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Old 01-28-2008, 03:45 PM   #6
dhbailey
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I agree with morty1753 -- it's perfectly alright not to like some books or even entire bodies of works by some authors. I'm always incensed when someone tells me what I should and should not like.

With that said, there have been times when I've forced myself and found that while the first 50 or even 100 pages didn't catch my fancy, by the 150th page I was totally wrapped up in the book and went on to read many more by the same author.

So there's no telling what my threshold is. But I will proudly say that there are some of the "greats" which I don't like and can see no reason for their being on any lists of great authors.

And just the opposite, there are some authors who are written off as trite and formulaic which I absolutely love reading and feel should be on the lists of great authors because of the pleasure they give me. PGWodehouse is one such author, and it bothers me every time I hear anybody criticize his work as being not great literature.

Heck, what is 'great literature' but simply works which have moved a great many people over a great many years? And when they cease to move anybody anymore they should be moved to lists of 'once-great literature' to make room for the new works which move entire generations.
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