Quote:
Originally Posted by PG4003
I saw a little quote once that said something like "If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. Does that mean if you watch a lot of TV you are considered well viewed?"
Just a little humor here  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrsJoseph
I read very well.
The "classics" are well and good but they are not the end all of good books that can change/enrich your life.
I have a degree in Lit, I've read quite a large quantity of those works. Do I feel enriched for it? Not really. I felt I received more enrichment from books like "Their Eyes Were Watching God," "Kindred," and "Things Fall Apart." Much more enriching than "Moby Dick." In fact, I loathed "Moby Dick" (but really enjoyed Gilgamesh, go fig).
These books are not considered "Classics" and I really don't care if some book snob decides I'm not intelligent enough because I pick my own poison. |
+1
Classics may not speak to everyone. To this day, I loathe
Great Expectations (although I did like the adaptation made by the BBC that I saw as an adult). I can't relate to it at all. I don't think I'm not well read because I can't relate to it. In fact, the idea that "classics" are "classics" because everyone can relate to them and they somehow relate universal values that we're
all suppose to share is stupid. This is isn't to say that I can't relate to a Victorian novel. I just don't think it should be
expected that I do.
There are lots of people in my life who have never even touched the classics outside of an English class. Yet, some of them are incredibly intelligent and well read.