A Train Wreck

Last week, there was an article about Greece, Ireland and Portugal.  And although the financial mess that counties are currently enduring are tragic, one very good writer,  Desmond Lachman quoted Oscar Wilde:

       To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune, but to lose both looks like carelessness!

I have heard of Oscar Wilde although I must confess that I had to look him up in Wiki to make sure he was not the kid on HR Puffinstuff.   I am sure I had never heard this quote previously.  Likewise, I am sure I will never forget it.  Related to this is my ignorance of so many aspects of literature.  How can I expect to be a writer with any style at all and have no idea what good writing looks like or sounds like.  I have read half of "To Kill a Mockingbird", one third of  the first "Harry Potter" and most of "Angels and Demons".  I did read nine tenths of "Timothy,or Notes of an Abject Reptile".  I always turn the channel away from Jeopardy when they have questions about literature.  "I am stunned when I hear "What is King Lear".  I have tried to read Shakespeare a couple of times.  It is not just hard to read, I find it obtuse.  It took me an entire season to grasp "Good Neighbors" on the BBC.

I have so far to go as a writer well, actually as a person.