What is a Good Book?
Books of the hour and books of all time
Explain the difference between the two kinds of book and the limits of the first.
In 'What is a Good Book?', from a lecture by John Ruskin, books are divided into two kinds: books of the hour, and books of all time.
A good 'book of the hour' is simply the useful or pleasant talk of someone you cannot meet in person, printed for you to read. Lively travel accounts, witty discussions, good novels, and eyewitness accounts of history all belong here. We should be grateful for them; they are the gift of the age.
But, Ruskin warns, such books are really just letters or newspapers in good print: fine for today, but not meant to last. They must not replace true books.
A true book is written for a different reason: not just to multiply a voice or carry it far, but to preserve it for ever.
Its author has seen something in life that is true, or beautiful, and that nobody else has seen in quite the same way. He sets it down clearly, as if carving it on a rock, and says: 'This is the best of me.'
A true book preserves the best of a wise person.
Practise this lesson
Questions that get harder as you improve, a Tutor that helps without giving the answer away, and progress you can see. Free for every learner.
No account, no email address. Opens the real product.