The article about L. M. Montgomery's compulsion to read and write contains this quotation from one of her journals:
“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.”
For an avid reader, a 'book drunkard' as L. M. Montgomery called herself, the dilemma of there not being enough hours in the day to do all the reading they would like to is a very real and major one.
The 'so many books, so little time' dilemma does indeed often involve making a decision to select a familiar old friend rather than a fresh new book to read or vice versa; in other words, all reading is at the expense of other reading.
I commented on L. M. Montgomery's thoughts about reading and the feelings of nostalgia that old books can invoke at the time. I have since come across another quotation about the advantages of old over new books, and this has inspired a few more words on the subject.
Elizabeth Goudge states that our favourite books can provide great comfort when we are going through difficult times in our lives.
She says this in The Bird in the Tree (1940):
“In times of storm and tempest, of indecision and desolation, a book already known and loved makes better reading than something new and untried. The meeting with remembered and well-loved passages is like the continual greeting of old friends; nothing is so warming and companionable.”
It is very true that people often seek the comfort of the familiar in times of great stress. They may have trouble coping with the unknown and unexpected; the last thing they want when they are fighting for survival is yet more demands and challenges.
When people who are great readers are feeling devastated, they may prefer to get comfort from books rather than deal with people!
For many people, the percentage of new reading material in the diet often drops slowly and steadily over the years.
New books and authors may be more appealing to people who are in the earlier stages of life than they are to people who have spent many years exploring the world of books.
Seasoned readers have a good idea of what is out there, what they like and dislike, and which authors and types of book they have had their fill of so can let them go. They may not feel the need to read any more about topics that were formerly of great interest; they may have lost interest in making major new discoveries.
They may be aware that time is running out, so prefer to concentrate their diminishing resources on tried and tested books rather than on unknown quantities.
A constant demand for exciting new reading material may eventually give way to the inclination to reread old favourites, often in the light of new knowledge and values and from a more mature perspective.
Book lovers need to accept that they can't read it all. They need to set priorities, and, when deciding what to read, understand that they may have to choose between feeding their minds with new material and getting good feelings from their familiar old book friends.
