Reading: a singular pleasure?

"Reading is an act of friendly isolation. When we are reading, we make ourselves unapproachable in a tactful way." Stefan Bollmann, Women who Read are Dangerous.

 

But:
"The pleasure of reading is doubled when one lives with another who shares the same books." Katherine Mansfield.

On the other hand:
"Books and marriage go ill together." (!) Molière.

Perhaps because:

"She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain." Louisa M. Alcott.

Comments

[Jennifer]

I had to laugh at that last quote. A good book is truly a good friend sometimes.

[Thomas]

Great collection of quotes.

[Dark Puss]

I agree with Stefan Bollmann. With regard to the quotation from Mansfield, it isn't iving with people that matters it is knowing people who read seriously and who wish to engage in literary discourse. Whether you share the same house, the same bed or even the same country matters not. For me interacting with friends who mainly do not share the same books is the most stimulating.

[Sakura]

I'm beginning to realise that reading when around bookish friends is fine, but non-bookish friends aren't so happy. It's a fine balance. Katherine Mansfield's quote really is my ideal!