“A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan (post 2): Does giving up on a novel that won the Pulitzer Prize mean I am not a good reader?

As I noted in a postscript to the previous post, I had trouble following the second half of this novel, so I stopped reading. And since the novel had gotten rave reviews and a major award, I had to fight off a feeling of being stupid.

But novels are not difficult to read due to profundity. They are difficult to read when they are not written clearly.

From what authors have said about their creative process, I have learned that literary novels rarely originate to express profound insight. They usually originate from a feeling or a situation or a voice or an image, or, as some authors say, from their unconscious (meaning they don’t know where it all comes from).

Novelists may attach a meaning to a literary novel after they write it.

I am not saying that authors of literary novels are unintelligent. Many, including Jennifer Egan, have a high IQ. And they know what I’m saying is true.