Compulsive reading
“I am
simply a 'book drunkard.' Books have the same irresistible temptation for me
that liquor has for its devotee. I cannot withstand them.”
-From L.M. Montgomery’s personal journals 1899
“We have sent for a lot of new books for our
Literary Society library here and when they come I’m simply going on
a spree. I shall read all night and all day. I’m a book-drunkard, sad
to say, and though I earnestly try to curb my appetite for reading I never met
with much success.”
-From L.M. Montgomery’s letter of March 1905
Me too. All my life I have been unable to
resist this temptation.
‘Book addict’ or ‘reading addict’ is another
way of putting it, although there is nothing of the need to take more and more
to achieve less and less.
“I doubt if I shall ever have time to read
the book again -- there are too many new ones coming out all the time which I
want to read. Yet an old book has something for me which no new book can ever
have -- for at every reading the memories and atmosphere of other readings come
back and I am reading old years as well as an old book.”
-From
This is all spot on.
Not only are there not enough hours in the
day to do all the reading some of us would like, there are not enough years in
our lives. We are even more spoiled
for choice now than L. M. Montgomery was then.
Reading a new book is indeed a very different
experience from renewing acquaintance with an old friend. I too return again
and again to some of my favourites and I too become immersed in memories, inner states and
atmospheres from the past.
Compulsive writing
If L. M. Montgomery had not been such a
voracious reader, she might never have written so much and she might not have
expressed herself so well. When it comes to writing, she is surely speaking for
herself here:
“’Tell
me this--if you knew you would be poor as a church mouse all your life--if you
knew you'd never have a line published--would you still go on writing--would you?'
'Of course I would,' said Emily disdainfully.
'Why, I have to write--I can't help it at times--I've
just got to.’”
-From Emily of New Moon
For some people, reading and writing are as
essential to life as food and water and as normal and natural as breathing. Just
as some people need to read, some people can’t not write. This applies even if
they are doing it merely for their own benefit.
Many authors wrote huge numbers of letters.
They also kept journals that were not intended to be seen by anyone else, never
mind being published for money. They just wanted to express themselves and
create a true record of their thoughts, feelings and lives.
In the world of today, anonymous blogs can be
used for this purpose.
