But reading shouldn't be a chore. You can still be an educated man or woman without having read Light in August . Better to enjoy The Code of the Woosters or The Moonstone than to feel obliged to spend all your reading time on the important books. Read the books that speak to you. But try an unexpected or demanding book from time to time.
Classics tend to be classics for good reasons.
Good afternoon Mr. Dirda. I've found my tastes run similar to yours and I really enjoyed the wordplay and plotting of Lempriere's Dictionary and Pope's Rhinoceros . Oulipo is the French acronym for the Workshop for Potential Literature. This is a group of mathematicians and novelists who employ mathematical algorithms and other constraints in the creation of literary texts. The main writers of this school are Georges Perec, Jacques Roubaud, Italo Calvino, Harry Mathews and Raymond Queneau.