BernardR wrote:Certainly -Gargamel- Here are my criteria, with a preface:
Preface:
Since we are not immortal or not even particularly long lived, it is essential, in my estimation, that we read the best we can find.
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And what is the best? The best is the consensus of people who are experts in the field. They can tell us what the best is.
Can we ignore thier assessments? Certainly--We can, as most of the nation appears to do---immerse ourselves in the novels of Danielle Steele or even Stephen King. If the reading pleases us, what else is needed?
I would argue that the best and greatest literature would easily bring us more aesthetic pleasure than Steele or King.
I am a fan of the cinema. I am aware of the consensus which has been made by movie critics as to which movies are the GREAT ONES.
I have found that, for me, their choices have been almost always correct with regards to my viewing pleasure.
Why should I spend money going to see a piece of trash like "The DaVinci Chronicles" or "Brokeback Mountain" when I can watch( for the third or fourth time, a classic like Dr, Strangelove or Ther Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Most of the movies made today will be forgotten in ten years. The same is true of the novels written. Only a few will attain classic status!
That is my criteria! I find it amazing( but I know that not all would agree) that someone would read a third rate novel when they have never read the Illiad or the Odyssey.
Dear BernardR,
I appreciate your attempt at answering the question. I can only be satisfied with that--not the result.
I fully concur that life is too short to read ****.
However, I'm interested in we who esteem OURSELVES experts on the matter. Yes, Bloom has read more than I have. But do Bloom and I judge books by the same criteria? No.
I was hoping to learn your personal aesthetic, hoping it differed from Blooms'. For, you see, if all of your opinions are equal to Blooms', you needn't contribute further to this thread. Simply tell us which Bloom books to read, and your work is complete.
In terms of what you deem great art, you have simply applied superlatives--great! amazing! Well, what EXACTLY do those words mean? I have heard so many people say that King and Steele are lesser authors. To the point that it has become the "thing people-who-want-to-sound-like-competent-book-critics say."
I don't read Danielle Steele because she is cliche prone and writes irrelevant, contemporary romance.
I am currently reading Ian McEwan's Atonement. Though I am only 100 or so pages into the book, I consider it a competent novel thus far because of his ability to juggle the consciousness of a thirteen year old girl with that of a hypochondriac mother, with that of a sexually repressed young woman. Though it's tedious at times, his digressions into the psychology of his characters are so original (poignangt, devoid of cliches) and nuanced, it is almost always worth the effort.
This is by no means a critical reading. But it gives people on this thread an idea of what insight, thought, deliberation, minimal brain function goes into my judgement.
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