all readers should be to read
such books as give them power, not such as weaken them. The
analogy of the body and food holds good of the mind and reading.
There are some foods that make bone and others that make flesh.
A child fed on nothing but candies would soon die. Doctors tell
us that only two foods contain every possible element of nutrition
which every part of the human system requires. These are milk
and eggs. These foods assimilate quickly and are easily digested ;
milk the more so, as the glutinous substance in eggs takes longer. If
any one had to choose two books that should do most for all his
moral and mental constitution, and should ask me, " Where are the
milk and eggs for the mind ? " I should answer at once, " The Bible
and Shakspeare." That is not saying that all parts of these two
volumes are equally valuable, or denying that some parts are not the
most wholesome brain food. All milk is not equally good, and the
shells of eggs are not eaten. I mean only that within the covers of
the Bible and within the covers of Shakspeare there is the finest food
for heart and life that has ever yet come into the human market. A
home library, therefore, would be incomplete and imperfect without
these- two master-pieces of experience, humanity, philosophy, and
poetry.
Page 76
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Ours is pre-eminently the age of story-reading and of story-writing. It is rare to find a novel nowadays which has not some merit ; but since, amid such abundance, one cannot possibly read all, it is best to keep to the great masters whose works have borne the tests of criticism and of time. Life is too short to read every new novel to find what there is of nourishment, pleasure, and mental profit in it. It is best to be guided by those who have read the book and recommended it. Hence Emerson said that he never read a book until it was twenty years old. Sir Walter Scott's novels are wholesome reading. More recent novelists too often write down to the frivolities of their own time, instead of up to the humanity of all time. And of books that inspire us with power, and are not merely a resource for killing time, it may be said that, " no one who has tasted old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better."
In the judgment of Archbishop Trench, the greatest master of the English language among modern authors was Thomas DeQuinccy; and in the judgment of Anthony Trollope, the greatest novel in the English language is Thackeray's " Henry Esmond." Mr. Trollope's
126 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
own novels are very widely read, both in America and in England ; many persons of good taste are enthusiastic about " Orley Farm," and " Barchester Towers." Yet there are people of good taste who confess that they never felt power or stimulus from any of Trollope's novels.
The ground one treads upon when offering advice to others as to the selection of a home library is so crowded that no matter what selection may be made, others will suggest a better and others a better still: The guiding principle of all readers should be to read such books as give them power, not such as weaken them. The analogy of the body and food holds good of the mind and reading. There are some foods that make bone and others that make flesh. A child fed on nothing but candies would soon die. Doctors tell us that only two foods contain every possible element of nutrition which every part of the human system requires. These are milk and eggs. These foods assimilate quickly and are easily digested ; milk the more so, as the glutinous substance in eggs takes longer. If any one had to choose two books that should do most for all his moral and mental constitution, and should ask me, " Where are the milk and eggs for the mind ? " I should answer at once, " The Bible and Shakespeare." That is not saying that all parts of these two volumes are equally valuable, or denying that some parts are not the most wholesome brain food. All milk is not equally good, and the shells of eggs are not eaten. I mean only that within the covers of the Bible and within the covers of Shakspeare there is the finest food for heart and life that has ever yet come into the human market. A home library, therefore, would be incomplete and imperfect without these two master-pieces of experience, humanity, philosophy, and poetry.