Books Should be Enjoyed

How did your summer reading go? I did something I rarely do - I put a book away without finishing it. I tell students to do this all the time: if the book isn’t enjoyable, put it down and try another, but like Alice in Wonderland, “I give myself good advice but very seldom follow it.” 

I am a little embarrassed to name the book; it is a famous classic most people probably read in college. It is world renowned for the author's tremendous insight. I was involved in the characters and wanted to follow them, except that the story is so very serious I was depressed after reading. It was jarring to open my front door and find the sun shining, the grass green, and the birds singing when all was cold and gray and pretty hopeless in the world of this book. 

Then my husband related this story to me: when the book was published, it was read by an author who said that when he was finished with it he felt like he was recovering from a terrible disease. Maybe someday I will want to pick it up again, but for now Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky is on the shelf!