I've just read a great article in Red (UK) magazine about how so many people pretend to have read some of the great literary works of all time.
It is actually funny how many people do that. Why? What's the point? Who cares that I never read Anna Karenina or War and Peace? Life's too short to read stuff that takes that much effort. Books should be read to be thoroughly enjoyed. Escapism at its best, that's what it should all be about.
With me, what you see is what you get. I'm not going to bulls**t you and say I've read all these high brow books when, in reality, I'd rather spend my time reading a good chick lit novel or Harry Potter! Like I said, life's too short already.
Having said all that, at school I read Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and the like and I really enjoyed them. And Shakespeare wasn't bad either... particularly A Midsummer Night's Dream and Anthony and Cleopatra, but I wouldn't necessarily choose to read that kind of thing now.
Earlier this year I read Life of Pi. Boy was that a weird book. I persevered though and I can't say I particularly enjoyed it. It was interesting, I give you that. Then I read something else I wouldn't ordinarily have picked up and it was excellent. It was called The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. I highly recommend it.
Another that I recommend (and the movie too) was The Secret Life of Bees. A wonderful tale.
Of course, in between these books I was thoroughly enjoying books my Cecelia Ahern, Wendy Holden, Jenny Colgan, Stephenie Meyer, etc etc!
Like I said... life's too short. Don't you agree?
Life's too short... definitely agree. I'm a die hard fan of commercial fiction and only recently decided to stop apologizing for that :) That being said, I actually did enjoy the Life of Pi but yes, it was so weird! And the ending disturbed me for awhile.
ReplyDeleteYes it was very disturbing wasn't it? I loved the idea that the animals were real (sorry for anyone reading this that hasn't read that book!)
ReplyDeleteLoL, I totally agree with you ! and the article !
ReplyDeleteFortunately I grew up and moved around in many places that reading those "classics" was not a compulsory per-say.
But sometimes, you just can't get through those books!
And most of them are sooooo long !! (what's up with that?)
I also loved The Secret Life of Bees although I haven't watched the movie yet, and recently I've read a lot of YA books that are simply delicious.
Anyway, we should stick to things that makes us happy ^_^
Oy, the Life of Pi. I never made it through it...I just got my husband to tell me the ending :p
ReplyDeleteI was convinced those animals were real in Life of Pi... gutted when it was just a metaphor (that's probably the wrong word but, hey... you know what I mean!)
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