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?
I don't like labeling the books that I read, which could be why I don't care about the difference in tagging among the online library things. Speaking of tagging, I always have the hardest time categorizing a book when I add it to my online libraries. Anyway, I think that my taste in reading material is almost as varied as my taste in music. I don't really care for self help or religious books, but I read most everything else. I think that the only definitions that I've applied to what I read are school books and non school books. Saying that a book is literature and another isn't is like saying that one book is more important (read that to say "pretentious) than another. I think it's more important to read a book because it's enjoyable and you like it. I dislike feeling inadequate because I haven't read all the "classics" which is what most people define as being literature. I read for pleasure, no matter what the book is, or because it's assigned reading for a class. End of subject.
"I think it's more important to read a book because it's enjoyable and you like it."
ReplyDeleteAgreed. :) Life's too short (and there are too many books!) to read boring books.
Ulysses is considered a great classic and I could not read it beyond 4 pages!
ReplyDeleteHere is my BTT post!
I'm too scared to try Ulysses anyway - even my Irish boyfriend doesn't get how anyone who had not grown up in Dublin could possibly enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteAnyway there are so many good books out there and we can't get through all of them so no point wasting time on something we don't like - or only reading things that we've been told we should!
I think a lot of "great works of literature" are BORING! It's to the point that if someone labels a book as literature, I am already assuming I won't enjoy it. I read books that sound good to me and who cares what is or isn't fine literature.
ReplyDeleteI fall on the same side of the page as you I think; although I put it slightly less elegantly!
ReplyDeleteJennifer~~Thanks for stopping by. Life is def too short to read stuff you don't like just for the sake of reading.
ReplyDeleteGT~~Ulysses would be way beyond me, lol.
Joanna~~I totally agree with you about Ulysses.
Jennifer~~Would a good example be Love in the Time of Cholera? heheh.
Maree~~Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment, especially such a nice one. ;)
No, that book is not boring, it's just difficult and long winded. It's actually not a bad book. If I had to classify it as literature or not, I would classify it as literature though.
ReplyDeleteYou are very right about the danger of labeling. It can turn into the trap of saying one type of book is better than another, when really that is a very personal experience.
ReplyDelete