To: The Philosopher who wrote (37198 ) 5/9/1999 11:20:00 AM From: Chuzzlewit Read Replies (5) | Respond to
Christopher, I think with my soul all the time. I love virtually all of the books I excised from the list. But they are fiction. They may be wonderful moving stories of the time, but certainly have little impact on the course of history. Dickens is my favorite author. But in terms of importance he cannot hold a candle to Freud. Why? Because Freud exerted a tremendous influence influence on the direction of psychology; his influence permeated the arts as well. It profoundly affected the way we think about ourselves. Dickens, on the other hand, created a world that was largely romanticized. Look at his cardboard view of women. Sex was a subject that he did not even hint at. Dickens created myths. Dickens reflected a false image of who some of us were in a small swatch of time in a small country. One could argue that Dickens explored human psychology, but I think that such comments are facile because they confuse romanticized ad hoc creations for truth, or the search for truth.every educated person should read or be familiar with.
