The library of Pharaoh Ramesses II is said to have borne the inscription “the house of healing for the soul”. Dylan Thomas reportedly liked to relax by reading Agatha Christie while he sucked sweets in the bathtub. Doctors, community workers and others will be able to refer individuals struggling with chronic pain, mental health problems and loneliness to five reading coaches. But at a time when so many are vulnerable, this scheme is needed more than ever, and is worthy of emulation. But sales of The Plague and The Decameron soared too, as people sought to make sense of a new world.

Source: The Guardian September 04, 2020 16:52 UTC