‘There’s a good twenty to thirty pages dedicated to Whales’

‘Really?

‘Yeah, I got nearly a hundred pages in and then he started into the whale stuff’. Sometimes, Jeremy thought, you needed to speak. Over time, some tumbler inside you filled and filled. You might forget it was there, but when the opportunity came, you emptied it. It couldn’t be helped. The relief was palpable.

‘Because it was a classic, I really felt that I had to read every page. You know. Like it wouldn’t be fair to skip over stuff.

‘I know what you mean’. Thomas was nodding his head.

‘But after reading fifteen pages about the whales I kind of lost interest….’ Jeremy trailed off.

‘That’s ironic, when you think about it’. Grabbing a chair, Thomas sat down opposite Jeremy.

‘You were defeated by the very whale Ahab was pursuing’.

From Jeremy there was a gentle snort.

‘I suppose so’.

Putting his arms on the table, Thomas inquired, ‘Why do you want to read classic literature?

‘It feels like the right thing to do. To read them I mean. They’re considered classics for a reason. I want to be a well-read individual’

Jeremy smiled shyly. Thomas folder his arms.

‘That’s one school of thought’

Jeremy became serious.

‘What do you mean?

‘I mean everybody is different. I haven’t read all of the classics, nor would I want to. Some of them are a bit tedious if you ask me. I prefer to think of them as being the best of their time’.

Jeremy was squinting his eyes now, as though looking for the chink in Thomas’s armor. The tumbler inside was empty now. Unbidden, Thomas continued.

‘Sure, they might say something universal, about the nature of the human animal, but above all, they’re a comment on a particular time and place’.

Thomas looked at Jeremy, as though expecting him to speak.

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself, that’s what I’m really getting at. Some might turn up their nose at my saying so, but you should read what you love. Otherwise, what’s the point’, he finished.