Harry Potter is better than the Scarlet Letter
"Much of what we think about literature, we feel first." (Foster 106)
Not only does the quotation deal with whether something in a piece of literature is a symbol or not, but also whether a piece of literature interests us. I think in order to enjoy a piece of literature and to have the feeling that you cannot but the book down stems from the feeling you get when you read the book. If the feelings the readtrs gets are good feelings and he/she wishes he/she could be in the world of the novel, then I think the reader likes the book and will have positive comments about the literature. If the reader feeling nothing when they read the book, I think they tend to have negative feeling towards the piece of literature.
For instance, when reading The Scarlet Letter, I felt nothing and couldn't wait until I was done reading it. If someone asked me how I liked the book, I would say I hated it. On the other hand, when reading the Harry Potter series, I wanted to be a student at Hogwarts and never wanted the series to end. So I have very positive things to say about the series.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/09/foster_how_to_read_literature_3/
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Sarah Durham on Harry Potter is better than the Scarlet Letter: With out feeling something is
Heather Mourick on Harry Potter is better than the Scarlet Letter: I could not agree with you mor
I could not agree with you more. There are many books that I just don't like because they do not make me feel anything - I don't connect with the characters. Generally when people like a book, something about it made them feel an emotion of some sort. It's interesting to look at people's personalities and see what kind of books they like - there are some differences you expect but there are also similarities that seem unreal!
With out feeling something is there any entertainment? I totally agree with the two of you. People don't just pick up a book to read for the sake of reading (ok well maybe some do but generally they do not) unless it has something of interest in it.
The question of taste -- what art we would choose to amuse ourselves when we need a distraction, what we turn to when we need comfort, or answers, or moral guidance, what we study in order to learn about the past, what we would recommend to others in order to learn about our own past, hundreds of years from now when our civlization lies in ruins -- all these questions fall into play when we consider what works of art (in any genre) meet our needs at a given time.