|
I find Chaucer hard sledding, but comprehensible, although a lot of his vocabulary, and many idioms, are extinct. A glossary is helpful, and simple modernising of spelling makes a huge difference. Shakespeare is much better heard and seen than read--the plays were meant to be performed, not read.
It might be interesting so see what people 100 years ago thought might be read in 100 years' time, and see how wrong they were. Like all predictions of distant future, they are almost certainly wrong.
Inevitably, those books that are new today and still being read in 100 years will be the survivors of a long winnowing process performed by countless readers over the generations.
Fun speculating, though!
It's comforting to know that any guesses we make here, today, of what we think will be read 100 years from know will be proved wrong. And we will not be around to feel embarrassed!
|