PopMatters is running a series of excerpts from The Solitary Vice: Against Reading, written by Mikita Brottman and published by PopMatters with Counterpoint Press. Some of us will find what the book says rather familiar. Are our lives truly enriched by reading? Or are we merely feeding into an addiction that ruins our eyesight? Imagine the amount of space I would have around the house, if I don't read...
Should he give free rein to his desires, the bibliomaniac can ruin his life, along with the lives of his loved ones. He’ll often take better care of his books than of his own health; he’ll spend more on fiction than he does on food; he’ll be more interested in his library than in his relationships, and, since few people are prepared to live in a place where every available surface is covered with piles of books, he’ll often find himself alone, perhaps in the company of a neglected and malnourished cat. When he dies, all but forgotten, his body might fester for days before a curious neighbor grows concerned about the smell.
[To read more]
PS: PopMatters also has a series on secondhand bookstores.
5 comments:
Aaaah. Okay, I have to admit that's almost uncomfortably familiar :P
Nymeth Just as long as the last bit never comes true. You know, the part about the body fester and the smell.
That actually reminds me of the stry on the BBC I read once, where a woman fell behind her bookshelves and died. And nobody knew what was that awful smell in her room....
imagine how EMPTY your place would look without books!
JP A house without books? I lack the imagination to think of something like that. Really - what kind of house would it be?
Both great links, thanks. I loved the article on secondhand bookstores...makes me want to go and finally watch my copy of 84 Charing Cross Road!!!
I was glad to see that the book about reading was somewhat tongue in cheek...it seemed close to blasphemy there for a minute!!! ;)
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