When somebody mentions literature what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?) Do you read literature (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?
Honestly? I think of books I don’t want to read, not because they’re bad, per se, but because they’re written to do something other than tell a captivating story. I put Joyce and Pynchon in this category. They’re about as “high art” as novels go, and while I appreciate what they achieve, you won’t find me reading them for pleasure, the way I do with Tolstoy and DMeickens and Shakespeare.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 gautami tripathy // Apr 3, 2008 at 8:56 am
I love Shakespeare’s sonnets! And Dickens Characterization!
Here is my BTT post!
2 Pete // Apr 3, 2008 at 9:49 am
OT but have you read The Cossacks? I think it may be my favourite Tolstoy, although it’s probably not regarded as one of his great works of literature.
3 Superfast Reader // Apr 3, 2008 at 9:51 am
I will have to check it out,
G–agreed!
4 Chris // Apr 3, 2008 at 11:44 am
I found a copy of Tolstoy’s Resurrection at a thrift store. I haven’t read it yet and hadn’t heard of it. I think War & Peace and Anna Karenina when I think Tolstoy.
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