Breadman wrote: Sluffy wrote:Ulysses by James Joyce.
Dire.
Agreed.
Unintelligible bollocks.
Makes Shakespeare (who I also hate because it's difficult to understand for anybody born after about 1545) look like Closer magazine in comparison.
There's a lot of snobbery lingering about "proper literature" in my view.
Although I did enjoy Dubliners.
This is really going to sound arty-farty, pretentious bollocks but most truly great works of art have a depth about them which allows and rewards close study (if you can be bothered!), because of the enduring significance of the ideas, and the originality or sharpness of observation and how those ideas are expressed.
Universal, psychological truths about humanity revealed in new, unique ways are perhaps the most likely to satisfy effort and exploration.
So, Michael Rosen, Jackie Collins, Alvin Stardust, Mama Mia, or my paintings = harmless entertainment or fun for a few moments, saying nothing lasting or worthwhile, =pap.
Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Joni Mitchell, Babel, Hogarth can be returned to endlessly because there is always something new and significant to appreciate in their layers of meaning and expression =enduring works of art.
I await multiple accusations of being a pretentious twat!