Littleton College - Chatterbox Yearbook (Littleton, NC)

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THE CHATTERBOX. 225 others by various Writers too numerous to mention which show distinctly what our girls at least like to read. These books are so worn the writers would have difliculty in recognizing them, while upon the same shelf with them are the books of the greatest thinkers and writers that look as if they are never opened. Then, too, the magazine stories and the 'papers are read and re-read. Don't understand me to say that these books should no-t be read. The point I do wish to make is that all the time should not be given to these at the expense of neglecting the others that are m-ore helpful. There is a great deal of good to be gotten from these if they are read in the right Way. What We call a novel may educate the taste and cultivate the intelligence. It may purify the heart and fortify the mind, but it should never under any circumstances be allowed to deprave the -one and weaken the other-and it is possible for the cheaper brands to do this. What is the matter with our reading? Is it that our tastes are poor or that our brains are Weak? Neither, primarily, but it is possible for both to become so through lack of use and training. A taste for the very best literature may be- come perverted if We feed it continually with what is of an inferior quality, and the very brightest mind may become lazy, dull and stupid if it is not exercised. There would be no harm in reading some of the things T have mentioned if We read as Well other things more likely to stimulate thought. A good share of the blame for our failure to read thoroughly and Well may be attributed, then, to-pure laziness. Again, another thing that is ailing some of us is a severe attack of sentimentalism. School girls have been accused of it from time immemorial, and it would be a very soul-sat.is- fying thing to pronounce the accusation false in every case- but 'tis true, 'tis pity, pity 'tis, 'tis true. Now sentiment is a good thing-a thing that ought to be, and most usually U

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224 Tun CHATTERBOX. The Sort of Books School Girls Read. MOBADA FARABOW. I suppose people have wondered just what sort of books girls read While in school. Well, I will tell you if you will keep a secret. In the library on the shelves are some books that are badly Worn and abused. What books do you suppose they are? Among those that are so badly mangled is St Elmo, by Augusta Evans. If you were to remove this from the place in which it is resting for a While, every leaf Would fall to the floor. Besides this there are E. P. Roe's Works. '4Queechy, and the 'WVide, Wide lVorld are Well Worn, f'Our Bessie and HSvveet Cicelyv are much the Worse for Wear. Then of more recent publications there are 4'Lavender and Old Lace, '4The Love Letters of a Musician, and The Spinner in the Sun, by Myrtle Reed. Mary Stewart Cut- ting's Little Stories of Courtship is especially popular with the sentimental girls. Some people may think that girls never get sentimental, but they do forget sometimes and drift off into day dreams. In the collection of books popular with the school girls is one by Lillian Bell, 4'The Love Af- fairs of an Old Maid. We often Wonder Why this one shows such unmistakable signs of use, for surely there are no old maids in school, and if there are any they don't write love letters. VVell, this book is here and it is very frequently read. There are the Elsie Booksv and The Pansy Books which are read by the quiet, good girls. Some of the other most popular books-and there is a deal more reason in their popularity-are The Man From Glengarryn and The Sky Pilot by Ralph Connor, 4'In Old Virginia and The Old Gentleman of the Black Stock, by Thomas Nelson Page, and

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226 THE CHATTERBOX. is, a force to be reckoned With in the character and life of every man and Woman, but too much of it-sentimentality, in other Words-is an exceedingly dangerous. thing. Love is one of the things that make life Worth living-it Umakes the world go ,round 57' but if love and rose-colored dreams of love and romantic stories of love cause us to forget that there are other things in life of ust as vital importance, to shirk our duty, then We need to call a halt. Emotion, feeling and sen- timent are good things, but let us not have too much of them in our choice of literature. What do we need to read? NVe need to read less trash and more of solid worth, less light literature and more of the standard, less that is calculated to touch the purely sentimen- tal side of us, and more that will train the intellectual and moral side of our nature. If the girl has a lo-ve for histori- cal works she will find Scottish Chiefsi' very pleasant and helpful. This a great aid to English History and tells so much of the great men, VVilliam VVallace and Bruce, Who did so much for their country. From this can be obtained useful lessons in noble deeds, unselfislmess, and goo-dness. Then there are ttThe lVaverly Novels by Scott which are also an aid to history and are an education Within themselves. If any one is looking for something exciting and interesting, read Ivanhoe which pictures English society of Scott' s day and also gives descripftions of the tournaments which were very popular at that time. We would not forget Dickens whose greatest genius lay in his ability to arouse the emotions. He very often deals with the troub-les and hardship-s of people and always arouses the sympathy of the reader. Every school girl should read some of Ha.Wthorne's Works. If for no other reason she should for the reason that he is an American and We should feel proud of him for he is called Americals great- est novelist. He deals with the marvelous World of the human heart. All of his stories are strange and mysterious, in which