Housekeeping vs. Sludge

“I have always prized the accessible over the obscure, but after reading Housekeeping [by Marilynne Robinson:] I can see that in some ways the easy, accessible novel is working at a disadvantage (not that Housekeeping is inaccessible, but it is deep and dark and rich): it’s possible to whiz through it without allowing it even to touch the sides, and a bit of side-touching has to happen if a book is going to be properly transformative. If you are so gripped by a book that you want to read it in th