This is another article in the series about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's little volume of essays on books, reading and associated topics Through the Magic Door.
This post was inspired by the following passage, which appears just after the invitation to enter the magic world of books:
“No matter what mood a man may be in, when once he has passed through the magic door he can summon the world’s greatest to sympathize with him in it. If he be thoughtful, here are the kings of thought. If he be dreamy, here are the masters of fancy. Or is it amusement that he lacks? He can signal to any one of the world’s great story-tellers, and out comes the dead man and holds him enthralled by the hour.
The dead are such good company that one may come to think too little of the living. It is a real and a pressing danger with many of us, that we should never find our own thoughts and our own souls, but be ever obsessed by the dead. Yet second-hand romance and second-hand emotion are surely better than the dull, soul-killing monotony which life brings to most of the human race. But best of all when the dead man’s wisdom and the dead man’s example give us guidance and strength and in the living of our own strenuous days.“
Conan Doyle makes some good points here; they are best dealt with individually.
The first few lines above provide a good explanation of why so many people like to read. A library is like a menu for the mind; they can get on demand whatever 'food' they feel in the mood for. Too much choice can be a problem though!
I have often asked myself what type of reading material I am in the mood for. Do I feel like reading something light and amusing? Do I want to be inspired, informed or entertained? Perhaps some familiar comfort food would be best – or maybe I should try something new for a change. Sometimes I read to lift my mood: I may select an uplifting book to counter-balance the effects of reading a very depressing one.
Conan Doyle is right when he says that dead people can be better company than the living.
What we get from books may indeed seem more appealing and rewarding than what we are getting from real life. This applies to both the people in our lives and the life that we are leading.
The people around us may not come out with quote-worthy statements and propositions the way that well-known authors do; they may not be able to provide the food for our mind and fuel for our imagination that we require, so we prefer to read rather than take part in conversations from which we get nothing.
This also happens in fiction. In Rachel Ferguson's novel The Brontës Went to Woolworths for example, the main narrator says that an imaginary relationship with Sherlock Holmes is better than a real one with an ordinary man!
Some people's lives are indeed so dull and uneventful that the only way for them to get some interest, excitement, adventure, colour, glamour and romance is vicariously. Second-hand living is better than nothing, and reading is one of the best ways to escape from soul-destroying monotony.
It may not just be boredom that makes some people escape into the world of books by the way: they may lack life skills and coping ability; they may be trying to use books as pain-killers.
Conan Doyle is aware that too much reading has its dangers.
Books may lure people away from and come to seem more real than real life.
Living in and through books may prevent people from thinking their own thoughts and living their own lives.
Excessive reading may delay or prevent the essential development that can come only from successfully interacting with other people and dealing effectively with the real world; there is a danger that some people may end up as nothing but machines for reading books!
Conan Doyle has the right idea when he suggests using writers' wisdom and good examples for guidance and strength when it comes to living in the real world.
Extensive reading can be justified when the results are used to enhance the understanding and improve and enrich the lives of the readers and the people in their lives.
Readers can bring back and pass on ideas, inspiration, information and advice from the world of books.
They can set what they have learned to work; they can use it to make the real world a better place.
