I was beginning to wonder why I find so much popular contemporary fiction trivial, banal, pointless, and downright dull. Although I find purposefully difficult writing to be a drag, I also agree with St. Augustine’s maxim that “what is sought with difficulty is discovered with more pleasure.”

In an age when most newspaper articles are written at a fourth-grade reading level, some of us crave depth and complexity, and popular fiction is letting us down. I find myself turning to non-fiction writers like Richard Dawkins and Mark Noll for the level of difficulty that I want and deserve. I may not understand everything I’m reading the first or second time around, but then what would be the fun of that? Too much of what passes for public discourse in this community is oversimplified as it is.

– Karyl King