"Incidentally,
what is the point in keeping in touch with
the contemporary scene?
Why should one read authors one doesn't like because they happen to be alive at the same time as oneself? One might as well read everyone who had the same job or the same coloured hair, or the same income, or the same chest measurements, as far as I can see."
--C.S. Lewis, Letters, The Collected Letters of CSL, Volume III.
I do so admire C S Lewis and have read his essays, book for children, and science fiction. But with his statement above I must disagree. While I do enjoy reading period literature, contemporary literature enchants me most. And I think it's mostly for vicarious reasons. To see what choices others are faced with and what decisions they make, to see how geography impacts one's daily life, and to see how others shape the relationships of their lives is endlessly fascinating to me. How else would I learn about people and experience places other than the Midwest?
ReplyDeleteAn honest, courteous, well-expressed, dissenting opinion is truly a rare treasure! Thank you so much, Donna.
ReplyDeleteWell, I posted this because it made me laugh out loud in delight. It must be a great joy to find your soul mates among current authors--you, at least, get to look forward to new releases! I've found mine in earlier centuries. The stack of books beside me on the desk right now, for instance, is Ben Franklin, Elizabeth Goudge, Untermeyer, and Keats. While up in the middle of last night, I was reading Tennyson. And this isn't the first time CSL has made me laugh out loud.
Vive le difference. :-)
Here's to any literature that evokes a visceral reaction! On NPR an interviewee made reference to Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn", a piece which I taught year after year. And he reminded me why I love that poem so - the idea of anticipation being perhaps better than the reality. The yet-heard melody being the sweetest.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's a tangent for you!
I must admit my own thoughts are akin to C.S. Lewis's statement. However, it delights me that there is room enough in this world for all of us even though my own heart and soul are most often enriched by books that are not part of the contemporary scene.
ReplyDelete