Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
... However, I would say that one can make a distinction between a well written book and a book that has literary merit, by which I mean that it shows an artistry with language, rather than just telling its story well. ...
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This paragraph would seem to confirm my suspicion that great literature is about showing off with the language.
But I do like much of Dickens, although I've not read Bleak House and I found A Tale of Two Cities to be quite hard work. I've also read criticisms of Dickens writing style too - usually starting specifically with that opening sentence/paragraph from A Tale of Two Cities. And while it may have been accessible in it's day it is much less so now. So my question still stands, why is accessibility not important? Isn't it important that a book can gain an audience?