There's Good Literature. And There's Good Literature.

What I love about literature-- really good litterature-- is that it remains constant. It is unvesal, continually relevent. My particularly favorite time in literary history is the Modernist Movement. Through the writings of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eliot, Pound, Woolf, Joyce, and others we finally get a strong foothold on coming to terms with the individual. Of non-conformity as well as an understanding of when to pull together with a common goal. The first time we really see an effort of artists to get in the face of propiety, rules, and expectations and go against that grain. Its an upfront assualt on the prervious eras and generations. In comparison to the life span of literature and story telling, the idea of the novel and how it was best put to use was sill, well, novel. While the novel's form went through changes in a time when artists reached beyond and into he deepest parts of our hearts and psyche, the stories of this modern movement remain relevent to this day. We get to see the inner workings of mankind, the struggles, successs, failures, and challenges we all still struggle with. The disatisfaction with post-WWI Europe is no different than feelings post-Vietnam or even towards current military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our economic crisis echoes that at the fall of the twenties with the stock market crash. Good literature is beautiful. Engaging. Great literature holds up a mirror for us to recognize our own lives on the pages. Great literature is beautiful and refelctive remaining so consistantly throughout time.