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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
The Function of the Novel
Posted by John Holbo on 08/08/07 at 07:43 AM
Of course my magnum opus - this week - is here. But here’s a little something else to dull your pain. Project Gutenberg’s edition of Sax Rohmer’s The Green Eyes of Bast includes what was, apparently, the publisher’s back matter:
Of all the amusements which can possibly be imagined for a hard-working man, after his daily toil, or in its intervals, there is nothing like reading an entertaining book. It calls for no bodily exertion. It transports him into a livelier, and gayer, and more diversified and interesting scene, and while he enjoys himself there he may forget the evils of the present moment. Nay, it accompanies him to his next day’s work, and gives him something to think of besides the mere mechanical drudgery of his every-day occupation - something he can enjoy while absent, and look forward with pleasure to return to.
This is curious ad copy.
...and yet, for its sentiment, so much more interesting than ad copy of most sorts.
Apparently extracted from Henry Barnard, The American Journal of Education, 1872—wherein he continues: “If I were to pray for a taste which should stand me in stead, under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss, and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.”
There is a Myles na gCopaleen feel to it, though.
Sounds about right to me, but then I’ve been reading Patrick O’Brian’s sea novels this summer.
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