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The Conversation

Lifestyle

Karen Attar, Research Fellow in Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London

Can books be bad for you? Only if you’re a ‘bad reader’ like Don Quixote

Don Quixote Arabella Ivan Turgenev Jane Austen

An illustration from an edition of Don Quixote where the eponymous protagonist goes mad from reading. Wikimedia, CC BY

Books as a backdrop in a portrait or an interview lend gravitas. They stand for literacy, for education, for a way to open the mind, develop the imagination and get on in life. But not all books are considered to convey such benefits.

Opinions about which books are worthy and which are not have dogged fiction. Which are frivolous nonsense, sure to pollute the mind, and which are worthy intellectual pursuits? Also, are there books which are just too dangerous to read?

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