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Originally Posted by Superlucky
I meant able to read and write. The same people who would have been proletariat back then are now bourgeoesie (at least in the US). Today there is an entire class of uncultured and half-educated people with the ability to read and access to books. Crappy best-sellers are the price we pay. But, it's better than having large numbers of uncultured and illiterate people.
In Europe in the 1840s, 66% of men could read and 50% of women. I'm sure the numbers were worse in the US. Literacy rates today are close to 100% for developed countries. I think this shift is the reason for the change in literary taste. One can now be uncultured, uneducated and literate. Back then the three were intertwined. Just my opinion.
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I agree with you but I'm not sure if many others would. Some people are rather uncritical of what they read whether it is Dickens or Brown.