Popularist or Literati?

[Mithalwen]

That is a very good point , Lalwende, for example I recognize that having been obliged to read Middlemarch for my degree, it is hard to fault George Eliot's technical ability but she carries her learning soooooo heavily that I have never felt inclined to read the rest. Yet a friend since A Levels and now a English Teacher, loves her above all and treats my disaffection with amusement.

If you look at my shelves you might think Literati - I have read a lot of the "canon" but I have ot say I only keep the "pop" stuff I feel I will want to read again - my comfort reading - the rest I treat as magazines and if they don't hold my attention they are almost as cheap and just as disposable. And I do like Bridget Jones.. at least the first one, I prefer Isabell Wolff but it did make me laugh at a very grim time in my life.....

I have to admit, I kept my fondness for Tolkien and Glasworthy, "in the closet" during my time at University and never was quite brave enough to say I much preferred Trollope (Anthony not Joanna) to Dickens so maybe there is an element of the "Emperor's new Clothes" going on here?