Site of the Day for Thursday, May 3, 2018
21 Books You Don't Have to Read
Today's site from GQ offers a controversial article decrying some of the most
esteemed modern titles in English literature. Gentle Subscribers will be
relieved to find that some books they always meant to get round to reading have
been cavalierly dismissed as unnecessary for those desirous of being considered
comfortably literate.
"And 21 you should read instead ... We've been told all our lives that we can
only call ourselves well-read once we've read the Great Books. We tried. We got
halfway through Infinite Jest and halfway through the SparkNotes on Finnegans
Wake. But a few pages into Bleak House, we realized that not all the Great
Books have aged well. Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just
really, really boring. So we -- and a group of un-boring writers -- give you
permission to strike these books from the canon..." - from the website
Beyond merely brushing off those books which have been the backbone of modern
literature, the article has canvassed a group of authors to suggest more
engrossing alternatives. Literary stalwarts such as Mark Twain, J. D. Salinger,
and even J. R. R. Tolkien have been excised in favor of less conventional
writers who are considered to deserve a wider audience. Consequently, Fredrick
Douglass, Willa Cather, and Ursula K. Le Guin have been moved to a more
substantive position in the literary firmament.
Swing over to the site for a look at a selection of lively and
thought-provoking titles at:
https://www.gq.com/story/21-books-you-dont-have-to-read
A.M. Holm
Comments? Suggestions? amholm@xxxxxxxxxxx
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