To read or not to read. For me that is not the question. However, a book and an article I saw recently positioned themselves on different sides of this issue.

When I was younger I thought that teachers prescribed reading and writing assignments to create pain. From www.dailygood.org I learned that psychologists give these same assignments to relieve physical pain, by letting patients escape to another world through books, and to alleviate a host of emotional disorders by introducing patients to characters who struggle and resolve problems similar to theirs.

Bibliotherapists, as they’re called, will prescribe everything from poems to memoirs to Grimms’ fairy tales, based on the patient’s needs. No one claims that reading and writing will cure ailments, but rather that they can help people cope.

Now I am reading How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard, a tongue-in-cheek analysis of why reading is fruitless, and talking about a book you haven’t read is appropriate. The author shares hilarious quotes from writers who critiqued the work of their peers without reading it, and explains why our preconceived notions make it easy to talk about books we know little about.

Bayard also devised a frank annotation system to let readers know his connection to the books he talks about, for example, RB (read book), SB (skimmed book), and FB (forgot book).

Looking at my stack of bedside books, I can tell that I live in the “reading is fruitful” world and I know from reading Bayard that I am eminently qualified to talk about his book: (SB).

Ann Oxrieder has lived in Bellevue for 35 years. She retired after 25 years as an administrator in the Bellevue School District and now blogs about retirement at http://stillalife.wordpress.com/.