8th Avenue South: a taste for fine literature...

1. How can I choose good books and know that this book is valuable enough to be studied?

I think the key words here are "valuable enough to be studied." They imply that somebody with authority (a degree) has found value (intellectual value I hope and not marketing value) in a book and based upon that judgement hopes to pass that value on to future generations.

You can start with the classics. The Great Books Foundation is a good reference although it is biased toward European writers. You can also subscribe to JSTOR and browse the latest journals for critiques of contemporary literature. Another more covert way to discover new texts is to visit university bookstores and see what texts are required for courses.

2. How can I know that a novel has something to say and is valuable in its style?"

You will know that a novel has something to say to you personally if it says more to you that what it literarily or explicitly states. If the literature generates more questions as you read, it is speaking to you and you are speaking to it. If the book doesn't do this than it is not mature enough for you or it simply might be just bad. As for style, mechanics isn't as important as it once was so I remain open-minded in regard to vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, tone, symbolism, logic. As long as the?narrative is believeable and it presents a plot or invites me to create a plot, I can read it. However, if you cannot distinguish the voice of the writer anywhere in the dialogue of the characters, the descriptions of the settings, or the theme, no matter how believeable or how stylistic the writing is, I suspect that it will be just plain boring, almost like reading a technical manual on how to assemble a bicycle. Now that doesn't mean that technical writing is bad. It too performs a function. When I need directions on assembling a bicycle, I don't need the writer's point-of-view, just the facts; but I must ask for more from fiction.

Source: http://8thavesouth.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-taste-for-fine-literature.html

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