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What is a good book?
A good book brings insight, understanding, surprise and delight.
Fiction, as all art, is the selective recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical principles (to quote a clever lady); it is a presentation of what the writer considers to be both real and important in the world.
Non-fiction is based on fact not ideology. It informs us about our shared experience of the world.
SO WHAT?
So, a book tells us what we want to hear is not a good book. Clichés and doctrine are a waste of time.
Style is also important. Style is our experience of reading a book. Style speaks to what is important in life and how we perceive the world around us. Clear, lyrical style is a pleasure. Ponderous catalogues of abstract or cumbersome words are unpleasant when found in either fiction or non-fiction.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
You know a good book when you find one, and that's enough. We don't have to be experts on the nature of all things; you're are here to enjoy good books.
We are here to inform, surprise, delight and entertain you. |
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