No, Tessa, I’m not angry at all. I’m just intrigued by such a controversial opinion from such a successful (and clearly well-read) writer.

The issue is, the concepts we are dealing with here (what makes a book cannon, what determines a piece of art’s value, what encompasses 'meaning’, etc.) are extremely complex. I could dissect your article, point by point, in a critical essay, but would either of us be well-served by such an endeavour?

As you have said multiple times, you read voraciously (much like a savant) from a prodigiously young age, and you have double my years' life experience, so I will defer to you on this issue—your opinion has obviously been a long time in the making!

No hard feelings.