Booking Through Thursday

When somebody mentions "literature", what is the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)

Do you read "literature" (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something you read only when you must?


When you say "literature" I immediately think of my senior English class in high school. Somehow the word "literature" and Beowulf seem to go together to me. But, on further review, I guess I look at most fiction as literature. I mean, after all, isn't some of the more contemporary fiction going to be upheld as great literature somewhere down the road?

For the most part, I read for pleasure. I read to escape to another place and put myself in the shoes of another for a while. I choose to read, it isn't something that is forced on me anymore -- i.e. I am not in that sr. English class anymore. I find, though, that I am wanting to go back and read, for pleasure, some of the things I read then because I HAD to.

On the other hand, I do read a great deal for information. As a quilter and a needleworker I read to learn more about those activities. Still, it is for pleasure.

As a child, I wanted desperately to learn to read -- the newspaper fascinated me. Somehow I knew it would always serve me well and I was right -- just give me a book and I am a happy camper.