Hard ideas define a culture — that of serious reading, an institution vital to democracy itself.

In a recent article, Stephen L. Carter, Yale law professor and novelist, underscores “the importance of reading books that are difficult. Long books. Hard books. Books with which we have to struggle. The hard work of serious reading mirrors the hard work of serious governing — and, in a democracy, governing is a responsibility all citizens share.”

Maybe*. Perhaps reading long, complicated and hard novels would help our dear politicians in D.C.  read the actual bills on which they vote? Excuse me, I am off to buy a copy of War and Peace, I think someone might need a copy…..

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