Quote:
Originally Posted by katex
.. wonder if anybody really enjoyed reading the books, not easy are they ? (some people say they do just to appear literate  |
You can stop wondering about me, at least. I really did enjoy reading them and I couldn't care less whether or not other people think I'm "literate". I don't think anyone who doesn't like Austen is illiterate or "lowbrow" either. We all have different tastes.
I think Dickens' stories are good - the first time you hear/read them - but you have to be aware that he was very much in it for the money, with his weekly editions and his stage recitals, and also pushing a social message. Well, you can't not be aware of that, can you? I've never read one twice.
When I was in my teens I thought Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" was wonderful. I read it again when I was about 40 and I thought it was a rather silly story written by an over-imaginative, frustrated spinster. You can almost hear her bodice ripping when she writes about Heathcliffe.
Personally, these days, I'd rather read Terry Pratchett.
