Then I am also having some online access issues...maybe my router is giving up the ghost. So let me get this posted ASAP, before the thing dies again...
Let's check out this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading ...This week’s musing asks… Do you think it makes you NOT (or less) “well-read” if there are certain genres that you won’t read because you KNOW you won’t enjoy them? Why?
This week’s musing asks… Do you think it makes you NOT (or less) “well-read” if there are certain genres that you won’t read because you KNOW you won’t enjoy them? Why?
I guess it depend on how you define "well read". Personally, I don't see it as reading a wide variety of genres. If I read self-help books, and romance, and biographies, history, and science fiction, would I be well read? Well, in a sense maybe. And I certainly think, as I have discussed before, that people should be opening to reading good books in every genre and not pre-judge that you will necessarily not enjoy something in one particular genre. I think we are really limiting ourselves unfairly otherwise. So many good books...
But I am not really sure that is what is usually meant when someone is called "well read".
I think of a person as "well read" if they have read a fairly large number of what are usually considered "the classics". Of course, then you have the question of how you define "the classics" . The whole thing is a bit subjective, isn't it?
But, if you go on line and google something like "100 Best Books" and compare all those lists, while they are certainly not exactly the same, there are a great many books in common between them all and if you take those as "the classics"...well, I would consider myself fairly well read. I think I had a post about it once and I had read a good percentage of them...by which I mean anything over 50%. lol
Now, I will be honest..as I always try to be with you, my dear readers, and admit that the vast majority of those classics were read long ago, back those many years ago when I was in high school and college. Some of them were required, but actually, most of them were read by choice. Because here is the thing about many of these so-called classics...they are often just rip-roaring good stories! The very phrase is enough to make some of you yawn, "The Classics" making you think of dry and dusty old books, long and boring, irrelevant tales by dull old men. But I would disagree...strongly.
Take a look at the Modern Library's list as one example. The Grapes of Wrath...The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder....Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (one of my personal favorites of all time) ...Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh...Yes, they are all considered "classics" by folks, and if you have not read them, bottom line, let me tell you that, in my humble opinion, they are just really good stories. Sometimes, some of these books may be a little more work to read than most popular modern novels, (although I have tried to read a couple of current books that were like slogging through oatmeal in hip boots) maybe because the style may be different than we are used to. But really, they are worth it. In fact, that is why they are classics. They speak to the timeless qualities of the human condition. The settings may be different that the world we live in today, but the essence of the stories speak to us today as clearly as when they were written 50 or 100 or 200 years ago.
So, don't read them so you can be considered "well read".
No, read them because bottom line, they are very, very stories that can be entertaining, pleasurable and memorable reads!
Totally agree with you. Most of my favorite books are "classics." Don't let the label scare you!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the classics, too...nowadays, the "classics" or timeless stories I choose are often literary fiction by authors like Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut I like a lot of variety, so I'm always searching through the lists of contemporary books as well.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
There's just too many genres for a person to be well read in all of them.
ReplyDeleteHere's my answer:http://diannehartsocksalex.wordpress.com/alexs-blogs/
The funniest thing about the Classics that most people don't realize it that most modern stories (and movies for their part) are based on the plot lines of the classics. Like you said many are "just rip-roaring good stories" I do think school itself scares many people away from reading the classics for fun. (Although, I never want to read through The Iliad again please). People need remove their dreaded memories of hateful, boring teachers from the wonderful words written long ago before Tv and the modern world tainted the humor and terror of the great ones.
ReplyDeleteHere's my answer just for kicks and giggles: http://www.composingcat.com/2011/07/musing-mondays-is-bookish-meme-hosted.html
"Sometimes, some of these books may be a little more work to read than most popular modern novels, (although I have tried to read a couple of current books that were like slogging through oatmeal in hip boots) maybe because the style may be different than we are used to. But really, they are worth it. In fact, that is why they are classics. They speak to the timeless qualities of the human condition. The settings may be different that the world we live in today, but the essence of the stories speak to us today as clearly as when they were written 50 or 100 or 200 years ago."
ReplyDeleteSo true! You have exactly summed up my own feelings about the subject!
I should so read something by Willa Cather. Why I still haven't read her books is a mystery to me.
Couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteI think a proof that 'the classics' are indeed books everyone should read is the fact that you can find mega Hollywood productions for most.
The only difference between the books and the films is Brad Pitt and a 50%off sale sign on top os a colourless book cover.
Those books have survived through the ages because they are so good.
ReplyDeleteThe year we were supposed to read all the classics in school I went into an AP class and ended up not reading any of them. Now I dedicate on classic every back to school. It's fun. Reminisce of the old days. Well kind of.
ReplyDeleteWell said, indeed! I seriously doubt too many of the current demon/vampire type books are going to be still be read in 100 + years. They will be long forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI'm not big on reading the classics, although I have read a few in recent years. There's no doubt that they are good stories and have lasted through time. It's just that there aren't enough hours in this lifetime for me to read everything. I mainly stick to the genres I like, but I do branch out if I hear about something good in a different genre.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I'm reading for my own enjoyment (and, yes, often for reviews but those are books I accepted because I think I'll enjoy them - LOL).
Classics don't scare me, it's just that I prefer the modern books.
Interesting topic this week, isn't it?
I think you should read books that you like and find interesting. Everyone has different interests and that is normal. The world will be a really boring place if every individual was alike. So a persons knowledge and expertise lie in different areas of intelligence. I don't think that marks a person as well read or not. I think that everyone is well read in different subjects.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting to consider what makes someone well-read. If you read nothing but one genre, could you be considered an "expert" in it and well-read but you aren't well-rounded? If you read a little bit of everything but aren't an "expert" in any one genre, are you still well-read? I like what you say about being open to a good tale in any genre.
ReplyDelete