Did you know that Brigham Young abhorred reading novels? I quote, “There are women in our community, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty years of age, who would rather read a trifling, lying novel than read history, the Book of Mormon, or any other useful print. Such women are not worth their room.”
Brigham Young always had a way with words.
For him, reading novels was a waste of time: girls had “cows to milk instead of novels to read”. If anything distracted from the sense of work and fulfillment, it was nonsense and unprofitable.
Over the years, Brigham spoke repeatedly about the evils of novel reading, getting more and more strict as his children got older. In 1862, he said, “It would do no good for me to say, Don’t read them; read on, and get the spirit of lying in which they are written, and then lie on until you find yourselves in hell.” Remember, he was raising strong willed and brilliant children, such as Susa Young Gates. Brigham Young appreciated her spirit, yet stood firm.
Maybe it wasn’t easy controlling willful children in his household, because as the years went by he became more and more adamant. “You have got to check them some way or other, or they will go to destruction. They are perfectly crazy.” He meant well with his concern when he said, “I hope that my children know as much about the Bible, Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants as they do about yellow covered books (the color of all novels published in that era).”
That is a question we must all ask ourselves, even in our day. Do we spend as much time reading scriptures as we do with our recreation, be it novel reading, television watching, exercising, or pleasure seeking?
As we know, Brigham Young loved the theater. Social Hall was built for the purpose of putting on plays and sharing talents. But Brigham said himself, “I would never have a tragedy played on these boards. There is enough tragedy in every day life and we ought to have amusement when we come here. I want such plays performed as will make the spectators feel well; and I wish those who perform to select a class of plays that will improve the public mind, and exalt the literary taste of the community.”
Brigham Young wanted people to be happy, especially as they worked together building Zion, and a Zion people. He suggested that people throw out their Dickens, but keep Don Quixote; to read history and the scriptures, and discard the romance novel.
For someone who reads a lot of books every year, I confess not all of my reading is in great literature. Very occasionally, I accidently run into garbage. But after getting a full on taste of where Brigham is coming from, I just may rethink my selections and tighten my standards. And my goal can be made clearer: reading and understanding the scriptures takes a higher priority than the number and popularity of books read.
His reasons are solid, and surely only for our benefit. In a world that would carry us away, we can be diligent and watchful in this one area. Here are a few statements from Pres. Young that might help us reevaluate our own outlook:
• “If I spend a minute that is not in some way devoted to building up the Kingdom of God and promoting righteousness, I regret that minute, and wish it had been otherwise spent.”
• “Read good books, and extract from them wisdom and understanding as much as you possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God, for without His Spirit we are left in the dark.”
• “It is your duty to study to know everything upon the face of the earth, in addition to reading the scriptures. We should not only study good, and its effects upon our race, but also evil, and its consequences.”
• “The greatest mystery a man ever learned is to know how to control the human mind and bring every faculty and power in subjection to Jesus Christ.”
From an article in BYU Studies, Vol 40, 2001, “Cows to Milk Instead of Novels to Read”, by Richard H. Cracroft