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But the recognized great books do have some easily observable conversational values. They are themselves worth talking about and are often talked about. Furthermore they are regular warehouses of lively facts and incidents. Who reads Sinclair Lewis' Arrow smith or Cronin's Citadel can talk of doctors and medicine as he could not before. Who reads Keys of the Kingdom can talk better about missionaries. Who reads Norris' novels, the Octopus and The Pit, can talk of wheat and commodity speculations. For every problem there are books, and for every theme there are novels and plays. Sometimes I think that the information we get from the novels is by far the best part of our knowledge. It seems to endure best and catch the heart of the matter better. I do not remember how many books and articles I have read about Switzerland, but when that name comes to mind what comes along with it is the vast panorama of Scott's Anne of Geierstein, read in high school. Sometimes I think that gave me the essence of Switzerland even better than my tour of that beautiful land in 1931. Oh, I hope I can convince everybody who wants to be an interesting and worth-while conversationalist that he must have worth-while facts, feelings, and ideas — and that books, including especially good literature, are the readiest and greatest sources for these things. |
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