We have had the novel of adventure in Cooper, purely romantic as against the realistic. In this same realm, but dealing with utterly different material, is THE SCARLET LETTER _By Hawthorne_ a tragedy of sin, an epic of the soul. To Hawthorne the supernatural was as real as nature itself; good and evil, inner and outer, are in constant conflict throughout his pages. The scarlet letter Hester wears is a symbol, and symbolism is the key to Hawthorne’s method and meaning. As a preparation for this novel one ought to recall the spirit of the old colonial times in New England, the deep religiousness, the belief in witches, and the vivid sense of the supernatural. In order to enjoy any story one must understand its background, must be able to get out of his own day, away from his own customs, back to the life of the story, as if he were a very part of it. This will have to be done for the next story, William Dean Howells’ THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM a realistic novel of the manners and ambitions of Boston society some forty years ago. For a good study of realism and romanticism in fiction, in fact for a good study of this whole art of the novel, get Professor Bliss Perry’s _A study of prose fiction_.[4] And for a text covering in a brief illuminating way the whole of American literature, take Bronson’s _Short history of American literature_[5] mentioned above.[6] The next book I will name is Mark Twain’s TOM SAWYER though many critics would say _Huckleberry Finn_, while others declare his _Life on the Mississippi_ the greatest of the three, and one of the permanent things in American literature. They are really three in a great trilogy—the story of his own life in the Mississippi Valley, of a time now gone but which still has mightily to do with the times that now are, and that are to be. Before closing this short list, may I be allowed to hold open the door to the library a moment longer, just to glance at a few more titles? There I see THE PIT _By Frank Norris_ a Chicago story of wheat and the Board of Trade—a terrible tale which thrills of present-day American life. I see too THE GENTLE READER _By Samuel McChord Crothers_ a volume of gentle, whimsical essays, which will be a good test of your literary taste and appreciation. Along with these stands ETHAN FROME _By Edith Wharton_ a grim tale of inner torture against a bare New England background—two lovers who tried to die together but who only succeeded in making themselves cripples, compelled to live the rest of their lives under the same roof with the wife from whom Ethan tried to escape. And here, finally, is a book published only a few years ago, THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALTER H. PAGE _By Burton J. Hendrick_