The good book dilemma

Has anyone ever read a book that was enlightening, well written, paced evenly and a good read in general but not like it? I read a book recently it was called "Olive Kitterage". Dan got it for me on his last trip while shopping for presents for us in a airport. I would not recommend this book to my religious friends as you might be offended by the language. I'm kind of immune to horrid language in books since I was an English major in college, but I think I may have learned a new swear word while reading this which is really quite a feat. I have to admit I am more offended by sexual content in books than bad language. Perhaps it's because I've heard fairly dirty language since I was in Kindergarten (some of the kids were a little rough).

The problem I had was not with the language of the book, I think she was trying to illustrate real people and even though in general I am bothered every time I come across a word that I would never say I get to a point where I gloss over the words and don't read them in my head. I think what actually bothers me about this book is the thing that make most books really good. It was a real book. It reflected the world in a very real way. I recognized things about myself in this book. The reason this wasn't a good thing is that the majority of truth that was shared was darkness. I think it wasn't just the darkness, it was the ratio of darkness to light. I am aware that in this world many people are unhappy, and that many if not most marriages are unhappy a large portion of the time. I don't object to being given a closer look at the way many people suffer, the objection I have is when there isn't enough light to give hope.

The absence of hope in any literature is a dark hole that can pull you in very quickly regardless of the amount you have in your life. Moody poetic literature is not bad in my opinion but I think too much of it can be counterproductive. I wish that more people wrote about happy marriages. I'm not naive enough to believe that all marriages don't have some form of unhappiness, but I also think it is naive to believe that there aren't blissfully happy marriages out there. Perhaps truly happy marriages aren't compelling enough to serve as interesting subjects for dissection.

I think that as I have gotten older reading about darkness isn't as abstract as it once felt when I was a young college student. I've seen the darkness and in some cases been overwhelmed by the effect it's had on those I love. The darkness of life is real to me... and I'm not sure at this time in my life that I can bear to invite that into my mind with fiction as well.

The fact that I truly am blissfully happy is it's own balm and does make it easier, or I should say bearable. But even as a child my mother says that I used to cry when I saw my siblings get a shot at the doctors. Even if I am not personally involved in the hurt caused by disturbed individuals or unhappy marriages, I cannot help but stay awake at night hurting for those who live with the pain.

I used to make fun of those women who read fluff, or in other words books that couldn't be considered literature. You know the books I'm talking about, the ones that are fake because they ignore reality too much. I don't mean science fiction. I mean literature that doesn't try and understand the human condition; it tries to cover it up with what I refer to as fluff (people writing about how they wish things were). For years I thought people who read fluff didn't understand what good writing was. Now as I've had more life experience I've found that people who enjoy fluff are really quite smart.

Whether they realize it or not by reading things that have contrived happy endings they are fostering that part of them that esteems happiness. Men are that they might have joy and whether or not everyone is really happy, we should strive for it. Valuing joy, hope and happiness does not make someone an idiot. Those who look for unhappiness are the idiots.

Now I am not saying that I am going to start reading substandard writing all the time. I just think throwing in a little fluff every now and then is actually something worth trying.