Having A Go At The Dost !!

A few years back I went through a phase of forcing myself to read posh books. The poshest one I read in that time was Homer's Odyssey, and I can tell you that it was a bitch. To me the main difference between normal books and 'literature' is that with the latter you often read a sentence and realise that although the author has used English words, you have no idea what they mean. Reading proper stuff requires concentration and work. Thus it doesn't sit too well with a bedside book. But nonetheless I'm currently ploughing through 'Crime & Punishment' last thing at night.

Reading literature is a bit like eating healthy food, it often doesn't go down too well (and you find yourself dreaming of cheeseburgers) but afterwards you have a great sense of well being, even more so when you've understood it. My bookshelves are stuffed with similar classics and so this won't be my last foray into intellectualism. In particular Dante has been waiting for me for many years, as have both Proust and Tolstoy.

I've often picked up those weighty tomes, looked inside and found that some of it actually looks intelligible, but I've then put them back in their places straight away. However I can't pull that off for much longer. I'm 40 years old, I have plenty of time, a clear head and no excuses left. So I either do this thing or resign myself to a life of pulp fiction. And as fun as the latter can be, it is also like a cheeseburger in that it goes down fine, but really does you no good at all. So wish me luck, I'm off right now to 19th Century St. Petersburg and I promise to try and not get confused by all the character names that end in 'vic'.