Soledad's Journal

Frivolous isn't a bad thing, but as you say the best books are the ones that are enjoyable to read and make us think and learn. What upsets me even more than people not realizing you might just read a book for fun is when they assume just because people enjoy reading something it isn't "good literature". There are of course books that are never going to be fun to read -- from a recent discussion with other friends Kafka springs to mind as an obvious example -- because of subject matter for example, but I always remember a bit in one of the later Dorothy Sayers books where Harriet says she tries to put in things to make people think when they aren't looking. If it is obviously there to make you learn something I think that is often bad writing.