The poem by T S Elliot. But I feel I should. Since it is regarded as one of the greatest poems ever written. Any advice for laymen? Should I just quit tough literature like this? If I don't enjoy it? I know it was supposed to express the disillusionment of writers just after world war 1.
Some of the references to early 20th century culture are now obscure, as are the references to other works that were recognizable at the time but now have lost their context. I wouldn't worry about it. Like all art, there are pieces that strike some folks as masterpieces but don't do squat for others. Leave it now, and come back to it after a lapse of time. It's worth a second try, but after that, it probably won't be worth a third one.
If you don't enjoy it and you're not getting anything else from it, that's really up to you. The first time I read it I was like 12 and found out about it only because I'd been reading The Gunslinger and the poem (or at least one line of it) is threaded through a few of The Dark Tower books. I didn't understand it at all, but it made me feel things like poetry rarely does for me, and that, for me, made it worthwhile.
I've read plenty of highly regarded works that I just didn't care for. I wouldn't doubt yourself just because anything is highly regarded. Personal taste still figures in hugely.
im a wannabe classics snob. Any modern literature I tend to ignore but Ive always put the old classics on a pedestal. My thesis too is that anyone who was educated before Latin was dropped from the High School Syllabus must be luckier than the rest of us. The old classic education which I just missed unfortunately. Imagine people like C S Lewis and Tolkien would have had the ideal education.
The top half is easiest? And then take it a chunk at a time. It's very beautiful, and it is a source of great wonderment how all that classical allusion of 300[?]/1000[?] years of literature is lost to us through the dropping of Latin from curriculums. At least we have Star Wars references. Also - you'll be able to roll your eyes at every tier 3 wannabe who drops 'April cruellest month' into conversation. You can say 'pleb' and flick an olive in their face. [Oh, you said EXACTLY THE SAME thing in your post]
