The Lost Art of Reading. By Gerald Stanley Lee. (G.
P. Put- nam's Sons. 7s. 6d.)—Mr. Lee has written a long book which we find it more than usually difficult to estimate. That he is not satisfied with his literary and intellectual surroundings is tolerably clear; what would satisfy him does not appear. The businesslike, trained librarian of the present day, to take an instance, does not please him. He looks back to the old-world librarians with regret. "They ate books ; and, like the little green caterpillars that eat green peas, the colour showed through." But what does Mark Pattison say ?—" The librarian who reads is lost." He must not "eat" books; he must serve them up. In short, Mr. Lee is paradoxical, very nearly always, and sometimes amusing; now and then, it may be, he is instructive. To dip into his book will not be to lose time; but to read it_fpve.( yee T.,Y aVepW7riY70, CP(101Y.
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