262 A BOOK-LOVER'S HOLIDAYS 



to my limitations, and read the books I thor- 

 oughly enjoy. 



But this does not mean permitting oneself to 

 like what is vicious or even simply worthless. 

 If any man finds that he cares to read ''Bel 

 Ami," he will do well to keep a watch on the 

 reflex centres of his moral nature, and to brace 

 himself with a course of Eugene Brieux or 

 Henry Bordeaux. If he does not care for 

 "Anna Karenina," "War and Peace," "Sebas- 

 topol," and "The Cossacks" he misses much; 

 but if he cares for the "Kreutzer Sonata" he 

 had better make up his mind that for patho- 

 logical reasons he will be wise thereafter to 

 avoid Tolstoy entirely. Tolstoy is an interest- 

 ing and stimulating writer, but an exceedingly 

 unsafe moral adviser. 



It is clear that the reading of vicious books 

 for pleasure should be eliminated. It is no less 

 clear that trivial and vulgar books do more 

 damage than can possibly be offset by any 

 entertainment they yield. There remain enor- 

 mous masses of books, of which no one man 

 can read more than a limited number, and 

 among which each reader should choose those 

 which meet his own particular needs. There 

 is no such thing as a list of "the hundred best 

 books," or the "best five-foot library." 



