At the risk of sounding

[LibraryLover]

 I wonder if anyone would like to chat/discuss/ contemplate why some might on one day read a Michael Crighton novel-- and enjoy it---and on the next day read a Melville or Dickens novel-- and enjoy it.

I'm not dragging those of you who could never bear to read Crighton , or other pop novelists (King, Patterson etc) into this. You're all dismissed. :) Have a nice night. :)

For those who can bear to consider it; why do you think one can be moved to tears by the prose/depth in Don Quixote and/or Moby Dick, but can also find pleasure in The Congo, or The Nanny Diaries?
 

Edited October 15, 2013 by LibraryLover

[Forget-Me-Not]

Sometimes you want a good, heavy Sunday dinner. Sometimes you want candy.

[Farrar]

I don't really think that's dumb. I like books both high and lowbrow. I don't see what's so strange about that.

[catz]

I don't really think that's dumb. I like books both high and lowbrow. I don't see what's so strange about that.

 

:iagree: I enjoy ballet, orchestra, and art museums. But I also like Star Wars and Harry Potter. I think it's fine! :D

[Ghee]

I'm probably the wrong person to ask since you named three of my favorite authors, and I'm not into Melville or Quiote :tongue_smilie:

 

Personally, when I read, it's to be entertained. I read like other people watch sitcoms or play video games.

[Slartibartfast]

I read Jurassic Park. :lol:

 

 

Sometimes I have a cold and need something to read in the bath. Sometimes I am just bored, I don't always watch good movies either. Sometimes I am feeling crappy/PMSy and I watch a romantic comedy. :lol:

[Seasider]

Sometimes I want to finish a book more quickly. Sometimes I just want a lighter read.

 

It takes a lot of mental energy - for me, anyway - to digest something like Moby Dick. I found myself actually, well, studying it. Sometimes with a really great work, I like to stop and ruminate on things I find striking. That means it takes me a loooooong time to read such literature. Sometimes I just want to finish a book more quickly.

 

Also, many of the folks I hang out with would be more likely to engage in a discussion of The Help than a chat about Hesiod'sWorks & Days. So I guess I count popular fiction reading as keeping me culturally literate. :D

 

But no more Patterson. Can't abide a writer that doesn't even write his own books.

[Ellie]

Sometimes we like mind candy, and that's ok. :D

[elegantlion]

Well I was very moved by Gilgamesh this week. It was my second translation in the last month.

 

I now have a YA novel sitting on my nightstand. I'll gobble it up like candy before I start on my next heavy book.

 

I like to be emotionally involved in my reading. sometimes I'm able to handle deep. Sometimes I want surface stuff. Variety, that's all.

[Mrs Mungo]

I majored in literature in college, and I once wrote a paper on Jurassic Park. You could use deconstructionism, feminism, almost any theory method to pick it apart. It is a complex book with timeless themes. Can you write a pop song (not a ballad, lol) about a book's theme? Then, it has the potential to be a classic, IMO.

 

Stephen King is extremely good at preying upon people's inner fears. When he got too out there and verbose is when his books faced a decline in readership.

 

Now, when you get into real twaddle, that is a little different. I read romance novels to give my brain a little vacation between heavy books.

 

Eta: BTW, now that dd has read the classics? I point out references in rock music *all the time*!! It is my personal favorite thing about classically educating.

 

Hallelujah by David Cohen-there are several Biblical references, one of which also alludes to Gilgamesh.

 

Whiter Shade of Pale-"as the Miller tells his tale," guess that guy is an obnoxious drunk, LOL!

Edited July 7, 2012 by Mrs Mungo
iPad does not believe that some words are words.

[*Lulu*]

I find that a well written story is a well written story, and I consider several of the authors in the OP have produced at least a few of those. (I will lay aside the Patterson discussion for the moment.) There are also several modern authors who write more of what we'd call twaddle, and I agree with many of the pp about liking mind candy fom time to time.

[swellmomma]

Sometimes you want a good, heavy Sunday dinner. Sometimes you want candy.

 

:iagree:

[kitten18]

:iagree: I enjoy ballet, orchestra, and art museums. But I also like Star Wars and Harry Potter. I think it's fine! :D

 

:iagree:

In the last 6 months I have listened to (*listened to*, not even read) 35 Spenser books.:tongue_smilie:

[Tammi K]

I'm not sure I can offer any insight except to say that currently I am reading both Dumas (Three Musketeers) and Airframe and Moby Dick is next in line after I re-read Timeline.:tongue_smilie:

[Desert Strawberry]

I'm with everyone else. I like a quick read that requires little mental exertion, like to stay current with popular culture and sometimes like to truly engage in something delicious. Right now I have a junky free Kindle mystery, a healthy how-to book, a parenting book and Great Expectations open on my Kindle and I'm listening to Hunger Games on audio. A little of this and a little of that.

[Robin M]

It all depends on my frame of mind and the older I get the more I appreciate the classics. Books I wouldn't have read 20-30 years ago, I will now because I get them now. Guess you have to be older, at least I do to enjoy them, digest them, mull them over a bit. I also like mind candy and like being entertained. Whether that be Michael Crichton, John grisham, Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts or Stephen King. You really can't define twaddle because each person's idea of twaddle is different. I can't read one heavy book right after another heavy book. My brain would explode.

[Lizzie in Ma]

:iagree:

In the last 6 months I have listened to (*listened to*, not even read) 35 Spenser books.:tongue_smilie:

 

I LOVE Spenser! Do yourself a huge favor, do NOT read/listen to or otherwise interact with the new Ace Atkin's Lullaby. He ruined Spenser and destroyed Hawk.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Sometimes you want a good, heavy Sunday dinner. Sometimes you want candy.

 

:iagree: I think you can get different things from different types of books.

[Lizzie in Ma]

It all depends on my frame of mind. Sometimes I read to learn, to enlighten, to ponder or otherwise work my brain. More often than not I will still have something less "tomey" going at the same time. Sometimes I go on reading marathons of favorite authors I've read many times over because I miss them.

I don't think all popular novels are a waste of time by any means.

I have a hugely diverse bookshelf and reading list and I enjoy all types of reading. Well, except romance and paranormal porn (turns out there is a fine line in that genre :D, I dislike those intensely.

For the record, I love Michael Crighton.

[Farrar]

I kind of want LibraryLover to chime back in since none of us agreed with her... Have you really never read and enjoyed a pop fiction book? I'm not a fan of the authors you listed as examples (on the literary or the pop side, actually - I'm just not a Melville fan really, though I guess I like Dickens okay), but there are other pop fiction authors I've enjoyed. Surely you have a guilty pleasure author... surely? I feel like everyone must, right?

[Parrothead]

I'm not sure I can offer any insight except to say that currently I am reading both Dumas (Three Musketeers) and Airframe and Moby Dick is next in line after I re-read Timeline.:tongue_smilie:

Like you I have several different books going right now. Mansfield Park, Scarecrow Returns and a qigong book. So that is a classic, a bit of candy and a how to guide. Nothing wrong with it. It just means we are capable and well read.

 

Oh, I loved Airframe.

[MommyK]

Some pop fiction will eventually become classic. Truly. The "American Dream" study that flows through The Great Gatsby, and Death of a Salesman, is also woven through Fight Club. I think the OP is basically questioning tastes, which are (of course) all a matter of opinion. There is no answer to your question..

[Zebra]

Life is too hard to always read "good literature".

 

Sometimes I just want to be entertained. Sometimes I don't have the brain power to handle anything else. I don't see anything wrong with just reading good literature, or just reading brain candy, or some of each.

 

And I also agree that sometimes a good story is just a good story. I have slogged through some AWFUL "classics" and wondered what the point of reading it was. I read for my benefit, not for anyone else :D.

[Word Nerd]

Why would it mean we're dumb to prefer variety? I don't understand why anyone would limit their reading so strictly as to choose only one type of writing or the other. A story doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece to be an amusing, enjoyable tale. (This is the only explanation for why my daughter prefers my silly made-up-on-the-fly bedtime stories over some of the excellent children's literature titles I've chosen as read-alouds.) My reading tastes also depend greatly on my mood, and I tend to get emotionally invested in what I read. If I read something dark and depressing, I often feel like reaching for something lighter next while I'm processing it. I'm not ready to dive into the depths again and want to stay closer to the surface.

Edited July 7, 2012 by WordGirl

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

If The Nanny Diaries doesn't move any mom to tears, then she has no soul. That poor little boy......

[mrbmom77]

I've always figured it's because I'm weird. :D

 

I like Crighton and King and Dickens (except Great Expectations) and Dante and Longfellow and Austen and Nora Roberts and Buffy and Firefly and the KJV Bible and Philip Yancey and Max Lucado and history, biography, anthropology, and on and on . . .

 

I will admit I have never made it more than a few pages into Moby Dick or Don Quixote and I'm a real snob about people who only read Twilight and romance novels.

 

Contradictory, perhaps. Eclectic, definitely. I don't think it's dumb, though the "classics only" crowd may not agree. J/k, y'all.

 

Interesting question, though. Assuming equal intelligence, what makes us have such different tastes? Most people I know tend to stick to one or two genres. I think they're poorer for it, and they seem to think I'm strange. Maybe you're strange, too. :lol:

[sparrow]

For the same reason I am equally entertained by BBC's *very* raunchy Inbetweeners and PBS' Masterpiece. I am diverse in my reading and entertainment tastes and have no guilt about it.

[kitten18]

I LOVE Spenser! Do yourself a huge favor, do NOT read/listen to or otherwise interact with the new Ace Atkin's Lullaby. He ruined Spenser and destroyed Hawk.

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely stay away.

[LibraryLover]

I kind of want LibraryLover to chime back in since none of us agreed with her... Have you really never read and enjoyed a pop fiction book? I'm not a fan of the authors you listed as examples (on the literary or the pop side, actually - I'm just not a Melville fan really, though I guess I like Dickens okay), but there are other pop fiction authors I've enjoyed. Surely you have a guilty pleasure author... surely? I feel like everyone must, right?

:) Every June/July, I read Moby Dick. I love MB, at the same time I hate Typee and Billy Budd. Others are better, but I won't drag poor Herman into this row.

 

However, each summer I also read  Jaws.

 

Jurassic Park...well, it's one of my most fav pop novels ever, and right up there with classics such as, Madame Bovary and some others that are quite familiar and comforting to me. And OK, that stupid gothic novel ...Rebecca.

 

I wonder about that little thrill I also get from an Addison-Allen novel, or Jurassic Park. Intellectually, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

All I feel is guilt, ;) even as I go about reading what ever I wish to read. I also worry about all the worried talk about children reading drivel, and how we need to keep them away from it.

 

I can't seem to make peace with my own disconnect.

 

Edited October 15, 2013 by LibraryLover

[Momof3littles]

Sometimes we like mind candy, and that's ok. :D

:iagree: A lot of my reading time is before bed, and I'm fried. But I like unwinding with a book. I also have insomnia sometimes, maybe some anxiety. I don't like too stressful, too dark, or too heavy. I personally need to be focused and alert to read a lot of high brow, classic lit. I enjoy it, but when it is bedtime, I find myself reading and rereading the same page 4 times because I can't focus, or my eyes are closing. When I read mind candy before bed, it is benign enough to not have me contemplating the mysteries of the universe at 2 am. No worries about the meaning of life. That's nice :001_smile: If I doze off, so what? No need to be extremely focused when reading fluff.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Momof3littles

[Guest]

I'm not sure I can offer any insight except to say that currently I am reading both Dumas (Three Musketeers) and Airframe and Moby Dick is next in line after I re-read Timeline.:tongue_smilie:

 

I thought I was the only person in the world who has not only read, but enjoyed Timeline. I actually have not read (finished) anything else by Crichton, but I loved that book! :D

[LibraryLover]

If The Nanny Diaries doesn't move any mom to tears, then she has no soul. That poor little boy......

 

 

I read that one, and I didn't like it at all, BUT! Know that I did read it.

 

I did think The Devil Wears Prada was hysterical. I got quite an ab workout with that one.

 

My issue is that I can't figure out how one could like Prada *and* Don Quiote. It feels wrong. lol

 

But not that I really give a flying fig. I just wonder what it all means. ;)

Edited July 8, 2012 by LibraryLover

[Mrs Mungo]

LL, have you read all of the Canterbury Tales? Those were all written by a single author! As a single work it has tremendous literary standing. But, individually? I mean...well...the Miller's Tale is the medieval version of The Hangover. It is all fart jokes and sleeping around. But, it all came from one mind.

[Kirch]

I'm a sucker for a good story and I always have been. Sometimes those stories come wrapped in beautiful, challenging prose where the language is as fulfilling an experience as the story itself. Other times ... well, I can be very forgiving when it comes to an entertaining, engaging story.;)

 

:) Every June/July, I read Moby Dick. I love MB, at the same time I hate Typee and Billy Budd. Others are better, but I won't drag poor Herman into this row.

 

However, each summer I also read the trash called Jaws. It's junk. It's a good story, yes, but the writing can't be justified as lit.

 

Jurassic Park...well, it's one of my most fav pop novels ever, and right up there with classics such as Pride and Prejuidice, Madame Bovary and some others that are quite familiar and comforting to me. And OK, that stupid gothic novel ...Rebecca.

 

I wonder about that little thrill I also get from an Addison-Allen novel, or Jurassic Park. Intellectually, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

All I feel is guilt, ;) even as I go about reading what ever I wish to read. I also worry about all the worried talk about children reading drivel, and how we need to keep them away from it.

 

I can't seem to make peace with my own disconnect. My youngest found my little stash of Jurassic Park and Lost World and is devouring them. Last week, she was devouring The Bronze Bow, and was happily listening to a Moby Dick audio. She likes it all. She loved Jane Eyre, but found herself skipping ahead and then doubling back. I told her we all do that somethimes. Yet I know she missed some important writing trying to get to the end.

 

I can't find it in myself to limit the' literary' candy.

 

Re: kids and twaddle vs. our standards for what we read--I think the idea behind limiting kids' access to "twaddle" is more that they won't develop the mental muscles for reading harder stuff if they read lots of fluff, that they'll resist reading quality lit because it's "too hard." I don't think twaddle is bad for you so much as it takes the place of other things. For adults who can and do read (voluntarily!) challenging books and can maintain a good balance, it's not an issue.

[radiobrain]

For those who can bear to consider it; why do you think one can be moved to tears by the prose/depth in Don Quixote and/or Moby Dick, but can also find pleasure in The Congo, or The Nanny Diaries?

 

Are we all just that dumb?

 

I don't think I really understand what you are even asking. I would never consider reading "classics" and normal, modern fiction dumb at all.

 

Consider this as well..some books considered classics are almost unreadable, as are a lot of contemporary ones, then you throw personal taste into it and all bets are off. ;) Personally, I enjoy a lot of books like King, Koontz, Preston & Child, etc. but I will not tolerate what I consider to be a poorly written book. I get these books out as they are entertaining and compelling, but do not require me to delve too deep into them to understand them. They are enjoyable. They pass the time. They give my brain a break. I get these little things called playways out of my library (it is a whole book on tape that you plug a headphone into ( it is like 2x2 inches) and these types of books are perfect for when I am doing housework, gardening, etc....

 

I think it all depends on why you are reading the book. :D

 

I can only handle so many "classics" a year. The same goes for the kids. I want them to love reading, and sometimes that means delving into a series of goofy books that you must finish no matter what. If they only read books deemed to be great, I can't imagine them reading for pleasure in the future.

 

I can be moved to tears by a picture book. A well written book with a good theme and characters, is a well written book no matter what the literature society has deemed it, and it deserves to be read.

 

I don't know what I am saying. need coffee.

[mommymilkies]

Sometimes you want a good, heavy Sunday dinner. Sometimes you want candy.

 

:iagree: If I am in "anxiety mode" or super stressed, I set aside my heavy copy of Herodotus and I pick up Sookie Stackhouse (or whatever). It really depends on my mood. Don't underestimate popular fiction for junk, though, some of it is really deep or beautiful.

[m0mmaBuck]

I certainly enjoy both high and low forms. I don't need to constantly do mental gymnastics in order to enjoy a book. Sometimes it's nice to just read.

 

I wonder if Melville and Dickens were looked down upon in their day for being pop culture authors.

[catz]

Don't underestimate popular fiction for junk, though, some of it is really deep or beautiful.

 

I find as my kids age and learn they get more of the cultural reference often seen in more popular and modern books, movies. Even comics like Calvin and Hobbes or the Far Side. More cleverly written modern pieces definitely.

 

This is not a literary example but along those lines of high brow vs. low brow. My 11 year old has taken piano for 6 years. He's fairly advanced now and playing Mozart and Beethoven Sonatas, etc. He's also starting to get into horror movies. He hears references to classical music in the music from horror movies. There is this Sonata he is learning right now that has a little chunk that sounds like the creepy music in it. It completely cracks me up. I think he has greater respect for the classics because he can hear their influence in composers like John Williams and Han Zimmer.

Edited July 8, 2012 by kck

[amey311]

I read print books and listen to audiobook. My audiobooks have to be "candy" because realistically I can't give it 100% of my attention all the time. I listen to them while making dinner and also giving half an ear to child behavior, etc. I read some heavier stuff in print books, but really - I don't feel guilty AT ALL about reading months and months of fluff. At one point I read my way thru all the UK/Irish chick lit I could find. I'd find one author and read everything she'd written and then check out the "blurbs" on the back of the book to see who'd endorsed it or if a review said "If you love ABC, you'll definitely love this author!" and then I'd go find everything by ABC. Yeah, my brain isn't doing any heavy lifting, but I don't care.

 

FWIW, I tried to read Hemingway once. I majored in Spanish in college. I did a semester in Spain. I figured I'd love For Whom the Bell Tolls. I read about 5 pages. I couldn't stand his writing style. I know he's one of those GREAT authors, but ugh. No thanks. I figure life's too short to read books I don't like.

 

Also, I don't care if my kids read "twaddle." My older son is a reluctant reader, so as long as he's reading, I'm okay with it. He read a lot of Calvin and Hobbes - which has some good vocabulary, honestly. He's reading more chapter books now and I'm happy.

[ElizabethB]

But not that I really give a flying fig. I just wonder what it all means. ;)

 

It means you like to read. Perhaps you love books and libraries...

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

When we move, the librarians always comment on my eclectic selection until they get used to me. I read and enjoy a lot of different genres. I also love libraries and books. I still keep my researcher card from the Library of Congress and look at it fondly from time to time even though we haven't lived in the D.C. area for 5 years.