[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Ea

This is exactly how I feel about LOTR. I did know and like the story beforehand though, but this reading is quite different from the ones I've done before.

Did you read it in a translation before?

Though, if the story appears to somehow resist the reader, it's probably better put it off for later - or not read at all - better to concentrate on something else. I have been waiting for some years for Thomas Mann to get more approachable - I'm still not there, but I have the feeling it will be worth it in time.

The question is whether the story is resisting the reader or the other way around.

I've spent time on occasions looking for a way to approach a story: a mental hook upon which to hang my interest and make it into something I wanted to read.

Edit: that idea of standing back and letting the work speak for itself is much the same way I try to approach art - especially modern art. Oftentimes I find it pays off not to rush.

I see similarities between literature and art, in the sense that you normally can't try to apply objective standards.

Criticism of a book is an example. Before you can attempt to say whether the book is good, you have to understand what kind of book it is. The question becomes "What kind of book was the author trying to write, and how well did she succeed in the attempt?" A lot of criticism fails because it misses the mark in determining what kind of book it is, so any judgments about success of failure are perforce invalid.

I like modern art, but won't always pretend to know what it "means". The question is rather what emotional effect it had on me. And sometimes the effect is less emotional than cerebral, like an installation I went to some time ago where the artist was creatively dividing the space in which the installation was presented, exploring the manner in which our perception of the space was altered. This sort of thing can become visceral, like the exhibit where the space you could enter had no] right angles.
______
Dennis