The Clean Sea Breeze of the Centuries

I am frequently asked to recommend books. It's interesting that I seldom recommend a new book. My thoughts go directly to the best old ones. C. S. Lewis said it well in his essay "On the Reading of Old Books." (I think he may have been referring to books on Christianity, but his words apply to all books, if we call ourselves Christians.) Here are some excerpts:

Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. . . . A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. . . . The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can be acquired only from the old books.

It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. . ..

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. . . . The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.

Of course the best thing to do would be to start at the beginning, which we are attempting to do in our Classics Club. But short of reading Homer to Euripides to Plato to Dante to Chaucer to Shakespeare, may I suggest at least going back a century or three to a handful of books that have earned the name of classic? Here are some relatively oldies but goodies I think every good book group today should have under its belt. (And bear in mind that Lewis says you haven't read a good book if you've read it only once! That should keep us all busy. I also think we see more in a great book the older we get.)

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719 (the first novel in the English language)
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, 1726 (which he wrote"to mend the world," referenced even today)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, 1813 (Lewis said Austen was just right for convalescing)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 1818 (oh, the humanity!)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, 1847 (the quintessential heroine)
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery, 1848 (highly entertaining study of human nature)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, 1850 (it's got everything)
Silas Marner by George Elliot, 1861 (perfection)
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, 1885 (a masterpiece on many levels)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, 1891 (writing to measure all other novels by)
Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897 (be sure to read this only in light of day)
And so many more! (I'm thinking Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Henry James . . . )

A wonderful guide for reading the best books in the English language is The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature by Elizabeth Kantor which contains short lists of novels, stories, and poetry you must not miss beginning with Old English through Flannery O'Connor (my favorite).

So many books, so little time. I find it tragic that people are spending their time reading the worthless and even harmful new and neglecting the priceless and ennobling old. Kantor says, "Great works of literary art teach us to love what's noble and spurn what's base; they civilize us." From the work of great authors we learn to recognize and love truth. Then, when we come upon a bad new book, we'll instantly recognize it for what it is, too.