Is it just not something your into, or is the book hard to read?

Just gauging the "hard to get into" factor of it.

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No, I like to read pop sci kinda books, and physics is something I think I'm interested in. This book is pretty accessible for the most part, but there's something in my brain that starts thinking about relative motion and planets revolving around stars that are revolving around galaxies in an ever expanding universe and I...*head asplodes*

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

Oh, general boo to LITERATURE of all kinds. As an English major dropout, one thing I learned at college is that I hate literature. Would rather read comics (duh) or non-fic or any kind of fantasy/sci-fi before I waste another minute of my life with Joyce or Faulkner or that one guy who writes the real short sentences and died of alcoholism surrounded by cats.

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

There is some really good literature. Twain is good pretty much across the board. A Conneticate Yankee in King Arthur's Court is still really readable.

To Kill a Mocking Bird? Great.

My problem with some "Great Literature" is the same as my issue with some "classic movies". Some are truly great, others fill like a bunch of Snooty eggheads giving each other intellectual hand jobs.

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Perhaps I am guilty of oversimplifying. Twain is good, at least I have fond memories of him. And I can really dig on some Edgar Allen Poe, or at least I once did. I love some Thomas Mallory. Plenty of lit I do like. Just not the capital L literature they stick you with in undergrad classes, you know? I do not like to inject analysis where it is unnecessary. If Hemingway writes a story about an aging bullfighter, it's a book about an aging bullfighter. At least this is a case where the author agrees with me. I agree with him?

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

Why Does E=mc2 And Why Should We Care - now that does sound interesting. I don't have any books here that I have not read. I buy them and read them. If I am not interested right away, I donate them. I'm not one to pick up a book twice if it doesn't keep my interest right from the beginning.

I rarely give away or sell books. I have always wanted to build a library and love having shelves of books. Not that I go back to read the over again often.

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I'm going to start by noting the merit of the above statement. Lit theory is in fact not necessary to read or understand or enjoy any literature, even that of the "capital L" variety, and that's fine. I think it's important to understand however, that Literary theory is not a means of analyzing texts, as much as it is the practice of using texts as a lens through which to analyze history, culture, religion, psychology, humanity or whatever else your heart desires. In this way Lit theory and criticism are a secondary endeavor to the primary act of reading books, and one that does not appeal to everyone. The professors who design and teach college level literature courses do so with the understanding that their students are there for that reason; neither they, nor their field should be faulted if, for whatever reason, a student doesn't share that understanding.



Does he?

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Hey, GF. Didn't want to seem like I was ducking your shooting down my point about Hem. I wonder who I was thinking of. The point about lit crit teaching you how to analyze work is a good one. I have found myself applying some of that filter to other mediums. I'd rather analyze reruns of King of the Hill or argue about Cap's motivations during Civil War than run those tools over literature. I've always enjoyed reading, I've always hated being assigned titles.

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

To Freddi and Starnes: I have this need to accumulate books that quickly piles up on me. I acquire faster than I consume. But I do love to give books to friends or even acquaintances. Loaned out some of my Gladwell to this foxy chica a couple months back. Wanted to get them back, but...will probably never see them again. Back to Half-Price Books!

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.