The Terrifying Effects of Reading
Dec 3, 2009 Bad Books, Comedy, History
The Guardian has an article on the dangers of reading, according to 18th Century physician Samuel Auguste André David Tissot – normally a massive opponent of masturbation, in Diseases Incidental to Literary and Sedentary Persons, with Proper Rules for Preventing Their Fatal Consequences, and Instructions for Their Cure, he outlined some of the alleged unfortunate effects that reading too much can have on individuals:
“[Philosopher Nicolas] Malebranche was seized with dreadful palpitations with reading Descartes’s Man; and there is still living in Paris a professor of rhetoric who fainted away whilst he was perusing some of the sublime passages of Homer.”
If you’ve experienced any such effects after picking up some of the volumes recommended in this blog, feel free to let us know, but please remember we can’t be held liable for reading-induced faints or palpitations.
Full article over at the Guardian.
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