From Mary Oliver’s verse to a touching tale by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, reading can be a salve for the soul
Q: What books do you recommend to help me combat my growing misanthropy caused by despair over the increasingly gloomy outlook for our planet?
Anonymous teacher, 55, US
Alex Preston, author and Observer critic, writes:
I think, in fact, that reading as a whole is a cure for misanthropy. There’s nothing like a book to persuade you that you’re not alone. John Steinbeck said: “We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story, begging the listener to say – and to feel – ‘Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.’”