I think there is a certain intellectual cowardice about the refusal

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I think there is a certain intellectual cowardice about the refusal to read contemporary literature. Those who exclusively read the classics only concern themselves with questions of understanding.

>what does this mean?
>how does this relate to that?
>what was the author trying to say?

That is all well and good but when it comes to how you personally experience the work, the classics reader defers to the test of time. He doesn't ask himself if he thinks the novel is good, he doesn't ask himself if he thinks the prose is well written, he may not even ask himself if he likes it, because he decided the answer to all those questions before he opened the book.

When you read recent publications, there is no authoritative voice to guarantee the value of what you're reading, and so it requires a far greater degree of introspection. If we read to learn more about ourselves then you do yourself a great disservice by ignoring contemporary literature.