Sociology of Film by J. P. Mayer

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Sociology of Film by J. P. MayerReview by: Bernard BerelsonThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1948), pp. 297-298Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4303722.

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REVIEWS 297NATIONAL EDUCATION AsSOCIATION, TENATIONAL COUNCILoF TEACHERSOF ENG-LISH; FRANCES M. GRim, editor; JEANCAROLYN Roos, chairman. Rev. ed. Chicago:American Library Association, I947. Pp.I43. $1.25.The new edition of By Way of Introductionrepresents the efforts of three important educa-tional groups to provide good adult reading foradolescents. Less than I75 titles out of nearly

I,200 are juveniles. Appearing nine years afterthe first edition, the list shows the effects ofWorld War IL. Only 350 titles remain from theI938 edition, although the Appendix contains65 out-of-print titles that publishers might wellmake available in the near future.A wide variety of reading material has beengrouped under twenty-one topics representingthe interests and needs of young people. Most ofthe topics are perennials, carried over from theprevious edition, but certain new areas reflectcurrent emphases, such as "Democratic Amer-ica," "Intergroup Understanding," and "AWorld United."The list has retained the attractive format ofits predecessor.Each section is introducedby anappropriate quotation and headpiece, selectedwith a few exceptions frombooks within the list.The very brief descriptive annotations are ad-dressed to the young readers themselves. Bothimmature and advanced readershave been keptin mind in the choice of titles, although there areno symbols to indicate these gradations. Thismight have been helpful in certain ways, but theCommittee felt that the disadvantages wouldoutweigh the advantages. All titles have actual-ly proved acceptable to adolescent readers.In the rapidly expanding program of libraryservice to young people, By Wayof Introductionwill be a very useful tool in book selection andreading guidance. It can be supplemented dur-ing the interim before a third edition appearsbythe annual list of "Books for Young People" ofthe New York Public Library and, within theyear, by the teen-age departments of theA.L.A. Booklist, the LibraryJournal, the WilsonLibraryBulletin and the Horn Book.The appearance of the list is opportune, andthe Committee membersunder the expert guid-ance of the chairman,Jean Roos, and the editor,Frances Grim, are to be commended for thisvery promising product of their efforts.

ALICER. BROOKSGraduateLibrarySchoolUniversityof Chicago

Sociology of Film. By J. P. MAYER. London:Faber & Faber, Ltd., I946. Pp. 328. I5S.The subject indicated by the title of thisbook is certainly in need of systematic attentionby social scientists. The importance of the mo-tion picture, as one of the major mass media ofcommunication, which influence modern life,can hardly be denied. Unfortunately, this bookby a British sociologist does not fill the need.Sociology of Film is not a systematic analysisof the problem, unifiedin conception and execu-tion. It is rather a collection of essays and docu-ments which contribute more or less clearly to

such an analysis. Although there are some usefulinsights in the book, they are not organized intoa set of categories by which the sociology of filmcan be explored. Furthermore, the analysis isoften impeded by the author's strongly norma-tive remarks, amounting in some places to smallsermonson the iniquities of the present cinema;by his anecdotal impressions called up to sup-port a particular point; and by his random ob-servations on various extraneous matters, suchas local government and capitalist development.The book is composed of three main kinds ofmaterial. First, there are a few general chapterson the sociology of film which are made uplargely of comments of a historical nature onthe social implications of theater and cinema.The secondpart is composedof a numberof per-sonal documents written by children, adoles-cents, and adults on the "meaning" of movie-going for them, together with a relatively briefcommentary by the author upon their reports.These documents werenot produced by a repre-sentative sample of movie-goers, nor were theysystematically analyzed for the hypotheseswhich they may contain. They are merely re-produced, with some pages of comments, andthus the job of making sense out of them, whichshould belong to the author, is left to the reader.Finally, there is a section of two chapters whichare devoted to a summary of, and some com-mentary on, two titles in the Payne Fundstudies of motion pictures made in this countryabout fifteen years ago (specifically, Blumer'sMovies and Conductand Dale's The Content ofMotion Pictures). Although it may be necessaryto summarize these books for an English au-dience, it would seem to be a little late in theday to serve that purpose.All in all, a little over40 per cent of the text is devoted to the repro-duction of the respondents' essays on what themovies "mean"to them, and another I5 per centis devoted to abstracts of, and incidental com-

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298 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLYmentary on, the selected published works (in-cluding Harbage's Shakespeare's Audience,which forms the core of another chapter).In short, the book is composed largely of ma-terials which may be relevant for a sociology offilm, but it does not itself constitute a satisfac-tory study of the subject. The book, whichseems to be prematurely written, by no meanslives up to its ambitious title.

BERNARDBERELSONGraduateLibrarySchoolUniversityof Chicago

Are You Telling Them? How To ConverseWelland Make Speeches. By BEss SONDEL.NewYork: Prentice-Hall, Inc., I947. Pp. 292.$2.95.This book on effective speaking is ratherunusual in that it stresses content and thought-processes rather than attitudes. The author, aninstructor in speech at the University of Chi-cago, states that modern audiences "will listento anyone-and I mean anyone-who will

speak, however haltingly, if what he says winsour applause." Concentrating on the "what"shediscusses organization, logic, clarity of thought,proper choice of words. Regarding the "how"she emphasizes the value of reading aloud, hear-ing one's own voice, and reconstructing speechhabits by concentrated practice.Both at the beginning of the book and at theend, the author urges self-analysis and the de-velopment of personality. To the ordinary mor-tal this is the most frustrating part of it all, andhis problems are not lessened by the obviouslybrilliant personality of this author. Her own witand brilliance light up every page, and onewonders: was this acquired by study and prac-tice, or was she not born with it? Those of uswho are not so gifted can certainly profit fromreading this book-but I'd still prefer to takeher course. R. RUSSELLMUNNAkron Public LibraryAkron, Ohio

How To Take, Keep and Use Notes. By J. EDWINHOLMSTROM. ("Aslib Pamphlets," No. i.)London: Aslib, I947. Pp. 28. 2S.Aslib has introduced its new pamphletseries with a little volume which will be equally

useful to librarians and to students. To thosewho are familiar with Mr. Holmstrom's Recordsand Research n Engineeringand Industrial Sci-ence (London: Chapman & Hall, I940; 2d ed.,I947), the system describedhere will not be en-tirely new. In that volume he discussedexhaus-tively the various types of record-makingandorganizingappropriate to the needs of the indi-vidual researchworker,of the clientele of a spe-cial library, and of the generalreadingpublic ina broad subject area. Here he is addressing hiscounsel to the individual, but any librariancharged with the organization of a special filemight find his suggestions valuable.The treatment is divided into three parts:(i) "The Taking of Notes"; (2) "The Storekeep-ing of Notes"; and (3) "The Use of Notes forOriginal Writing." Although the first and thirdsections provide the intellectual framework ntowhich the second must fit, the librarian will bemost interested in the second. In a competent, ifcondensed,manner,the author describes the dif-ferences between systems of indexing and ofclassifying notes (even making the U.D.C. seemusable for private purposes ), then introduceshis own system as a compromise between pureindexing and pureclassifying.Briefly, his systemconsists of verbal indexing through successivesteps, proceeding from the more general to themorespecific,the steps set off fromeach otherbya space allotment at the top of the card. Specificrules are given to forestall the confusion whichusually arises when the amateur tries to devisehis own system, and several ingenious mechani-cal devices. such as trimming the tops of cardsto provide a self-indexingfeature, are suggested.If Aslib, for its succeeding pamphlets, canfind authors capable of distilling as much soundwisdom and practical experience into the con-fines of a few pages as Mr. Holmstrom haspoured into this, the new series will be welcomeindeed.

MARGARET EGANGraduateLiblrary choolUniversityof Chicago

The LibraryBroadcasts.By FRANCESG. NUN-MAKER. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1948.Pp. i66. $2.25.A descriptive subtitle for Frances Nun-maker's, TheLibraryBroadcastsmight well havebeen "What To Do, What Not To Do, and IsIt Worth the Time and Energy Involved?"

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Sociology of Film by J. P. Mayer