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> I claimed "there's no accounting for taste" and my father said "that's not true, you can claim Shakespeare isn't good but you're wrong". So Tolstoy was wrong
by msla 5y ago
> I claimed "there's no accounting for taste" and my father said "that's not true, you can claim Shakespeare isn't good but you're wrong".
So Tolstoy was wrong?
https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lear/english/e_ltf https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lear/english/e_ltf
> Tolstoy begins by saying that throughout life Shakespeare has aroused in him ‘an irresistible repulsion and tedium’. Conscious that the opinion of the civilized world is against him, he has made one attempt after another on Shakespeare's works, reading and re-reading them in Russian, English and German; but ‘I invariably underwent the same feelings; repulsion, weariness and bewilderment’.
- karaterobot 5y agoThere's no accounting for taste.
- abecedarius 5y agoHe's the authority on his own response. And it may be true that Shakespeare is overrated. It's possible he could persuade me that Shakespeare is not good. (E.g. I've read Plato in translation and think his giant reputation is a blot on society's collective judgement.) Tough to argue, though. People still respond to Shakespeare and not only because they're supposed to.
- fijiaarone 5y agoTolstoy is free to try and top Shakespeare. To his credit, he tried his best, and did better than most, but didn't come close.
- watwut 5y agoTo the extend you can compare such massively different works, Tolstoy is better.