READING AILMENT Loneliness, reading induced
CURE Read in company
"We all enjoy the pleasure of being left alone with a good book. But sometimes after several hours of immersion we lift our heads and look around, suddenly struck by the quiet, the absence of others. The world outside — and perhaps the world of our book — teems with people interacting with one another. But we are all alone. Something plaintive has entered our soul: we are suffering from reading-induced loneliness.
"For some, reading is a way of escaping loneliness in the first place; feeling perhaps that nobody understands us, we find great solace in the company of a like-minded book. Sometimes we turn to books to escape the people around us, for there can be loneliness within a crowd too. How contrary, then, that the very thing that first cured us of our loneliness has now delivered us into a different sort of isolation.
"The solution is to read in the company of other reading people — whether in a public space such as a cafe or a library, or in your own home, with your reading friend or partner at the other end of the sofa. Next time you look up, you'll see someone else similarly engrossed, and you won't feel alone at all.
"Reading can be sociable: if you're at home, try reading aloud with your friend or partner, either at length or just the bits you've underlined. Consider joining a reading group in which everybody takes turns reading aloud from a novel. Reading a book communally is a wonderful way to share an otherwise internal and solitary experience, and you're likely to come away with a greater insight into and understanding of the book from the reactions of others during and after. It's also a great way to make new reading friends. Maybe at some point one of them might occupy the space at the other end of your reading sofa."
