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?
For me literature has to be something that makes you think or feel. It makes you question the world you live in and makes you wonder whether you might be able to do something to either change it or to change yourself. Literature stays with you after the book has been read and consigned back to the bookcase. It doesn't have to be Dickens, Bronte, or Austen although I think they are all excellent examples, it can be Pratchett, or Elton but probably not King.
Books that make me cry have done something right. If they make me laugh they've done something right but in a different way.
What do you think?
4 comments:
Reading anything that interests, gives me pleasure! What more do I want?
Here is my BTT post!
What a lovely way to express it. I agree, books that make me feel emotions, inspire me to be a better person, or take me to some world purely exisiting in imagination is a wonderful book.
I'm not sure how I would define literature. I like to read as an "escape." I love Jane Austen, but I also like "lighter" novels, that you probably wouldn't define as literature. I love novels that make me laugh.
And I must say your doggies are darling. I'd love to hear about your puppy experience. We have a shi tzu too. She's about 9 months old and she's so great. We're thinking about letting her have a litter of pups when she's a little older, but not sure.
I know this isn't the answer you are looking for, but when I hear the word "literature" unfortunately I think of marketing materials. The pamphlets that are handed or mailed out, the flyers that are given to you by doctor's offices and the like explaining what they offer...that sort of thing. Which is strange as my husband is the VP of a publishing company.
But, I agree that a book needs to make me think or feel. I know I have found a good one when I can't put it down, and I find myself fitting in small bits of time here and there to read because I just have to know what the characters are up to. And I love non-fiction books that open my eyes a bit wider.
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