The text judges you

Many students tell me that "book sucks" or "Why do we have to read that book?"
You judge the book as good or bad a la Roger and Ebert, but using the C.S. Lewis reversal, the book judges whether you are a good or bad reader. Value statements like *Shakespeare sucks* reveal more about the reader than the text.

Two more points: the power of reading is to enter into another world where you are not yourself yet still find yourself. To try and read a book about yourself (e.g. choosing a book because the protagonist resembles you) guarantees nothing, except maybe the story of Narcissist all over again.

That is not to say that there are no poorly written books but a poor reader will more often than not mistaken a poorly written book for a great one and a great one for a poorly written book.