Literature and Monogamy

[bex79]

Hi All! I am new to the forum and very excited about joining - everything about literature, reading and people who read makes me happy :p

So anyway, my first question is - how many of you are "faithful" to the book you are reading and how many of you read multiple books at the same time? I am a monogamous reader and feel that giving your attention to more than one novel is like cheating on a lover - how do you know it isn't the best book in the world unless you give it your undivided attention and a decent chance to win you over??

Would love to know your thoughts x

[everyadventure]

Hi and welcome!

Definitely one at a time here... alas, I am so loyal that I never give up on a book, no matter how terrible or mundane. I keep plowing through until the end. I wonder how many days of my life I've wasted on awful books?

[mrv]

Hey there:) Welcome!

And I already expressed my thoughts about this in a similar thread in General Literature.

[Ecurb]

Hogymous, higgomous
Man is polygamous,
Higymous, hogymous
Woman monogamous.

Dorothy Parker.

[BienvenuJDC]

Hogymous, higgomous
Man is polygamous,
Higymous, hogymous
Woman monogamous.

Dorothy Parker.

That's not true in this day and age...

[Ecurb]

It wasn't true in Dorothy Parker's day and age, either, if her multiple marriages are any indication.

However, from an anthropological perspective a man having multiple wives is accepted in many if not most cultures (until recently, anyway). There are only (I think) two societies we know of that allow a woman to have multiple husbands, and in one of them the second husband is a sham.

Whether men are more profligate, polygamous, satyrine, or promiscuous than women in their reading habits remains uncertain. I often read three or four books at the same time -- but not novels. One novel at a time, is my vote! However, sequential novel reading is OK, sort of like Dot Parker's sequential marriages. It's a sort of serial polygamy. Nonetheless, we must not abandon our early loves, and should read them at least once every 3 or 4 years.

[BienvenuJDC]

Men read?

[Ecurb]

Only when there's no sports on TV.