Lately, I’ve been in an awkward position, and not in any sexual way… not this time. No, I find myself feeling shame, actual shame, based on what I’m reading. Personally, I think it’s uncalled for, not to mention untoward. However, toward or not, I still catch myself shifting my book into skewed reading positions that keep the cover hidden to the general public. On the subway, it’s the cross-legged, cover cover-up. In the staff room, it’s the face-down on the table hunched over reading style. These are the awkward positions of being in the awkward position of feeling ashamed of your book.
And what is this troublesome tome, you ask (or more likely wouldn’t ask)? Is it the dregs of the literary barrel, the likes of tawdry romances, books with “shopaholic” in the title, or Dan Brown novels? Not hardly. I have not fallen so far in our time apart, my friends. As it happens, I’m reading Crime and Punishment, a classic of Russian Literature. So why should I be embarrassed, you again might ask? It’s Doestoy-friggin’-evsky for God’s sake. Well, that’s just it. I’m sick of the eye-rolling, the sarcasm, and the implied, “Ooooh, Doestoyevsky, eh?”
It appears that there are only a few known responses to great works of literature these days. It is acceptable if the reader appears to be a student, or scholarly in general, but otherwise people seem to think the reader is showing off or else overreaching himself. You really do get a sense of, “Who does this guy think he is [...]